A Taste of Ireland

July 31 - August 14, 2010
Booking Info or Contact Us

Traditional Aran Home This tour is designed to provide the traveler with a bird's-eye view of rural Ireland not usually experienced by traditional tour packages. Our goal is to learn firsthand about the culture, tradition, history (and prehistory), music, art, and lifestyle of those people still living in the Irish countryside. Although we will visit a few cities to learn more about Irish history, our main focus will be on the non-urban Irish citizens and how they maintain ancient traditions in a very modern world. A tentative itinerary appears below.

Optional three-day excursions to Dublin and environs (or to any other Irish city or region) can be added to any of our scheduled tours. Please contact us for details.

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrive in Shannon.
On our first day, we will explore the wonders of the Burren, a karstic topography or limestone pavements and caves. Stops on this part of the adventure may include: Cliffs of Moher & O'Brien's Tower, Lisdoonvarna (Burren Smokehouse and lunch), Kilfenora Cathedral & High Crosses, Poulnabrone Dolmen, Burren Exposure, Black's Head, and Connemara Marble Centre. Our goal on the first day is Wellfield Farmhouse, Oughterard, Co. Galway, where our hosts, Pat & Mary Rattigan, welcome us for our first few days in the country.

Day 2 - Connemara
We'll spend an exciting day exploring the wonders of Connemara. Stops include: Aughnanure Castle, Twelve Bens, Recess, Kylemore Abbey & Victorian Gardens, the seaside village of Clifden, Dan O'Hara's Connemara Heritage and History Centre. We may even find a little time to "mine" some Connemara marble at an abandoned quarry.

Day 3 - Galway City
Our adventure today takes us to Galway City by way of the craft village of Spiddal on the northern coast of Galway Bay. After a full day in Galway, we will attend the Mediaeval Banquet at Dunguaire Castle near Kinvara on the south side of the bay.

Day 4 - Counties Mayo and Sligo
We start with a visit to Ashford Castle and the village of Cong, where the Maureen O'Hara/Barry Fitzgerald/John Wayne classic about Ireland, "The Quiet Man," was filmed. Cong Abbey is in the village as well. From Cong, our adventure takes us across Mayo and into Sligo. Our home for the Sligo portion of the adventure will be Ardtarmon House on the Drumcliff Peninsula north of Sligo Bay, where we will be greeted by hosts Charles and Christa Henry.

Day 5 - Sligo
Here in the lands of faeries and scholars we will spend a few days exploring ancient landscapes and visiting places memorialized in the poetry of Nobel laureate, William Butler Yeats. We start our day with the raconteur and woodcarver, Michael Quirke. After Michael has filled our heads with stories of legendary heroes who still haunt Ben Bulben and Knocknarea, we visit Sligo Abbey, the Famine Graveyard, and Rosses Point.

Day 6 - Yeats Country
Today we "get up close and personal" with Yeats Country, visiting Lissadell House, Drumcliff Churchyard, Glencar Falls, Parkes Castle on Lough Gill, and the Hazelwood Forest.

Day 7 - Donegal
Onwards to Donegal. Along the way we visit Creevykeel Court Tomb, the Parian China Factory at Belleek in Co. Fermanagh, Donegal Castle, and the fishing village of Killybegs. Millstone Guesthouse in Gleann Cholm Cille, Co. Donegal is our resting place for the next few days. Geraldine and Sean Byrne and their children welcome us to this rural stop.

Day 8 - St. Columba and the Ulster Folk Village
Today provides a good day to explore the turas, or pilgrimage round, of St. Columba, which includes standing stones, church ruins, and a climb to the saint's holy well. The Ulster Folk Village provides insight into three centuries of Irish home life. Treks to megalithic monuments give us a sense of 7000 years of continuous occupation in this remote valley.

Day 9 - Derry
Derry is where Columba founded his first monastery in the oak grove (Doire) sacred to the ancient Druids. We will spend the next few days in Northern Ireland. One of the last remaining complete mediaeval walls surrounds the city center. We will walk the wall, visit the Guildhall, and journey to the Bogside to see some of Ireland's most famous graffiti art. A few hours in the O'Donnell Tower Museum gives a good sense of how Derry became the home to the modern Irish Civil Rights Movement. Old Saddler's House in Great James Street provides a welcome billet in the City Centre. Joan and Peter Pyne are our able and affable hosts.

Day 10 - Co. Antrim's North Coast
We'll travel across the North Antrim Coast with stops at Mussenden Temple in Downhill Demesne, Hezlett House and Dunluce Castle. Hilary Taggart welcomes us to Montalto House in Bushmills.

Day 11 - Co. Antrim to Co. Louth
Lessons on ancient geology as we visit the Giant's Causeway (a World Heritage site) and the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Bushmills Distillery, the oldest licensed distillery in the world, is a stop where we learn about the production of Irish whiskey. After our adventures in Bushmills, we turn south across the Glens of Antrim and return to the Republic. Our goal this night is Carraig Mor, the farmhouse of Sheila and Seamus Magennis near Ardee, Co. Louth.

Day 12 - Newgrange and Dublin
Our adventure brings us to another World Heritage site at Newgrange, an ancient passage tomb older than Egypt's pyramids. Other Boyne Valley sites on our agenda this day are Old Mellifont Abbey and the High Crosses at Monasterboice. Evening will find us in Dublin.

Day 13 - Dublin
A walking tour of Dublin, which will include visits to Grafton Street, Trinity College, the Garden of Remembrance, the General Post Office (GPO), and a tour of Kilmainham Gaol.

Day 14 - Ennis, Co. Clare
We'll head back across the island to Ennis in Co. Clare. Stops along the way include Powerscourt Gardens and the Rock of Cashel. Declan Barron is our host at Newpark House, a farmstead in the heart of Ennis Town.

The final morning finds us happily exhausted and full of Irish culture as we leave for home from Shannon Airport.

"This letter is to tell you and anyone else who might inquire how much Judy and I enjoyed the 'Taste of Ireland' tour we took with you in August 2008. The tour was everything you advertised and everything we hoped for — scenic, relaxing, educational, and an introduction to out-of-the-way places that are the true Ireland of the past. We think that without your guidance we would have driven right past some of the things we found most memorable — from Neolithic tombs to a storytelling woodcarver to a B&B with the well of a saint in its pasture. As a history buff, I particularly appreciate your knowledge of the history that surrounds the places we visited, while Judy liked the feeling of being pampered with your handling of every detail of the trip. Most of all, we appreciate your ability and willingness to tweak the tour 'on-the-fly' to accomodate both the weather and desires of our particular group.

Thank you for a wonderful experience."

The Ferrills, 2008

These itineraries are based on our experiences, but Sam is quite flexible and we try to keep our tours relaxed and stress-free. If group members wish to make reasonable changes to our plans or can suggest more appropriate alternatives for our visits, we will consider all suggestions. Some days (not travel days, of course), participants may wish to stay in the farmhouse B&Bs and relax; anyone who wants or needs to rest is encouraged to do so.

Please remember that tour itineraries may be changed based on weather conditions, accommodation availability, and/or venue opening times. If changes are made based on these factors, Rising Road Tours makes every effort to reschedule events or to replace them with experiences of equal or greater interest.

Our goal is to offer our guests an experience of Ireland that is relaxed and pleasant.
If this looks like the tour for you, contact us today.

Rising Road Tours
828-648-8893 (Tel) ~ 888-648-8893 (Toll-free) ~ 888-371-8895 (fax)
sam@risingroadtours.com

P.O.Box 9322, Moscow, ID 83843 USA