Book the flights, book the accommodation and don’t sweat the details until you’re here.

Also don’t drive on day 1 please & thank you.

You are being overly restrictive on your movement by just staying in three counties. You have three weeks. You have been looking through the sub and seen how we recommend just a few bases, but you are taking that to an extreme. Have just a few bases, but spread them around the country, especially given the amount of time you have. So broaden your horizons a bit and venture up to Dublin and Galway, maybe Donegal and Belfast. We see people want to see the whole country in less than a week while you are seeing a small part of the country in three weeks. So shorten down some of those base stays to just two to three days and add in some more two to three day base stays around more of the country. You may never be in Ireland again and may regret having had so much time and seeing such a small area, as lovely as those places are.

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Where are you flying in from on Day 1? Assuming a UK or European origin. If so you'll be fine driving day 1. Can you drive manual transmission? If not you will need to specify automatic transmission. Driving on the Left WILL take some getting used to. Take this seriously.

Overall schedule looks good for 3 weeks, I notice no time in Dublin ... conscious decision?

With that much time, I would highly highly recommend a day trip to the Aran Islands if you can swing it any time you’re close to that area. We stayed in Doolin along the Cliffs but I think you can also jump off from Galway.

Dingle was our absolute FAVORITE and stayed a short walk out of town with gorgeous views of the rolling hills and the water.

Also don’t let the driving intimidate you too much! Just feel confident and focus/pay attention.

Also PRO TIP: the reverse in our car was the absolute weirdest where you had to push down on the shifter while pushing into reverse and I cried in a parking garage until I figured it out 😅 my only cars stateside were manual until I was 25 but had never seen where you had to push DOWN while shifting

The length of time you have indicated for each of the stays seems a bit long. Four nights in Killarney would be enough and that is probably the place with most places to see. 5/6 in glengariffe is excessive also, two is probably enough, it is also only a 45min drive from Kenmare. If you shaved a few nights off all the stops you could add another stop in Clare which is worth the visit.

Commenting on the Cork section -

Kinsale is a fabulous stop for a honeymoon

Some recommendations-

Wild wellness sauna Ohk cafe for breakfast St Francis provisions- dinner, book in advance Bastion - dinner, book in advance

Donkey sanctuary is in liscarroll, near mallow. Not an amazing stop. There is however a place you can walk alpacas by the sea in Union Hall, which is near skibbereen

A do not miss, If you can, is night time kayaking in Lough Hyne, near skib. It's stunning

One thing I'd very highly recommend. Go see a Hurling and/or Gaelic football match. It's a great time.

Kinsale was a great stay. We slept in a nearby B&B and the old Irish host was amazing. Kinsale is tiny and walkable. It has a really good morning walking tour that starts from the Tourist Info office. The star fort(s) nearby are worth a visit if you have interest and time.

A day trip to Rock of Cashel andHore Abbey COULD be worth the time from Cork area IF you like castles and ruined abbeys. I do. But we stopped here on our way south from Dublin to Kinsale, so it might not be worth the time for you.

Cobh is worth a visit if you have the time.

Lot's of people will tell you to skip Blarney Castle because it's a "tourist trap". It's not. THe castle and it's grounds are worth a stop and visit if you are interested. Kissing the stone is a fun little thing to say you dd, but not the only reason for visiting the castle as the grounds are a fine walk, but i'd reco doing it just to say you did.

Driving will take about 30-60 minutes to 'figure out' and after that (and one near miss) you will be a pro for the rest of your trip. Roundabouts might take a bit of extra attention since they are flowing the opposite direction so just take them slow and know you can circle around indefinitely if you need to to find your proper exit - so don't panic when inside one.

