I agree with what Debbie had to say about Doolin. I, too, like small villages where you can talk with the people & not just do tourist stuff. The traditional music in the pubs is really great. On Sundays, families complete with children & dogs come for the great music & food & companionship. Here are a few other small villages in the area: Lahinch, Liscannor, Rinneen & Spanish Point. All are on the coast. Lisdoonvarna is a few miles from the coast & had a lot of unpleasant road construction going on when I was there.

Here are some websites I found at Frommer's site for further research. I haven't checked them all out but what I looked at, were helpful. There are many self-catering houses for rent all over Ireland. We rented a large 4-bedroom house in Longford County, IE, on a July, 1999, trip & the total cost was about $300 usd total for a week for the 4 of us. http://www.ireland.travel.ie http://www.townandcountry.ie http://www.irelandhotels.com http://www.family-homes.ie http://www.tourismresources.ie http://www.irelands-blue-book.ie http://www.greenbook.ie http://www.irelandexpert.com http://www.hidden-ireland.com http://www.irelandyes.com

I think, probably, like many areas, fall might be the time when the weather is most consistently warm & sunny. Crowds are gone & prices go down.

Carol Bailey cold & rainy in Madras, OR