General travel advice/decision

Hello! It's Jan 2. I am an Indian citizen in U.S. and I have to travel to India from Feb 5-20 and to Dublin, Ireland from Mar 3-8.

The issue is that I have to apply for Ireland visa and it is very less time to apply here in U.S. given that even after I apply today, I will be flying to India with my passport. The Ireland embassy says it usually takes 20 days for visa decision. I am requesting for C type visa based on an invitation letter from a big conference happening in Dublin so I am positive that visa will be approved.

So, I am thinking if I should apply for Irish visa in India by taking a visa appointment for Jan 27 and reach India early on Jan 26 itself. But then I will have to submit my passport there and if it takes longer which I am guessing it will take given the workload on visa centers in India, I will be stuck there at least until mar 2 or worse don't get the visa.

Another option is that Irish embassy told me to send my passport copy to them and go to India. They say when the decision is taken, then you can bring your passport which is very convenient but still requires me to get my visa added to my passport between Feb 20- Mar 1 and if anything goes wrong then, then I will get stuck.

It sounds like a simple decision but I am bad at making such decisions which have so many variables as I keep analyzing the effort, time and cost in each option without reaching a conclusion. So I thought if someone else can take the decision on my behalf and I can just follow. How will you plan your travel if you have a similar situation?

Also, let me know if I should provide more details.