Day 1 | Dublin to Belfast

  • Leaving Dublin we make our way to the boyne valley where we visit Newgrange, and the Megalithic tombs of 3200bc, part of irelands rich heritage and history, the valley is also famous for the battle of the Boyne that took place here between to kings back in 1690 and shred Irish history and Belfast to this very day.
  • Take a tour of the Tombs, and I will tell you all about the battle.
  • We pay a visit  to Slane castle distillery where you can have tasting or you can partake in an Irish whiskey making class
  • We can pay a visit to Drogheda and be amazed at the site of St Oliver plunketts head, form 1681 and preserved in St Peters cathedral .
  • We can have lunch in Drogheda or continue to monasterboice pub up the road or even further afield a see have many choices. And good Guinness 
  • Learn about the rich celtic monastic history of Ireland and the saints and the scholars who we visit the highest celtic cross of Ireland in the small 6th century monastery of monasterboice.
  • After this we make are way across the border and into Northern Ireland where we spend our first night in our  Belfast hotel.
  • We can have dinner in the hotel, or other arranged venue.

Day 2 | Belfast to Derry

  • In the morning we are treated to a full Irish breakfast. Or continental the choice is yours.
  • Then we make our way along the north Antrim Coast and all the way through the glens of Antrim.
  • We grab lunch today in O Connors pub in the town of Ballycastle or maybe Mc henrys. And good Guinness 
  • We visit and cross the Carrick a rede rope bridge. If you dare.i rope bridge erected by fishermen to catch the wild Atlantic salmon, but now just there for the trill of crossing over the the little island, good fun indeed.
  • We then visit the Giants causeway and hear the legend of how Finn McCool once built  his causeway all the way over the Irish Sea to bring his beautiful princess all the way back to Ireland, and how the Scottish Giant came to fight him for her.. 
  • Then it’s some more whiskey tasting at the oldest whiskey distillery in the world, the old Bushmills distillery if 1608. We can have touring or tasting .. and whiskey buying.. 
  • Then we stop for a quick wee photo of dunluce castle before we make our way into Derry for the night and our second night stay in our hotel on the banks of the lovely foyle river. A city steeped in history, which you learn about in the morning, but first you will enjoy a night craic in Peadar O Donnells with some of the best live Irish music in Ireland. And of course Guinness.
  • We will have dinner in our hotel tonight , before going out for some entertainment.

Day 3 | Derry to Donegal

  • Start the day with a full Irish breakfast in the hotel. You will then meet your guide in the hotel lobby and you will be taken on a walking tour of the city walls which date back to 1613, also famous for the siege in 1689.
  • Your guide will also take you to the free Derry corner and fill you with the history of the civil rights movement and the events of bloody Sunday, the tragedy of 31st of January 1972, and how Derry has become known as the city of peace and reconciliation through the peace process. Very interesting indeed. 
  •  We storm an Irish Celtic ring fort called Grianan an Aileach, once owned by one of the most powerful Celtic clans of ulster and Ireland, and be amazed by the view from the top. 
  • After this we Journey a little to the town of Donegal where we can have lunch in the old castle tavern or there are many more to choose from.. this will give you a little taste of a lovely little town in Ireland with lively Irish pubs, and good Guinness 
  • We then drive out to the west of Donegal and visit the slibh liag cliffs the highest accessible sea cliffs in Ireland and Europe.
  • Then we return to stay in Donegal town for the night. 
  • We can have dinner in the many pubs or restaurants in the town.

Day 4 | Donegal to Galway

  • Leaving Donegal behind we head for Galway. With just a few little stops along the way.
  • We pay a visit to the grave of Ireland’s national poet, the great Nobel prize-winning William Butler Yeats, and be beguiled bosom of his beautiful love poems and stories of the little people and the fairies. 
  • We can stop off in Sligo city and have lunch and a pint of good Guinness.
  • After lunch, we have options to soak in a seaweed bath or take a hike up to knocknaree and the ancient tomb of queen mauve of Connaught, who once fought the greatest Celtic warrior Ireland was ever to see, and hear the tales of the Irish myology and the cattle raid of Cooley bay. The greatest battle ever in Ireland dates back to early bc: 
  • Then we make our way to Galway city and to the city of the tribes or Ireland’s bohemian party capital, where you can head down shop street and get some fish and chips in the quays bar and restaurant or pizza in Monroes and some greasy live Irish music in taffes bar.
  • We spend the night in our hotel pretty much the city center of one of Ireland’s liveliest towns.

