Sacred Journeys: Ireland ~ Itinerary
August 24
Thursday Overnight in Westin Hotel Dublin Arrive to Dublin at 8.00 am
Transfer to Hotel. Hotel check in is usually 2.00 pm. We will endeavour to obtain as early check in as possible for the group.
Check into hotel. Relax and freshen up and have early lunch in any of the restaurants nearby.
Afternoon Excursion: 2.00pm
Coach drive to Glendalough, Co Wicklow which is approx 40 min drive from Dublin.
St. Kevin founded this early Christian monastic site in the 6th century. Set in a glaciated valley with two lakes, the monastic remains include a superb round tower, stone churches and decorated crosses. Kevin is thought to have come from the more fertile lands of County Kildare and like many other men of sanctity in early times, desired solitude for his life of prayer and contemplation. Thus he withdrew into the thinly peopled mountains and set up his hermitage at Glendalough.
From Glendalough, travel onwards back towards Dublin and time permitting visit Powerscourt Townhouse and Gardens which reflects centuries of history as the site dates back to the castle of c.1300. It contains some of the finest 18th century interiors in Ireland. The Gardens incorporate 45 acres of beautifully landscaped land with a blend end of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statuary and ornamental lakes together with secret hollows, rambling walks, walled gardens and over 200 variations of trees and shrubs.
Return to Dublin for an evening of leisure. Dinner Independent. Suggestions of things to do in the evening: Zozimus Tour of Dublin- Walking Tour of Dublin. Pub Tour of Literary Dublin Theatres Nearby: Abbey Theatre/Olympia Theatre, Gate Theatre Dublin Writers Museum
August 25
Friday Overnight in Westin Hotel Dublin
7.30 am: Breakfast at Hotel
9.00am: Visit to Trinity College, Dublin (4 min walk from hotel).
View the Famous Book of Kells housed in Trinity College
The Book of Kells is one of the most famous books in the history of the world and was completed in about 800 AD.
The vellum (calfskin) manuscript contains transcriptions of the four Gospels, lavishly illustrated and ornamented. It is the most elaborate manuscript of its kind to survive from the early Middle Ages. The Book of Kells contains 680 pages (or 340 folios). Just two of the pages are without ornament, while about thirty folios, including some major.
From Trinity College, Coach will take the group to St Patricks Cathedral which is one of the largest cathedrals in Ireland, where cathedrals tend to be smaller than those on the continent. It is 91 metres long externally and the nave is 17 metres high. Built in an early English gothic style the cathedral has heavy buttressing and stout walls.
Internally it is decorated with memorials and monuments to important families and individuals connected to the cathedral. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels was Dean of the cathedral for many years and his portrait shows St Patrick's in the background.
Coach will drop the Group back at Kilkenny Design Centre (opposite Trinity College) to have lunch and shopping at leisure.
Group will make their way back to the hotel at leisure.
5.30 pm: Workshop with Caroline Myss
8.00 pm: Dinner Together
August 26
Saturday Slieve Donard Hotel, Newcastle, Co Armagh Breakfast at Hotel and Check out. Today the coach will drive north from Dublin to Co Armagh. En route stop and see Mellifont Abbey - the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland founded in 1142 by St. Malachy of Armagh, its most unusual feature is the octagonal Lavabo c.1200. The Visitor Centre houses an interesting exhibition on the work of masons in the Middle Ages with fine examples of their craft on display.
From Mellifont visit Faughart, Dundalk. (1 hour drive)
Situated 5km from Dundalk, the hill of Faughart is one of the great ancient and historical sites of North Louth, including an early Christian ecclesiastical foundation associated with Saint Brigid, a Norman motte-castle and a medieval church ruin.
This site is an exalted place or sacred place. Each year pilgrims come for healing and gather for prayer around the Healing Stones in Lower Faughert. Within the graveyard is found Saint Brigid's Well, the circular base of an old, probably Celtic cross and a curious horseshoe shaped mound similar to the cells shown on old maps of Saint Patrick's Purgatory on Lough Derg.
