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| Highlights Dublin, Wicklow, Glendalough, Waterford, Cobh, Ring of Kerry, Dingle Peninsula, Cliffs of Moher, Connemara, Aran Islands, Belfast, Giant’s Causeway, Newgrange |
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| Day 1: Arrive from US. Rest of day free. |
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| Day 2: Dublin City Tour – Sites included: Trinity College complex including Book of Kells and perhaps Book of Durrow (first of the great Irish illuminated manuscripts), Bank of Ireland. Walk through Georgian squares where Shaw & Wilde lived. See Grafton Street, Temple Bar area and Dublin Castle – seat of British rule until 1921. See Christchurch (or St. Patrick’s) before a trip to Guinness Brewery. Take 1 hour to see the National Museum. Check out St. Stephen’s Green and tour Newman House (or similar type house), University Church, Harcourt St., and Royal College of Surgeons (Easter Week 1916), tour Dublin Castle. |
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| Day 3: County Kildare National Stud farm & Japanese gardens, County Wicklow. Go over Wicklow mountains to Glendalough to tour St. Kevin’s Church & Cross. See Avoca Headweavers in Wicklow Mts. Visit Dunbrody famine ship at New Ross. |
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| Day 4: Waterford Visit Waterford Crystal and take the scenic route to Kilkenny City & castle. |
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| Day 5: County Cork Tour along south coast to County Cork and to Cobh. This cathedral town is from where most emigrants fled the great hunger of 1847-1850. It was also the last port of call for the Titanic. |
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| Day 6: County Cork Continue through Cork city to Blarney castle. Climb the castle to kiss the famous stone and visit woolen mills for optional shopping. Ring of Kerry. Killarney is beauty’s home with its mountains and lakes and we take time to relax in the rugged scenery of the Iveragh peninsula. Also see Kenmare. Time out for a walk/hike or resting near Killarney – perhaps visiting Mucross House & gardens by lakes. |
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| Day 7: The Dingle Peninsula This is one of the last remaining areas where the Irish language is still spoken in the homes. Take a long look at the famous Gallarus Oratory, the most perfectly preserved oratory built between the 9th and 12th centuries. Also see the Kilmalkedar Church dating from the mid-12th century. From this peninsula, we can see Blasket islands, the most westerly point of Europe which has produced many great writers. Continue to Adare Co., Limerick to see thatched houses, monasteries and abbeys. |
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| Day 8: Cliffs of Moher & Burren Cliffs of Moher which rise to 700 feet and stretch along 5 miles. The Burren landscape is unique in the world for its bare limestone slabs & wonderful flora. See the 4,000 yr. Old wedge tombs and dolmen. Travel through Kinvara to Galway. |
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| Day 9: Connemara The City of Tribes. The “Twelve Bens” and “Maam Turks” hover over vast areas of bog wilderness. This is country you visit for its scenery rather than its history. We visit Connemara, Kylemore Abbey and to Cliften. |
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| Day 10: The Aran Islands Take a ferry to spend the day on Inishmore - one of The Aran Islands. The islands geology creates one of the most distinctive landscapes in Ireland. The islands also contain a plethora of pre-Christian and early Christian remains and some of the finest archaeological sites in Europe. Not only have the works in stone survived – the islands are Irish-speaking. |
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| Day 11: Tour Cong Abbey and look at the canal where in 1840’s attempts were made as a famine relief project to dig a canal between Lough Corrib & Lough Mask – but the porosity of the rock meant that the water just drained away – left with a dry canal complete with locks. Visit Leeane’s Cultural Center which explores the history of wool, with spinning & weaving demonstrations. On to Croagh Patrick, where St. Patrick sought solitude. County Silgo to Yeat’s Grave at Drumcliff churchyard. |
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| Day 12 County Donegal: Tour County Donegal’s rugged remoteness. Travel through the green glens of Antrim and on to Belfast. Full City Tour. |
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| Day 13: Giant’s causeway – “The 8th Wonder of the World”. |
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| Day 14: Newgrange Visit Newgrange burial site and hill of Tara or St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth on our way back to Dublin. |
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| Day 15: Return Home. |
