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DAY
1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight
to Ireland.
DAY
2 ARRIVE SHANNON - KILLARNEY (2 NIGHTS)
You will be met at the airport by your tour manager/guide
board your own private coach and get an immediate introduction
to the splendors of Ireland when we visit Bunratty Castle,
a formidable castle built in the 15th century, which has been
preserved just as it would have looked in the 1500s. We will
take a tour through the castle, including the Great
Hall, the Main Guard and the South Solar, before visiting
the adjoining Folk Park, which is an authentic re-creation
of life in Ireland at the turn of the 20th century. We will
continue to Killarney in its spectacular location amidst mountains,
glens and lakes and visit Muckross House. This imposing
Victorian mansion is built in the Elizabethan style, and its
elegant rooms are decorated with period furnishings. Our visit
will also include the Museum of Kerry Life,
with displays on the history of southwest Ireland, and a craft
center with numerous workshops. We then continue to our hotel
for the night.
DAY
3 THE RING OF KERRY
Today we will enjoy a leisurely tour around the
famed Ring of Kerry, a beautiful drive around the Iveragh
Peninsula. We will enjoy a splendid variety of outstanding
coastal panoramas and magnificent mountain views. During the
course of our tour, we will have the opportunity to stop and
explore many small towns and villages on the peninsula, including
Killorglin, Glenbeigh and Caherciveen. We continue
to Valentia Island, then through the Coomaskista Pass, before
stopping to visit Staigue Fort, the best preserved
Iron Age drystone fort in Ireland. Other highlights will include:
the Hog's Head, Moll's Gap, Ladies View, Torc Waterfall
and our visit to Sneem, a small village with brightly painted
cottages. In the evening we will visit a Local Folk Evening
for traditional Irish ballads, dance and folk music.
· Your First Concert Performance will be today
DAY
4 KILLARNEY - BLARNEY - CASHEL - DUBLIN
(4 NIGHTS)
This morning we travel to Blarney, where we will
visit Blarney Castle, one of the most haunting and
striking castles in Ireland. The remains of this impressive
castle include a massive square tower, with a parapet rising
83 feet, and the infamous Blarney Stone, wedged
underneath the battlements; it is traditional to kiss the
stone to ensure the gift of eloquence. We will also stroll
through the gardens and a nearby dell beside Blarney Lake,
before having the opportunity to visit Badger Cave
and adjacent dungeons, penetrating the rock at the base of
the castle. As we drive through the heart of the `Emerald
Isle' we will stop to visit the spectacular Rock of
Cashel, a monumental 12th century cathedral complex
dominating the surrounding landscape. The Rock was the stronghold
of the kings of Munster for seven centuries, and it was here
that St. Patrick converted them and made the shamrock the
emblem of Ireland. We will continue our journey to Dublin,
a city of splendid history with wide Georgian streets and
elegant squares, which was once home to such famous Irish
writers as Shaw, Joyce and Yeats.
DAY
5 DUBLIN
Today's sightseeing in Dublin will include a visit
to Dublin Castle where a fortress has stood since the
time of the Celts. The castle was once the center of English
rule in Ireland and had as notorious a reputation as the Tower
of London. We will also visit St. Patrick's Cathedral,
the national cathedral of the Church of Ireland. It is said
that St. Patrick baptized converts on this site, and consequently
a church has stood here since A.D. 450, making it the oldest
Christian site in Dublin. St. Patrick's is closely associated
with Jonathan Swift, who was dean from 1713 to 1745 and whose
tomb lies in the south aisle. Our day continues with a visit
to Trinity College, the oldest university in Ireland,
with cobbled squares, beautiful gardens, a picturesque quadrangle,
and buildings dating from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
The college is also home to the Book of Kells,
an 8th-century version of the four Gospels with elaborate
scripting and illumination
· Your Second Concert Performance will be today
DAY
6 DAY TRIP TO NEWGRANGE AND TARA
This morning we will transfer to the Irish countryside
north of Dublin to explore Ireland's ancient past. We begin
at the Hill of Tara, best remembered as the royal seat
of the high kings in the early centuries of the millennium
before Christianity came to Ireland. We will enjoy a tour
of the remains of Tara's former glories, grassy mounds, some
ancient pillar stones, and depressions where the Iron Age
ring forts stood. We will also explore the Visitor Center,
with exhibits and a stirring audiovisual presentation. We
continue with a visit to Newgrange, Ireland's best-known
prehistoric monument, and one of the archaeological wonders
of Western Europe. Built as a burial mound more than 5,000
years ago, long before the Great Pyramids and Stonehenge,
it sits atop a hill near the Boyne River. Inside, a passage
60 feet long leads to a central burial chamber with a 19-foot
ceiling. Our day concludes with a visit to Monasterboice,
founded in the 5th century by an obscure disciple of St. Patrick
named St. Buite. This is one of the most famous religious
sites in Ireland, and during our visit, we will view the roofless
round tower, as well as its greatest treasures, Muiredach's
High Cross and West Cross. We return to Dublin for
the evening.
DAY
7 DUBLIN
Our morning commences with a stroll along Wood Quay,
where the Vikings established their first permanent settlement
in Ireland, around 841 AD. We continue with a visit to Christ
Church Cathedral, Dublin's oldest building and the mother
church of the dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough in the Church
of Ireland. Our tour will be highlighted by the "leaning wall
of Dublin," the south transept, many fine 16th - 19th century
monumental sculptures and brasses, as well as The Crypt,
one of the largest medieval crypts in either Britain or Ireland.
We continue with a visit to nearby Dublinia, a historically
accurate presentation of the Old City during medieval times,
which is re-created through a series of theme exhibits, spectacles,
and experiences. Aromas will lead us on a journey through
time from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in 1170, to the
closure of the monasteries in the 1530s. We will also visit
Kilmainham Gaol which chronicles the most important
stages of Ireland's quest for independence, from the 1790s
to the 1920s. We will enjoy a guided tour of the restored
prison which will give us a vivid insight into the dark moments
suffered by famous patriots as they awaited execution or transportation
to Australia and Tasmania for their rebellious activities.
· Your Third Concert Performance will be today
DAY
8 DEPARTURE FROM DUBLIN
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as your
tour manager/guide accompanies you to the airport for the
return flight home.
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