Lunch stop along the way in a hotel in Dundalk.
Cross the Border into Newry and from Newry onwards to Downpatrick
Arrive to to St Patrick's Centre Downpatrick and learn about the History of St Patrick The Centre is a new and exciting interpretative centre telling the fascinating story of St Patrick.
From Downpatrick travel to Slieve Donard Hotel and and check into this beautiful, relaxing hotel nestled at the foot of the Mourne Mountains..
Dinner Independent at hotel or at some of the nearby ones in Newcastle.
Evening Time (after dinner) at the Hotel: Irish Musical Entertainment incorporating Irish Musicians and Irish Dancers.
August 27
Sunday Armagh City Hotel and Seagoe Hotel, Armagh Breakfast at Hotel and check out.
Drive to Navan Fort for Visit of this site with lunch afterwards at Navan Fort.
Navan Fort is a large earthwork of circular plan surrounding the summit of a drumlin in pleasant rolling countryside. The site, a pagan sanctuary, is some 240m in internal diameter. Where best preserved on the west, the ditch is 4m deep and the external embankment 15m wide and 4m high. The impressive earthwork encloses two monuments on the hilltop, a ring barrow (Iron Age burial site) and a large mound. Excavations in the 1960s revealed that the mound was a composite structure built in 95 BC at the end of a long sequence of earlier activity. Recent excavations demonstrated that the main enclosure was also built in the 90s BC.
After lunch, drive from Navan Fort to Armagh and visit the two Cathedrals in Armagh City with guided tours.
On to hotels for check in.
The overnight for the group this evening is: Armagh City Hotel and the Seagoe Hotel. (Split group).
Evening Time: Dinner Independent.
August 28
Monday City Hotel Derry Breakfast at Hotel and check out.
Today group will drive from Armagh to Derry City. Route will be about 1.5 hrs. Arrive to Derry City and take a Guided Tour of the Walls of Derry which classed as the best preserved set of Walls in all of Europe.
Among the many historic monuments in Derry, the massive city Walls on the west bank of the River Foyle are the most striking and memorable. Built between 1614 and 1619, the original Walls are almost perfectly preserved today, making Derry one of the finest examples of a walled city in Europe. Using earth, lime and local stone (some from ruined medieval monastery buildings) Peter Benson from London skillfully constructed the thick defensive ramparts and angular artillery bastions following closely the design of Sir Edward Doddington of Dungiven.
Lunch at leisure.
After Lunch visit the Tower Museum located right in the centre of Derry. This museum tells the fascinating story of Derry going from the pre Christian Times right to the present day including information on the naming of the City, building of the Walls, Siege of the City and information regarding the emigration of people to the USA. The Museum visit complements the Walled City Tour very well.
Onward to hotel for check in and relaxation.
Evening and dinner at leisure
August 29
Tuesday Breakfast at hotel and check out.
Travel from Derry to Sligo. En route visit CreevKeel and Yeats Grave.
Creevy Keel
A magnificent, well presented full-court tomb, restored after excavation in 1935 and protected by a modern wall. One of the more accessible monuments of its type, it is situated at the rear of a cottage on the east side of the Bundoran-Sligo road, near the hamlet of Creevykeel. In addition to the main gallery and to the west of it, are three small burial chambers set into the sides of the cairn. These are seemingly contemporary with the main tomb. In Early Christian times the monuments appear to have been used for domestic purposes, when a drying kiln was built in the court. Part of the walling of this structure survives.
Yeats Grave
William Butler Yeats is buried in the Protestant churchyard, Drumcliff, Co. Sligo, Ireland
The grave, with its simple headstone, lies within the grounds of an austere 19th Century churchyard. Yeats's grandfather had been the rector at Drumcliff between 1811-46.Yeats died in the South of France on 28 January 1939 and was buried at Roquebrune Cemetery. However, in 1948 his body was exhumed and brought back to Drumcliff. He was buried within sight of the mountain Ben Bulben - as he had requested in his last poem. The final 3 lines of the poem are inscribed on his headstone.
