Advance booking required?

Accommodation bookings are low in Ireland at the moment but you may be challenged in Dublin and Galway (Dublin because it is where everyone goes and Galway because it has, reportedly, been less impacted by tourist numbers falling - they have a festival every weekend). Price rises and quality falls if you leave everything to chance. I would suggest booking a couple of nights at first and sniffing the wind to see if you are going to encounter problems - chat to other travellers and hostel owners/workers for their opinion.

In short, you should not need to book more than a day or two in advance but do talk to other travellers who may be coming from the direction you are going.

You can hire automatics if you so desire..

Hi,

normally it's not neccessary to book in advance. But now, during the summer season, it can happen that hostels are booked out, especially in Galway and especially on the weekends since Galway is very popular with tourists and Irish people alike and there are not that many hostels there. Don't stay at the Salmon Weir Hostel in Galway, that was really not good.
I recommend at least a day trip (but you can also stay overnight) to the Aran Islands. And even if it's windy - don't forget your sun blocker - I did last year around this time and only realized that I had gotten sunburned later.

Buseireann is a busservice you can get all through Ireland with. Buying a ticket online and printing it out is a bit cheaper than buying it directly from the driver. You can get off the bus at stops to visit places/castles and take the next one to your destination.

Can't really recommend driving a car in Ireland - outside of Dublin the streets are not very good. But if you want to hire a car - they have automatics, but they are expensive.

Enjoy your time in Ireland. I always loved it there.