Trip to Ireland and Scotland - Need some advice on rental car and getting over to Scotland via Ferry?

Hello all. My wife and I are going to Ireland and Scotland from August 23 - Sept 7th. We arrive in Dublin in the early AM. I think out initial plan definatly subject to change is to go to Dublin, Kilkenny, Galway up to Belfast and the ferry over to Stranraer and stay in Scotland Edinburgh we are thinking for 4 nights. So the plan would be like 3 nights in Dublin, 2 nights in Kilkenny, 2 nights in Galway, 2 nights in Belfast see the Giant Causeway etc, then 4 nights in Scotland Edinburgh then back to Dublin for the last few nights and fly out. So any information would be extremely helpful to me or advice about maybe skipping one area and going somewhere better. Here are some initial questions that would be a huge help.





We are planning on driving so we would want to get a rental car for say 9 days while in Ireland and pickup in Dublin dropoff in Belfast before we take the ferry. Can this be done and what would be the closest location to the ferry area? Any idea on US costTrip to Ireland and Scotland - Need some advice on rental car and getting over to Scotland via Ferry?
From experience, pickup in Dublin and dropoff in Belfast will be costly. In fact it is another country, and if Hertz could allow it, it's not likely for all the car rental companies.





Instead why don't you drive back to dublin, get a cheap flight to scotland with ryanair or Aerlingus and rent a car over there.... then pick up another one upon your return in Dublin...