Day 5 | Galway to Dingle

  • Today it’s all about amazing coastal drives, but your full Irish breakfast first.
  • Stop for a few photos of Dungaire Castle 1557.
  • Check out Corcromroe Abbey 1161 and home to the grave of a powerful Irish king. 
  • We might even have time for chocolate and the hazel top mountain farm and the chocolate factory.
  • We hug the wild Atlantic way all the way to the Burren, Ireland’s lunar landscape, of the limestone plateau, 250sq km of karst landscape, it’s an amazing coastline, 
  • This takes us to Doolin and to my great friends in Mc Gann’s pub for lunch, beef, and Guinness stew or again fish and chips, the fish fresh from the ocean and the spuds fresh from the fields. And of course the best Guinness you’ll find in Ireland. But not too many cliffs are next.
  • This is a highlight for lots of people, and rightly so, so to try and make it special we will try and avoid the crowds, I know a little off-the-beaten-track car park, and if I can arrange it, you will get to see the cliffs form a different perspective than lots of people ever do, and in a more relaxed and less crowded environment. But either way, they are something special, this will be our main stop of the day, 
  • So on we go to the kingdom of Kerry, taking in Connors pass as we drive into dingle town for the night and a great night of Irish music in the An Droichead Beg pub (little bridge in English) you are now in an Irish-speaking region of Ireland known as a Gaeltacht, where if you speak Irish to the locals they’ll speak it back to you, ill ah e you well free by the time we get there. 
  • We will grab dinner along the way, or in. Dingle town
  • We stay in the dingle for the night. 

Day 6 | Dingle to Killarney

  • Full Irish breakfast at your hotel. 
  • Today just sit back and relax and take in what is the beauty of the sea head drive, absolutely spectacular, and by far my favourite drive in. All of Ireland, hear the legend of the sleeping Giant and the land Tir na Og, and how Ossian the son of the legendary  Finn McCool galloped across the ocean to a magical land to take princess Niamh back to Ireland
  • We can visit either dunquinn harbour and beach or visit the Gallarus oratory, said to be the smallest church in Ireland and waterproof since the 6th century, and yet built and never using any mortar. 
  • Then it’s back into the dingle for lunch, fish and Chips is always good in a fishing port, or we can go to Sammy’s and have a pint on the Inch beach. 
  • We spend the night in Killarney, getting in early to explore the town and getting ready for the show in the IEC, a night of Celtic music and traditional Irish dancing all set to a lovely Irish story of Irish Emigration.

Day 7 | Killarney to The Ring of Kerry

  • After our breakfast, you climb on board a Jarvey or also known as a Jaunting car, or horse-drawn carriage with your fully unique Irish master at the reins will whisk you off into the Killarney national park, 25,425 acres of diverse ecology and absolute beauty, of oak and yew forests of international importance. All at the foot of Ireland’s highest mountains and surrounded by the lakes of Killarney, your guide will fill you in on all the local folklore and craic.
  • We go on a scenic drive along what’s known as the Ring of Kerry. 
  • Our first stop is to visit a sheepdog demonstration, where you experience a real Irish farmer and his sheepdog at work. learn about the different breeds of Irish sheep and also irish sheepdogs. Really a really entertaining farmer too, he will make you laugh. 
  • We pass the puck fair and king puck, you’ll find out don’t worry. It involves a Goat, a great story in itself. 
  • We say hello to Charlie Chaplin at Waterville. 
  • We stroll along Derrynanne beach and hear the stories of how Daniel of Connell liberated the Catholics of Ireland from some of the harshest penal laws. 
  • We can have lunch in Derrynanne’s’s house or we can continue to Sneem and sit on the stone outside Dan Murphy’s door, learn the song, and enjoy a lunchtime pint of Guinness. There are lots of little cafes and pubs to choose from. 
  • Then sit back as I take you back into Killarney for your second night’s craic, this time you gotta check out the grand hotel or o Connors. 
  • There are many places we can choose for dinner or can be arranged at your hotel.

Day 8 | Killarney to Dublin

  • As the song would say Hup the hare and hunt it down the rocky road to Dublin
  • But first, you will have your breakfast in your hotel, and build up your strength to storm the castle.
  • Blarney castle that is, the stronghold of the Mccarthys, whereupon climbing the winding staircase, you will have the opportunity to kiss the Blarney stone and receive the Gift of the Gab, or as we Irish like to call it the tongue of ten thousand men, were after kissing the stone you can tell anyone anything and they will believe you. 
  • This will be our major stop of the day for the castle, lunch, and all the shopping you need to do for any gifts or presents you need on your journey, as there will be time to shop in the barney wooden mills the largest Irish shop in the world, everything green you could ever have dreamed of. There is also Guinness. 
  • We then make our way to the Rock of Cashel and home to the High Kings Of the Province Munster, the Mc Carthy, going right back to the 3rd century AD, then taken over by the O” briens and recaptured again by the McCarthys, but eventually falling to the English in 1647.
  • We spend a lovely relaxing afternoon here before we make our way back to Dublin and to the end of your tour, with good memories and a wealth of Knowledge about this, land Irish come from and love. 
  • If we have time I’ll throw in one last very authentic iris pub for one more pint of Guinness. Before we hit Dublin and back to your hotel or if it’s the Airport, whichever we arrange.
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