For the solicitor the executor had to have house valued, come up with a reasonable valuation of house contents (funrniture, white goods, jewellery, garden tools etc) provide details of bank accounts, prize bonds, bank bonds etc. - all of which was pretty straightforward. The solicitor then dealt with probate, contacted the banks once probate was through and they also obtained all cash from banks/prize bonds in order to distribute same. They organised transfer of house deeds to the appropriate beneficiary and liaised with the solicitor of a second beneficiary in order to give them their inheritance. All in all it was much easier to let the solicitor do the work, with the executor just providing whatever information he needed to complete probate and distribute the estate. In a second case there were only 2 items to go through probate so the executor chose to do it themselves. It's ongoing. Probate is granted quicker via a solicitor. If you choose to do it yourself keep a photocopy of every bit of documentation you send to the probate office - even pages of forms that are not filled in. Social welfare may look for details as may the HSE if your deceased relative was in a home.
Just reading previous post, it took solicitor 6 months to obtain Grant of probate in our case so I gather it depends on assets, if you're selling the house etc. We weren't selling the house.