My wife and I did a nine-day tour in Kerry, Galway, and Mayo this summer. We booked a self-guided tour through Iron Donkey, with a couple of modifications from their standard routes, and we were very pleased. We took a bus from Shannon to our first overnight, and then after our last day of cycling we took the bus from Westport to Shannon (changing in Galway City). It was a great trip despite an uneven contest between Irish roads and the first set of tires I had.... I had no problem riding on the country lanes; when we did encounter drivers they were careful and courteous. For more details you can take a look at my tour journal on Crazyguyonabike.com.