A guide to what
we might spend.

How the guide works.

The notebook starts with one traveller, flexible dates and a planning group of 10. You can choose 5, 10 or 15 for the overall group. That is context for the trip, not an attendance forecast or a divisor for bus fares. No paid activities or tango arrangements are selected for you.

Your travelling party and the overall planning group are separate counts. A shared-room price is incomplete for a solo or odd-sized party until sharing is addressed. If people in your party need different arrangements, the overall party total remains to confirm.

Unknown costs stay visible as “To confirm”. The displayed amount then becomes a known-cost subtotal, rather than a complete price. Own accommodation is a separate unpriced expense. Flights, airport-specific fees, baggage, lunches, drinks, insurance and personal spending are outside the guide. Optional tango arrangements are also excluded and would need their own agreed quote.

Accommodation with breakfast

Working per-person nightly allowances: Donegal €110 sharing / €170 single; Sligo €115 sharing / €180 single; Mayo €118 sharing / €176 single; Galway €131 sharing / €195 single; Clare €110 sharing / €170 single; Kerry €127 sharing / €188 single. Sharing assumes two adults per twin/double room; single is the full sole-occupancy room cost. Two nights, or three for a Monday return. No hotel has quoted or held these rooms.

Two shared dinners

€75 per person for the weekend. A separate allowance from room and breakfast. Sunday-night dinner is not included.

Return airport travel by public transport

Editorial per-person return allowances for a future trip: Donegal €40–€55; Sligo €30–€40; Mayo €20–€25; Galway €30–€40; Clare €15–€20; Kerry €10–€15. Included by default and removable if you arrange your own airport travel. The amount is not divided by the group. A private vehicle needs a separate quote; check the public timetable against your flights.

Chosen main activities

The per-person working allowance on each selected card is added once. Alternatives and help-me-choose requests add no activity charge. Admission, guiding and excursion transport inclusions need a quote.

Optional social tango

An evening preference, excluded from the personal guide. Any venue, musician or DJ arrangements need a separate quote and agreement with those taking part. There are no classes. Choosing tango does not add an automatic charge or promise a free event.

Costs are calculated per person in euros, with line amounts rounded to cents. The guide model was updated on 13 October 2026. It includes accommodation with breakfast where priced, two dinners, selected activities and return public airport travel when selected. The low and high figures preserve the airport-travel range; the party guide multiplies those figures by your travelling party when its room and activity arrangements are complete. These are working allowances, not supplier quotations.

London flight ranges of £100–250 return on low-cost routes, or £150–300 for Heathrow alternatives, are broad editorial budgeting allowances. They are not current quoted return fares and can be exceeded. They exclude larger baggage, reserved seats and UK airport travel. Accommodation ranges are also budgeting assumptions around the notebook’s central rates, not a price ranking or verified hotel offers. GBP and EUR are kept separate without an assumed exchange rate.

Donegal references checked 25 October 2026: Donegal Castle €5 adult and Donegal Bay Waterbus €25 adult. Glencolmcille Folk Village’s published €8 adult reference is labelled 2025. Admission is already included where stated on a selected activity card.

Reference admissions checked 10 October 2026: Ennis Friary €5 adult / €4 group; Aillwee cave and birds of prey €28 adult; Doolin Cave €19.50 adult; Clare Museum and independent Burren National Park walking free. Céide Fields is €5 adult / €4 group. The Cliffs’ €15 adult gate reference does not apply to coach groups of 10 or more, which need a group quote. These admissions are not the full guided outing or transport price. Our activity cards use separate whole-outing allowances; do not add the admission twice. Ferry and Bunratty prices still require a dated check.

Before committing, we need to reconcile inclusions in accommodation, meal, activity and transport quotes so the same service is not charged twice. A late arrival or early departure does not automatically remove one of the two dinners. No flights, places, performers or rooms have been reserved.

Previous enquiry receipts preserve the guide that was sent at the time. A new enquiry uses the current personal guide, so an old receipt can show different assumptions and totals.

Published bus fares and future allowances.

Donegal’s route was checked on 25 October 2026; its return amount is an editorial allowance. Other fare references below were checked on 13 October 2026. They are examples of current adult return fares for the stated route and ticket basis. Our wider 2027 planning allowances are shown separately; neither a future fare nor a connection to a particular flight is guaranteed. Check the operator’s timetable and fare before booking.

Donegal · Ireland West (Knock)

Expressway 64: Ireland West Airport ↔ Donegal Town, Abbey Hotel. The direct route and timetable were checked on 25 October 2026. No dated return fare has been verified; €40–55 is an editorial planning allowance.

Future return allowance: €40–€55 per person. Allow €40–55 per adult return on scheduled Route 64. The bus takes about 2 hours 10–15 minutes, before waiting time. Match both directions to your flights; hotel connections cost extra.

