Ways and means

FLY: Aer Lingus now flies daily from Boston and New York JFK to Shannon International Airport; you also can fly from Chicago. shannonairport.ie.

STAY: Off-season, stay in charming Ennis or Bunratty or at Dromoland Castle; in-season you may have to stay in a smaller town or look for a vacation rental. Nature lovers will like Doolin, near the Cliffs of Moher. Golfers gravitate to Lahinch, which has one of the greatest links courses in the world. More out of the way are lodgings on the Loop Head Peninsula.

CAR RENTAL: In Ireland, you must budget enough money to get full insurance coverage on your car. Your credit card car-rental insurance won’t work.

ITINERARY: Plan where you want to go, then cut the itinerary in half. Don’t drive too far each day; what looks like a highway on a map is actually a winding two-lane road. What looks like a two lane road may be one lane.

TOURS: Most escorted tours of Ireland try to cover way too much ground. Look for something like the small-group West Coast and Islands Tour through Minnesota-based Celtic Journeys, celtic-journeys.com/wawwest.htm.

MONEY: Ireland uses the euro, which currently is at a decent exchange rate of $1.38 to 1 euro. Get money from the ATM when you arrive at the airport in Ireland.

FROM SHANNON ONWARD: Use Shannon International Airport as a good jumping-off point for Britain and Europe. I flew onward to London Gatwick on Ryanair for $100 round-trip. Ryanair also now allows a free carry-on bag (ryanair.com). Aer Lingus also flies to Europe and Britain from Shannon (aerlingus.com).

READ: Booking Passage: We Irish and Americans by Thomas Lynch (W.W. Norton & Co., $14.95) is his memoir about west Clare: “Ireland happened to Big Pat in 1992 the way it happened to me in 1970, as a whole body, blood borne, core experience, an echo thumping in the cardiovascular pulse of things.” FOR MORE: Clare.ie, discoverireland.ie, shannonheritage.com.