Lunch en route.
From Yeats Grave drive to Sligo Town and check into the Sligo Radisson Hotel.
6.00 pm: Workshop with Caroline
8.30 pm: Dinner together at Hotel.
August 30
Wednesday Galway Great Southern Breakfast at Hotel and check out.
Depart from Sligo to travel to Galway with Stops at Kylemore Abbey for visit and Lunch.
Visit the Victoria Abbey, Gothic Church and the Walled Gardens. The Visitor can admire the detailed exterior and interior of this 'miniature cathedral'. The exterior, built in grey limestone, shows impressive, projecting corner buttresses and angelic gargoyles. The interior is embellished with stunning sand-coloured limestone carvings. The impressive gothic arches that form the ceiling are supported by a variety of Irish marble columns. In the south transept a beautiful stained glass window depicts the five graces, Fortitude, Faith, Charity, Hope and Chastity. Abbey is a working Abbey
From Kylelmore Abbey, travel through Connemara into Galway City for check into hotel.
Remainder of the afternoon free to enjoy the sights of Galway City.
Dinner at leisure in Galway City.
Things to do in Galway City
Take a walking Tour of the City with local guide
Musuems/Art Galleries/Shopping
August 31
Thursday Early breakfast at hotel and departure for Aran Islands.
Coach will leave the hotel at 8.15 am.
Drive to Rossaveal outside of Galway (1 hour) to take a Ferry to the Famous Aran Island.
The Ferry lasts 40 mins. Ferry Departs at 10.00 am.
The Island's peace and tranquility envelop body and soul like a soothing balm. Traffic jams are a distant memory and quiet winding byways lead you to all corners of the island.
Inis Mor is the largest of the three islands. It's principal port and village is Kilronan. It has a population of 900 spread over 14 communities.
Upon arrival at the Island, half the group will walk to the Heritage Centre (10 min walk) to learn about the historical aspects of the islands and how people lived on the Islands in years gone by. The second half of the group will be taken by small coaches for a tour of the island and to visit the historical site of Dun Aonghus. This is a very large and impressive stone Fort standing on a cliff top, almost 300 ft above sea level. It is in the hill fort tradition and consists of four sets of dry-stone walls and a defensive feature known as 'cheveaux de frise' bands of stone standing on edge.
The Remaining half of the group will then be taken from the Heritage Centre to join the rest of the group at Dun Aonghus and have a tour of the island by coach. There are three cafes at Dun Aonghus and the group can have lunch at these cafes at leisure.
After lunch the group will be free to walk and stroll around the island.
The Ferry will return at 5.00 pm back to the mainland.
Anticpated time to be back at the hotel will be 6.30 pm.
September 1
Friday Breakfast at Hotel and check out.
Travel from Galway to Killarney via the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren.
Lunch en route in Ennis
Cliffs of Moher are situated in County Clare and bordering the Burren Area, they are one of Ireland's most spectacular sights. Standing 230 metres above the ground at their highest point and 8km long, the Cliffs boast one of the most amazing views in Ireland. On a clear day, the Aran Islands are visible in Galway Bay as well as the valleys and hills of Connemara.
Arrive to Killarney and check into the Killarney Great Southern
Dinner Independent.
September 2
Saturday Breakfast at Hotel
Today tour the Dingle Penninsula.
The Blasket Centre in Dùn Chaoin, on the tip of the Dingle Peninsula, celebrates the story of the Blasket Islanders, the unique literary achievements of the island writers and their native language, culture and tradition. Sadly the Great Blasket was abandoned in 1953 as a result of the decline of its once vibrant population.
En route to the Blasket Centre stop at Dingle and stagger the groups so the full group does not arrive at the same time.
Lunch at Dingle or the Centre.
Return to Killarney in the afternoon.
6.00 pm: Workshop with Caroline Myss.
8.30pm: Dinner at Hotel.