The Ireland package we found online (7 days accomodation, rental car/GPS, airfare for 3, etc. - for less than the price of competing airfares) included tickets to Blarney Castle and Waterford Crystal.   There were some other places in the Waterford area we wanted to see, so we daytripped to Waterford from Cork one particularly rainy day, stopping in Ardmore on the way back to look at a 9th-century frieze and soak up some of the glow from the HBO series "The Tudors."  (More about Ardmore and Gaeltacht areas later.)

The Waterford Crystal Factory is on the outskirts of Waterford town (by way of about 6,000 roundabouts, to my count).  The factory's tour is still focused on how things are made, and puts you up close to the process.  Of course you end up in the gift shop at the end … but by the time you get there, you know exactly what goes into all those vases and bowls. 

We watched as molten glass was stretched and blown into various shapes.  We saw an almost-completed pitcher thrust once more into the flames before having a dollop of glass applied to its side.  The dollop was then meticulously teased into a perfect handle by appropriately burly artisans.  We saw rows of grinding and polishing tools a-spin.  And two lucky kids got to help dispose of unsatisfactory items by smashing them in an enormous recycle bin… much to their delight and my daughter's jealous cries. 

The truth is, despite the fragility and enormous expense of every single item we passed, there were a lot of kids on our tour.  Following a quick movie/advertorial intro to the factory, they split us into groups of 20, and I counted eight kneebiters in our group.  Another mom and I renamed us the "oh god, don't touch that!" group.  But the tour guides know what they're doing, and provided enough detail to keep the adults fascinated (and calculating their home country's exchange rates) while moving quickly enough to entertain the young ones.  Not to mention providing plenty of occasions with fire and smash and glitter.  There was not one inadvertent crash or disaster among the lot of us.

We posted our daughter to our shoulders for several portions of the tour, as that kept her able to see, and beyond arms reach of the €65,000 Super-Bowl Trophy.  And we were helped in the fact that she loves glittery objects, and wanted to see Cinderella's coach, which is wisely featured near the end of the walk.

Waterford Factory has a great cafeteria as well - a smart place to grab a yogurt or a €4 sandwich.  Should your spouse have trouble finding her way out of the factory store.