Ireland was great! I
think we had exceptionally fine weather—didn’t rain at all for 4 of our 8 days
there, and on some “rainy” days it was tiny drops of drizzle just for a short
time. So some of the advice I read about brief showers was spot-on. Lovely people,
some great sight-seeing and of course could have spent a month and not seen
enough.

For YLF perspective:

Travel capsule worked well, and the rain jacket with hood was
perfect. I underestimated its value as a windbreaker as well, an important
layer. I wore it just about every time outdoors, meaning, think about the
outerwear because it will show more than what top I am wearing that day! A good reason to buy and wear style and colors you like. Also
wore the featherweight down a lot. What I liked was, I felt really prepared for
how cold I can run, and always dressed warm enough for me, and therefore was not afraid to be out and about.

Several folks including Joy suggested knit hat and gloves; I
found both at Target right before trip—hard to find some of these items out
season. Again, wore these a LOT. I made full peace with “hat hair” and just
enjoyed the comfort of a warm head. A good short haircut right before trip helped with
that.

Took more pants than I needed—I wore each pair, but one of them
only once. But, wore an "underlayer" with all of them.

Also the 3rd pair of shoes could have been deleted. Maybe more use if we'd had more nightime indoor "events" of any kind. The waterproof boots were
perfect for our mild hikes, often partly
on rocky “gravel” that was much larger than gravel and would have been unstable
footing with much less than an outdoor-soled type boot or shoe. The hiking low
shoes were also great and I wore them even in our brief time in Dublin walking on
pavement. Yes, a more stylish shoe would have looked good, but I just could not
pass up the total comfort, again, the feeling that my feet would not give out
on me in those shoes but might in something else.

Did not end up using the rain pants or travel umbrella.

Thanks to all who helped prepare me for the trip!