Ireland with Kids Day 1: Red Eye, Rock of Cashel, Aherlow and Mallow Castle

International travel has always been important to me. I love to experience a new culture, new food, new scenery, and a different part of the world. You probably won't believe me but I promise I've done the math but more often than not, a trip to Europe is more affordable than a trip I can take within the states. While flights sometimes cost a little more, everything is cheaper once you are there, lodging especially. I knew when we had kids the gift of international travel was something I wanted to share with them and so, every year we try to visit a new country. Whitney has a few stamps on his passport first to Portugal at 15 months (Lisbon and the Algargve), then to Italy and Switzerland at 3 (focused on the Lake Iseo region). This year his newest passport stamp was Ireland and our newest challenge was traveling with both kids at the challenging ages of 2 and 4. Let me start by saying that traveling with kids is not for the faint of heart and it will test you and your marriage in ways you can't imagine. Yet, every time we do, we get through the hard parts, we have an amazing trip watching our kids enjoying life abroad, and do it all over again.

I picked Ireland for my first international trip with both kids for a few reasons: direct flight from our smaller international airport right in Connecticut, affordable with a lot of options to explore the outdoors, and a relatively small country that is easy to see with kids. With that being said, I knew a few things were going to be challenging: the time of the red eye (6pm to midnight - truly couldn't be any worse), the 5 hour time difference, and driving a car on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. 

We left Hartford ahead of schedule, five fifty we were in the air for a short six-hour flight across the Atlantic to Ireland. It was probably one of the smoothest flights I've ever taken. Small plane no fuss, quickly up, service done, nearly no turbulence and landed in Dublin ahead of schedule. 

I knew the timing of this flight was going to be a complete nightmare and I am back here to report I was absolutely correct. The flight was tough. Whitney fortunately got a few hours of sleep but Piper rallied until 11 at night. I had to wake them both up at midnight (our time) which was 5 am (Ireland time) and start into the next day. Getting two half asleep kids and all your carry-on luggage off a plane at midnight is what parenting nightmares are made of (spoiler, things got worse). Thankfully we ha a 2.5 hour ride ahead of us which gave the kids a chance to get a long nap in and start the day. 

Route from Dublin to Killarney with stops at the Rock of Cashel and Aherlow

The Dublin airport was quiet at 5:00 a.m. local time and we easily grabbed our rental car from Sixt. We tried to get our bearings on the wrong side of the car in the wrong side of the road as we left Dublin behind and headed to the middle of the country. The highway was as expected but the second you got off you could see large fields of sheep, farmers with cows. It was exactly what I expected in it's quiet beauty. We also appreciated the huge gas stations right off the highway that were more like mini travel stations with anything you may need coffee machines and restaurants included.

We were planning on spending the first leg of our trip in Killarney on the southwest coast and after doing some research, we decided to entirely skip Dublin. We had the kids and the rental car, limited time and wanted to spend as much time as we could experiencing Ireland, not a major city and hub. It was about 4 hours from the Dublin airport and after our Portugal red eye where we were falling asleep at the wheel on a long drive from the airport post red eye, we decided to break the drive with a stop at the Rock of Cashel and the Glen of Aherlow. 

Rock of Cashel

Rock of Cashel

Rock of Cashel

The Rock of Cashel was our first introduction to Irish castles and it was a dreamy stone structure set against a landscape of green rolling hills. The cathedral, built between 1235 and 1270 and Cormac’s Chapel contains the only surviving Romanesque frescoes in Ireland. We walked around like zombies, soaking up the fresh air and sun, trying to manage the emotions of our exhausted children and our exhausted selves. There is a fee to enter (as of 2025, Adult €8. Senior €6. Student/Child €4) and while I don't think you have to go out of your way to visit, it's a great stop on your way to Killarney and to break up a long drive. Visiting hours and booking can be found here. 

Rock of Cashel

Aherlow House Hotel

We left the Rock of Cashel behind and headed further southwest. I found two rooms at Aherlow House Hotel, about halfway across Ireland and our drive to Killarney. It was a beautiful hotel tucked into the woods with a great restaurant and outdoor space to move around with the kids. We found hiking trails right off the property and watched through hikers make their way past the property during our stay.  There was live music out on the deck at night and the food at the restaurant was phenomenal. At about 6:30 I walked a very tired Piper in the stroller down the quietest windy paved road smiling with other walkers knowing this is what I'll remember from these trips with my kids. These quiet moments on quiet roads with my daughter with the sun shining through the clouds and the birds chirping green and the trees. 

House of Aherlow

House of Aherlow

House of Aherlow

It was the longest day trying to parents two kids who barely slept, when we hadn't slept a minute ourselves. They were basically manic and we were all doing our best to adapt. We let the kids nap throughout the day to make up for the lack of sleep and it definitely made our night worse. We tried putting them to bed starting at 6pm and they were wide awake and wild. By midnight they were still awake, completely wild, and hotel guests were starting to complain. Being in a hotel, we had no where to take them and felt trapped and exhausted as we tried to get through one of our hardest parenting days to date. We eventually gave them melatonin and took them for a car ride which there began our nightly routine of melatonin and a car ride to get our kids to bed with the time change. 

Mallow Castle

We woke up the next morning, still a bit shook from the midnight rendezvous with the kids, but hopeful that we know had a strategy in place and two kids who slept (melatonin and a car ride). We made it down to the hotel breakfast and packed up with plans to head to Killarney. I knew that this trip would be a lot of pivoting and I always had a backup plan for each and every drive of the trip - find a playground. It was only a two hour drive but before we left, I saw that Mallow Castle was on the way, halfway between Aherlow and Killarney and it seemed to have an amazing playground. 

We were not disappointed. This was our first introduction to Irish playgrounds and Mallow Castle set the bar high. It was definitely a newer adventure playground with features set up across a large area, zip lines included. The park itself is huge with the castle grounds, a population of deer, and walking paths through the property. 10/10 recommend this stop as you make your way across Ireland and the playground cannot be missed. 

Mallow Castle Playground

Mallow Castle Playground

Mallow Castle Grounds

The next day we were off to Killarney where we spent four nights in this magical area of Ireland. From the first night to our last, we were in love with Ireland. 

In my effort to prove that a week in Ireland was cheaper than a week in Disney, I'll share the prices as we go along (and all together at the end). 

Cost

• Bradley Airport Parking (Lot 5B): $30
• Flights: $2,382 for four, which is $595 per person round trip
  we paid$1,905 with airline points so $476 a person. I found the flights on google flights, using the calendar to book the cheapest fair. We booked in October for an April/May trip after watching the prices on a google price tracker. We like to travel in the shoulder season and the same flight was several hundred dollars more expensive each ticket in the month of June 
• Rental Car for nine days with an additional driver no insurance: $420 - I have a Chase Sapphire card which is known for it's rental car insurance (as the primary coverage) and used this for our insurance as the daily rate with Sixt was really high. Thankfully we didn't have to use it but do your research with your card and the rental company if you go this route. 
• Hotel (one room for the four of us with breakfast) night 1: $203
• Rock of Cashel admission: $18 for two adults, the kids were free