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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 onto our hotel for the night.
DAY
3 THE RING OF KERRY
Today we will enjoy a leisurely
driving 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 - CLIFFS OF MOHER - GALWAY
(1 NIGHT)
We will leave Killarney and
drive to the most dramatic scenery that Ireland has to offer.
The Cliffs of Moher are a dramatic sheer rock face
rising 700 feet from the Atlantic Ocean and stretching for
five miles. We will climb to O'Brien's Tower, perched at the
very top of these, the highest cliffs in Europe. Later this
afternoon we travel to Galway, the largest city in Western
Ireland. For centuries it traded with Spain, and traces of
Iberian influence can still be seen in the architecture of
the city. On our Walking Tour, we will see the famous
Spanish Arch and the Church of St. Nicholas
where tradition holds that Columbus prayed before sailing
to the New World. "
· Your Second Concert Performance will be today
DAY
5 GALWAY
-CROAGH PATRICK - KNOCK - SLIGO (1 NIGHT)
Leaving Galway this morning
we travel into a region known for its associations with William
Butler Yeats and for the unspoiled scenery of its countryside
and coastline. We will travel past Croagh Patrick, the peak
that dominates the south shore of Clew Bay. It is believed
that all the snakes in Ireland plunged to their deaths when
St. Patrick rang a bell from the south precipice. Pilgrims
climb barefoot to the summit on Garland Sunday, the last Sunday
in July. Then we journey to Knock, to visit the Basilica
of Our Lady, Queen of Ireland where an apparition was
seen of the Virgin Mary in 1879. Our final stop of the day
is Sligo, picturesquely situated on a wooded plain between
Lough Gill and the sea. Our Walking Tour will take
us to Sligo Abbey, a 13th century Dominican friary
whose ruins include a nave, choir and central tower with beautiful
examples of the art of medieval sculptors.
DAY
6 SLIGO - CLONMACNOIS - DUBLIN (3 NIGHTS)
Traveling east this morning to Dublin our first
stop will be at Clonmacnois one of Ireland's most important
early monastic settlements. Founded in 548, the surviving
structures date from the 9th century and include a cathedral,
round tower, and several tiny churches. We continue to Dublin.
Founded by the Vikings, Dublin is the vibrant modern capital
of Ireland, but it still retains the aura of old world Europe.
After time to relax, your guide will take you on an introductory
Walking Tour of Southeast Dublin. We begin outside
the Bank of Ireland, one of Dublin's most treasured landmarks,
before strolling along Grafton Street, the spine of Dublin's
most popular and stylish shopping district. After viewing
the Molly Malone statue, we continue to St. Stephen's
Green, a beautiful 22-acre park in the heart of Dublin,
which is filled with beautifully landscaped flowerbeds, fountains,
a lake and memorials to important Dubliners. Our walking tour
concludes with a walk around Merrion Square, a marvel
of Georgian architecture known for its colorful doors and
the famous literary figures that once lived here, including
Yeats and Wilde.
DAY
7 DUBLIN
Our morning begins with a visit to 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. This afternoon we visit the National
Museum, established in 1890; the museum is a reflection
of Ireland's heritage from 2000 B.C. to the present. The museum
houses many of the country's greatest historical finds, including
the Treasury Exhibit, with the Ardagh Chalice, Tara Brooch,
Cross of Cong, and an extensive exhibition of Irish Bronze
Age gold ornaments "
· Your Third Concert Performance will be today
DAY
8 DAY TRIP TO GLENDALOUGH
We leave early this morning to travel down the southern coast
of Ireland to Glendalough, one of the most important
historical sites in Ireland. Founded by St. Kevin in the 6th
century, Glendalough grew to be one of the most powerful monasteries
of the Irish Middle Ages. We stop at the Visitor's Center,
which illumines the history of Glendalough, and will explore
the cathedral, chapels, churches and round towers that remain
on the banks of Glendalough's two lovely lakes before returning
to Dublin for our last night in Ireland.
DAY
9 DEPARTURE FROM DUBLIN
Your enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as your
guide accompanies you to the airport for the return flight
home.
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