Hi Yvonne and RW and welcome! I see you are both new to the site and you are most welcome here.
There's nothing more delightful than a cavalier puppy (except lots of cavalier puppies!). Yvonne, I have suggestions on what to do if you are looking for a puppy in the Library section of the site. In Ireland, I recommend only using breeders recommended by the cavalier breed club. You can find them listed at
www.ikc.ie under 'Buying a Dog'; if you ring they weill let you know who currently has or is expecting litters. Be aware though that being referenced by the breed club is only an indication that they recognise the breeder and not of the quality of their puppies or whether they do any health testing (sadly, almost no one in Ireland follows the internationally-recommended heart breeding protocols, so it will be difficult to find anyone who only breeds dogs that are heart-murmur free and whose parents are also known to be heart-murmur free still at age 5. Most cavaliers will ultimately succumb to mitral valve (heart) disease, with 50% having murmurs by age 5, so this is an important indicator of the longevity of a cavalier's lines and the likelihood that your pup will have as long and healthy a life as possible. I'd certainly recommend asking the breed club contact if they can offer the names of breeders who are known to do cardiac testing and follow the heart breeding protocols.
I'd absolutely avoid any listing for puppies in the Buy& Sell as few reputable breeders will list puppies in such a place and the majority of these are backyard bred with no regard for health or quality, or are being offered by brokers for puppy farms (see my puppy farm section at the bottom of the site to understand why you should avoid such puppies). Brokers are very adept at making it look like they are actual breeders but tip-offs are they will offer to come meet you with puppies or will bring the puppy alone to meet you in a room in their house and won't have the rest of the litter or the mother; you should always ask to see the mother.
I'd ask if the breeder shows their dogs as well as this is a strong indication of better quality dogs as they will have to be breeding acccording to the best standards of appearance for the breed. But that still is not an indication that they breed for health so you need to do your research in this area. There's a huge Dublin dog show just after Christmas which is a good time to get to know some of the show kennels names and even chat a bit with some of the breeders; also to see lots of cavaliers and see if this is the breed for you. The cavaliers are always one of the fiirst breeds on, so be sure to get there at the very start of the first day! I'll post more info when I have it on the show.
I don't allow puppies to be advertised here or offered for sale so any further discussions on possible breeders and puppies should be done by PMs (personal messages) if people want to contact you. I do list cavaliers that come into rescue in the breed rescue section, but these are never ppuppies and rarely young dogs either.
You'll have plenty of people here to answer all your questions on owning (and being owned by) a cavalier! cavtiny