Category Archives: Ireland

Ireland with Children Accommodation Tibradden Cottages

trip plan: ireland

This post is first in a series where I provide details of the trips I have taken with my family as examples for you to follow. If you have trip suggestions (destinations) for family travel for which you’d like a see a trip plan, leave a comment and I’ll contact you for details.

Trip Focus
When I plan a trip, I find it’s important to decide in advance what the goal of the trip is: to relax, to explore, to have an adventure. This drives all the other planning decisions.
After BigB was born, we spent most of my maternity leave in Ireland to be closer to family. We invited friends from the U.S. to come visit us while we were there. We also wanted to relax and enjoy each other’s company as we adjusted to being a family of four.

Number of Guests : 10 (us + 6 visitors from the U.S.)
The number of people in your party drives accommodation and transportation decisions.
We needed to find accommodation which was just big enough for four, affordable and yet would have room for more when needed. The Tibradden Cottages, two houses and an apartment, are nestled in the hills in South Dublin.
Ireland with Children Accommodation Tibradden Cottages

Accommodation
For me, price and space are the most important factors in choosing accommodation.
I can’t imagine staying in a hotel for eight weeks with children. They need space to spread out and be kids. Thankfully there are plenty of self-catering options available in all parts of Ireland. We chose a rental property in the greater Dublin area so that we could be close to family yet have our own space and be away from the traffic and stress of the urban area. We chose a location which wasn’t too rural to facilitiate day trips into the city.

The facilities are spacious and immaculately maintained. There are sheep roaming the hills behind the property which CAM found fascinating – especially when the sheep hung out at the back of the house. Tibradden is a short drive to the nearest in-city neighborhood from which public transportation into town is available.

Flights
In 12 years of flying with kids, I’ve learned that it’s easier to take one long flight than many short hops.
Aer Lingus offers routes between many U.S. cities Dublin and Shannon. Since Aer Lingus does not fly from Seattle, we flew to Heathrow with British Airways and then on to Dublin.

Local Transportation
Think twice about renting a car, you may not really need it.
Dublin Bus, DART and LUAS provide plenty of in-city public transportation options. If you plan to travel around the country, check out the services provided by Irish Rail and Bus Eireann first. Depending on where you plan to visit, you may be able to stick with these services all the way – which will save you money and the heart-stopping anxiety to which any freeway-driver is susceptible when driving on a two-lane road that’s only slightly wider than the car itself.

If you do rent a car, investigate agencies and prices before you leave. You will get a much better rental rate if you book in advance. And above all else, keep in mind that it’s dangerous to drive while jet-lagged.

Dining
Temple Bar Dublin Elephant and Castle
Photo credit: flex_plex

There are many, many dining options in and around Dublin. Here’s a few of my personal favorites:

  1. Brunch with kids at The Elephant and Castle in Temple Bar
  2. Dinner with traditional music at Johnny Fox’s in the Dublin Mountains
  3. For a more contemporary dining experience, check out Venu in the heart of downtown.

It feels like I should mention some bars here, but truly, there are too many good places to meet with friends, have a drink and enjoy genuine Irish convivality in Dublin (and around the country) to list – it would take up the whole page. It’s actually more difficult to find a bad bar. Start with The Palace on Fleet St. and ask the barman to suggest the next bar for you to visit. I bet everyone within earshot will have an opinion on what your next port of call should be – and they’ll be happy to share that with you.

Attractions and Entertainment

Ireland with Children Dublinia Dublin
CAM trying on some of the paraphernalia provided at the Dublinia exhibit. A great stop for kids.

Fun things to see and do:

Update
Additional info from Kayt, one of the Travel Savvy moms: families with strollers get to go straight to the front of the line at the Guinness Museum. Thanks for the tip!

Related Posts
Ireland, Leprechauns and Rainbows
Budgeting Tips for Family Travel

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Ireland-with-Kids-Rainbow-Kenmare

Ireland, Leprechauns and Rainbows

Ireland-with-Kids-Rainbow-Kenmare

I was trying to put some order on our digital photo collection over the weekend when I came across this photo. It was taken on a visit to Ireland with our children on beach near Kenmare, Ireland in September 2005. Those are my boys looking about the size of a pair of leprechauns in the photo. When rainbows shine so brightly, it’s no wonder there are folk legends about pots of gold!

When you arrive from the U.S., everything in Ireland can seem smaller. And it’s true, even Dublin, the capital city has a much lower profile than even a moderately-sized U.S. city like Seattle. There are no high-rise buildings. But when you leave the cities and go explore the small towns and villages like Kenmare, you start to get used to the differences in scale. And it’s so green and so picturesque.

Ireland-with-Kids-Kenmare-Pier

We go to Ireland a lot. As I work through my photo collection, I’m sure I’ll add more posts with fun things to do with kids there. But mostly, we go to visit family. And sometimes, even with a just-a-family trip, something unusual happens: our 2005 trip was planned so that we could attend a sibling’s wedding. And on the day of the wedding, another sibling had a new baby. How often does your family grow by two on the same day ? Here’s CAM and BigB saying “Hi” to their new cousin Caoimhe.

New Cousin

Specifics
You can fly direct to Dublin (DUB) or Shannon (SNN) from many U.S. cities.
Jury’s Inns is a local mid-priced family-friendly hotel chain with locations in many cities in the U.K. and Ireland. They have family rooms which sleep 4 (not always easy to find in Europe).
Kids will love discovering castles and climbing stone walls. My kids particularly enjoyed the Bunratty Folk Park .

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Information on traveling to Ireland with kids.

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