I was also on the Ireland trip with Clarabelle and her family. It was my mom and 8 year old niece with me. Like her, I am still thinking of the trip daily and reliving it over and over. It was just amazing. Best vacation ever for me. I'm in the midst of writing my trip report...the link is in my siggie.
My thoughts:
Accomodations - Definitely very nice and the service was great. Believe it or not I think I liked the Westin best only because sometimes I feel a little out of sorts in very fancy places like Dromoland. It just had a nice mix of being nice without being off-putting. But there is very little I could complain about regarding any of the hotels we stayed in, and I wouldn't hesitate to stay at any of them again.
Meals - They always came out hot! But seriously, I also have to agree with Clarabelle on this one. Many of my meals needed a little extra seasoning. My mom thought the same thing. But I never had a truly awful meal and I don't think I had a truly amazing meal either. But I was never hungry! Sometimes I think I just went a little more adventurous than I should have when ordering. I did have fish and chips A LOT! And every time it was very good. Breakfast was always a pretty safe meal.
Pre/post nights - We came in 1 day early and really enjoyed having that night to adjust to the time change plus the extra time to explore Dublin. If possible, I think I would do a pre-night for all my ABDs, that are in Europe anyway just for the time change alone. We also stayed one post-night. Part of me is glad and part of me wishes we hadn't done it. The trip was just so magical for us - and part of that was being with the group. Once everyone else left, the castle felt lonely, if that makes sense. However I will say that you do have very little free time at the Castle during the actually ABD portion so if you enjoy golfing, boating, fishing, tennis and spas then you might want an extra day to fit it all in.