NOTE: The biggest lesson I learned while driving in Ireland for 17 days was: Distances in Ireland are SUPER SHORT, but drive times are SUPER LONG once you are off the motorways. Whether it's looking at all the scenery, speed limits, the twisty hilly nature of the roads, or simply getting stuck behind farm equipment, slower drivers, cyclists, or flocks of sheep, it will take you longer to get places than what Google/Apple maps estimates, ONCE YOU ARE OFF MOTORWAYS. And the best driving and scenery is all OFF the motorways :)

We stayed in Kenmare as it was less touristy than Kilarney town, but it is more of a 'workaday' kind of town and will have less to do, but has good pubs/restaurants. We stayed in another B&B here (the Thatched Roof Cottage, maybe?) and the breakfast the host made was probably the best we had on the trip.

On the drive to Kilaraney/Kenmare, stop at Muckross Abbey/House. The Abbey is worth a walkthrough, and if you are into Victorian era homes, the Muckross House is worth the walk through.

The Ring of Kerry and Kilarney area can be seen in a single LONG day, and I don't think this would be considered doing too much, just a buys packed day. This is what wee did from our day in Kenmare (but we were Also continuing on directly to Dingle and not ending back in Kenmare):

1. Kenmare Stone Circle (skip unless you REALLY like stone circles. I do :/ )
2. Moll's Gap
3. Kilarney Park - just a brief drive through parts and scenic stops: aLadies View, Torc Waterfall (just parked the car, 15 minutes walk to waterfall, no additional hikes)
4. Gap of Dunloe - this was easily a top 3 for us on our trip. Just park the car at Kate Kearney's Cottage, walk along the paved single lane road into the Gap for about a mile or so (depending on weather and how much time you want to devote here) and back to your car. Don't be a hero and drive into / through the Gap - it CAN be done (i did) but it is tight and slow and shared with pedestrians/hikers, cyclists, horse and buggies, other cars driving BOTH ways, and sheep. But there is a great little restaurant deep in the Gap that I don't recall the name of that we had a really good lunch at. IF you don't take my advice about not driving in the Gap, AND you have a good map, you can find yourself back to Moll's Gap area through the Gap. NOTE: if the day's visibility is bad (ie heavy fog), skip the Gap of Dunloe entirely this because you won't see anything.
5. Skellig Ring Road
6. Cahersiveen -> 2 Ring Stone Forts: Cahergal and Leacanabuaile - worth the detour for the stone forts, imo

(1/2 - split into 2 replies b/c of Character Limits)

Since this is a Honeymoon trip, I'd highly reco looking into staying at a Castle for a few nights in or near one of the places you're visiting. There are a number of castles / castle hotels you can stay at through out Ireland, many of which are surprisingly more affordable than you'd think.

Honestly .. driving on the wrong side isn't that big a deal. The wrong side is the easy bit - you just go the same direction as the car in front of you.

The two places I really see americans mess up, is a) roundabouts. rotaries? A huge lack of experience, plus going the wrong way on a roundabout genuinely is a mindtrip. b) and this is going to sound so very specific but its born from experience, is rolling your nose out into traffic because you're looking at the wrong lane. You look left, see nothing coming, then start rolling forward and nose into someone coming right. I have family in the US, and every single one of them has done this visiting. Pretend you're on your test and look both ways, every time. The first way you look will be the wrong way, and both ways is easier to teach than the wrong way.

I don't mean any judgement here at all - more that I think it's genuinely useful to know that the places you're most likely to mess up, are just not paying attention. Don't drive tired, don't drive angry, don't drive after a single drink - and never move until you've looked both ways.

This sounds like a bit of an essay, but everyone gets hung up on driving on the wrong side - that's the easy bit, the actual problem is that everyone else is coming from the wrong direction. Also know that can mess you up walking as much as driving - not being in a car doesn't change that the traffic is coming from the wrong side.

Anyway.

I dig that your plan is conservative, but it maybe too conservative. I'd be very tempted to bounce between week/weekend. Week in Cork, weekend in Dingle. Week somewhere bigger, weekend somewhere smaller. It's a nice cadence that'll avoid the whole trip being "driving to the next place", which is where most go wrong - but the halfway weekends give you a chance to get away from the cities.

I also dig that your specifics aren't set in stone. I recommend for each"hub" to have a list of things you want to see, and a list of Plan B's for if the weather's shite. May-June is not the worst for this, but no season is safe here.