Where is nice for holiday in Ireland - plenty to do, nice scenery

[TwoToTango]

I seem to hear a lot that Ireland is nice for holidays and a friend recently visited there on a day trip - Dublin. I wondered where would be a good part of Ireland to visit with plenty to do, some nice scenery and pubs. Also which is the best way to get there - ferry or plane. I have seen on travel programmes years ago that you can holiday in an old fashioned gypsy caravan over there has anyone done this or know if you can still get them? TIA

County Kerry is probably the most holidayish spot. Killarney in particular which is the main town in Kerry, is very nice to visit, and there is some beautiful scenery around there. I love to hire bikes there and cycle around the miles of cycle tracks in the national park. Pubs are lively too, probably catering well to the tourist as there is lots of traditional music nights.
If you come by ferry via Rosslare, Kerry is about a 4 hour journey, but you could visit places on the way, Waterford ( home of the world famous crystal) Cork, and lovely coast line along the way. Or Cork Airport would be best to fly into if visiting the area of Cork/Kerry.
I don't actually work for the tourist board Enjoy your holidays.

Thats helpful potoftea - gives me a good place to start looking when I get some brochures.

Kerry is beautiful, but can be very busy in the summer. How old are your children and what sort of things do you like doing?

We've stayed at these cottages before and are going again this summer. The cottages are lovely, and quite spacious (4 bedrooms).

How to travel depends on what you think of driving, and how far you are from UK ports. (You can go from Stranraer, Holyhead, Liverpool, Fishguard). We did a fly-drive to Cork last time we went, which was great; but this time we are going by ferry and spending a week touring/staying B&B before going to cottage/Kerry.

Cregg Castle in Galway is really nice. We stayed there about 5 years ago and really liked it. You'll have to google it as the website seems to have moved.

one DS (7) Roisin. We like places with plenty of hands on stuff to do IFSWIM like science museum typle places - or places to burn off lots of energy, bike riding would be good. Those cottages look nice - can you get boat rides? I always think of Ireland as being a beautiful country but with not much to keep childern entertained.

You can get boat rides out to the Skellig Isles. I would have thought there will be other local trips too in summer.

We haven't taken the boys (8 and 10) to Ireland before, but I think they'll enjoy it.

They like outdoors stuff - walking, bird-watching, rockpooling, and exploring beaches/rocks/caves, etc.

There is quite a lot to do around the Dingle area of Co Kerry too - an aquarium, boat trips to see the dolphins, etc. Whenever we go to Ireland we rarely do and "activities" (apart from pony trekking for dd) because my kids are happy just to mess about on the beach most of the time, regardless of the weather....

You can hire those caravans at Westport house in Mayo. A lovely part o fthe country if I may say so myself. You can fly in to Knock Airport or Galway Airport.

Thanks for all the suggestions - really helpful and thanks Clementine - will google westport to find out about the caravans.

We like the Renvyle peninsula on the Connemara Loop - the beaches are lovely round there. Nearby is Glauslian beach which is lovely and has a watersports centre next door. Nearby Letterfrack is lively but small and villagey. Renvyle House Hotel is lovely - food is amazing. Look at the Go Connemara website.

We went to Donegal in 2005 and it was beautiful. There was a gorgeous, practically empty beach nearby, lovely scenery and various craft shops, galleries etc to explore. Not much specifically for children but mine loved the beach, running up mountains etc!