I'm another first timer from the US, starting at shiel bridge, though. As to the topic of flights over to Scotland, in my searching of flights I found it to be MUCH cheaper to fly to Dublin, then hop a RyanAir flight over to Glasgow. Like 25% cheaper, even with the cost of the RyanAir flight, which was actually really cheap.

Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus offer very competitive flights between Dublin and Scotland. Be aware that the headline price may not apply to all the flights on a given day, and that hold luggage, seat reservation, and anything else they can think of, will be an additional cost. Excess baggage charges are also very high so make sure you know the weight and dimension limits of hold and carry-on bags.

Indeed - cheap flights are not always what they seem!

As Fascinating Aida discovered