Published fare reference · Route and timetable

Sligo · Ireland West (Knock)

Expressway 64: Ireland West Airport ↔ Sligo bus station. Adult return examples for 16–19 October 2026: €26.40 Best Value or €33 Standard, checked 13 October. Fares vary by date and ticket.

Future return allowance: €30–€40 per person. €30–40 per adult return on scheduled Expressway 64. A future-trip planning allowance, not a quote; match the timetable to your flights. Hotel-to-stop travel is extra.

Published fare reference · Route and timetable

Mayo · Ireland West (Knock)

Bus Éireann 440: Ireland West Airport ↔ Westport, Mill Street. Adult Return full fare €15, checked 13 October 2026 in the official fare finder. A current fare, not a quote for 2027.

Future return allowance: €20–€25 per person. €20–25 per adult return on scheduled route 440. A future-trip planning allowance, not a quote; check flight-compatible departures. Hotel-to-stop travel is extra.

Published fare reference · Route and timetable

Galway · Shannon

Expressway 51: Shannon Airport ↔ Galway bus station. Adult return examples for 16–19 October 2026: €25.60 Best Value or €32 Standard, checked 13 October. Fares vary by date and ticket.

Future return allowance: €30–€40 per person. €30–40 per adult return on scheduled Expressway 51. A future-trip planning allowance, not a quote; allow roughly two hours plus waiting. Hotel-to-stop travel is extra.

Published fare reference · Route and timetable

Clare · Shannon

Bus Éireann 330: Shannon Airport ↔ Ennis. Adult Return €11.50, checked 13 October 2026. Selecting Ennis Station returned Clare Road as the fare stage; confirm the exact stop and ticket.

Future return allowance: €15–€20 per person. €15–20 per adult return on scheduled route 330 to Ennis. A future-trip planning allowance, not a quote; confirm the stop and timetable. Hotel-to-stop travel is extra.

Published fare reference · Route and timetable

Kerry · Kerry

Bus Éireann 271: Kerry Airport ↔ Killarney bus station. Adult Return €7.80, checked 13 October 2026. Route 271 has limited departures; other routes and taxis have separate fares.

Future return allowance: €10–€15 per person. €10–15 per adult return on route 271 when its limited timetable fits your flights. A planning allowance, not a quote. A taxi or another service needs a separate price; hotel-to-stop travel is extra.

Published fare reference · Route and timetable

Bus fares apply per passenger. A smaller or larger planning group does not automatically change them. Allow extra time for waiting between services. Luggage, accessibility and limited departures need checking. The airport-to-town fare excludes any hotel connection or taxi. If you choose a taxi or private vehicle, obtain a separate price and remove the public-transport allowance from your notebook.

Travel and local references.

The original links were reviewed on 19 September 2026, with the Donegal references checked on 25 October 2026; Clare, Sligo and new Mayo references checked on 10 October 2026 and the bus fare references above checked on 13 October 2026. They establish useful places, routes and visitor information; they do not confirm availability for our weekend. Next editorial review: 10 January 2027, or earlier when dates are proposed.

Earlier candidate references remain on the county and field-guide pages, with their earlier review dates. Recheck actual flights, opening hours, access, capacity and fees before arranging anything. Approximate road durations and example activity times are planning assumptions.

Hotels are independent examples. No rooms are held; breakfast, occupancy, cancellation terms and access need checking against a quote. The Ardilaun is at Taylor’s Hill, and Westport Coast is at the Quay: neither should be treated as a promise of a town-centre base.

Places and their stories.

The original story collection was researched on Donegal: 25 October 2026 · Sligo & Clare: 10 October 2026 · other chapters: 8 September 2026. Historical accounts and folklore are distinguished in the county guides. Brown’s Foxford connection and Fahy’s Loughrea connection have primary references above. No uniquely Kerry–Argentina connection is invented.

A storyteller, musician or guide mentioned as a possibility is not a booked contributor. Existing pub sessions depend on the date and available space. Whole-group access, jive, Céilí and tango permissions require direct agreement. There are no classes in this trip idea.

Croagh Patrick is an optional demanding guided hike with a lower-level alternative. Group or abrazo photographs are an idea; there is no summit dance event. Ross Castle’s interior has steep access and limited guided-tour capacity. Island trips need a full provisional day and a weather alternative; museum Sunday hours must be checked.

Photographs and licences.

Real photographs and identified historic artwork. Images are resized, compressed and sometimes cropped to fit the design; share-alike images retain their source licence. The music-session photograph dates from 2006. Music and dance images illustrate cultural traditions; the people shown are not booked contributors to our weekend.

Your saved ideas.

Device drafts, optional account copies and sent enquiries are separate. Each sent enquiry keeps its own itemised guide snapshot. Private notebook notes and packing checks do not go into that snapshot. Read how your information is used.

Bookings, payments and app-store distribution are outside this build. The earlier native-app source archive is retained for reference; it does not include this website’s new notebook and enquiry flow.