Not to be pedantic, but if you are booking Kilkenny because you want to see the west coast you are way off. Kilkenny is not on the west coast, it’s in the south east and it is a landlocked county it’s nowhere near the coast… Are you talking about the lyrath estate or mount juliet? Both nice hotels and Kilkenny has plenty to do but it has nothing to do with the west coast

Kilkenny is a lovely city but the transport links to the West are not very direct. I live in Galway and visit Kilkenny often and there is no easy way to drive or get there on public transport. It’s easier to get to the West from Dublin than from Kilkenny.

Day trips to the southeast coast, sure. To the west coast, definitely not.

Edit: corrected typo.

You'd be very pressed for time. Like, if you tried to do the dingle peninsula or the ring of Kerry starting from Kilkenny and get back to Kilkenny that evening, your day would be incredibly rushed and designated driver is gonna have a rough one that day. 

I work in Dublin tourism and I genuinely think 48 hours is enough for most people. You could probably shave a day off and spend an extra night  or 2 in Cork/Kerry/Galway. I know Kilkenny well as well. There isn't really enough to fill 3 days in Kilkenny alone

No, it's not a good hub to expore the west, fine for the east but pick somewhere over towards the west/south if that is the area you mainly want.

Standard jobs to see the west / southwest would be Killarney (large town, good tourist infrastructure), Dingle (small town, great character), Galway (small walkable city). Many other good options also including more to the northwest.

You won't have much chill time if you're staying in Kilkenny with the intention of exploring the West coast.

Kilkenny is lovely but it's frankly a dreadful base if you're looking to go to the West or South West.

Would recommend Galway, Doolin or Clifden if you're looking to explore the West, and Killarney or Dingle if looking to explore the South West.

Kilkenny is lovely in itself. 

But road wise it will not link you well to the west. Its a hard drive from Kilkenny to limerick. 

You need to be aiming for ennis, galway and mayo, athlone or tullamore are better options. 

Kilkenny is lovely and definitely worth a stop. But there isn't enough there to fill that much time, and it's not close enough to the west coast to be a good hub for your day trips.

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It a lot going on in Kilkenny. If you want to see the weather coast stay out west!

No, it a terrible hub to visit the west of Ireland. But ideal for visiting places in the south-east of Ireland.

If you want to vist the south-west, like Counties Kerry and Cork, say somewhere like Glengarriffe.

If you want to visit Counties Galway and Clare, which are full-on west, stay in Galway city. But check what's on when you're staying there, Galway has horse races, an arts festival, a film festival, and all these bring lots of traffic and higher hotel rates.