Hi T
Like you I had never been to Ireland before, in spite of having toured Europe since I was very young. I think it was because when I was working I only had two-week holidays and always wanted to head south towards the sun!
Having retired we had more time, so last year decided to give it a go - and we were very impressed. The scenery is fabulous, especially in the Ring of Kerry area, and the sites were excellent. We mainly used the ones in the Caravan Club book.
The roads are a bit bumpy for caravans, so best to stick to the major ones.
Unfortunately prices are high in Ireland, at the moment, for the British, because of the poor Euro exchange rate - although of course this applies all over the mainland of Europe.
We stayed for a couple of nights at Carnac Valley (as mentioned by Slowcoach) on the way back. The site was recommended to me by a contributor on this forum - can't remember their name. It is a very pleasant site, easily reachable from the motorway as you come up to Dublin from the south, and it is very easy to get into Dublin from there by bus - in fact it would not be difficult to drive in.
We left Carnac Valley to catch the early morning ferry to Holyhead, as you plan to, and drove right through the centre of Dublin with the caravan on tow, to reach the port, and this presented no problems.
Have a good holiday.
Keith
