Today, we’ll leave home behind as we board our overnight international flight to Dublin.

Our local representatives will meet us at the Dublin airport. We begin our journey this morning with a stop at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The church was transitioned from a Catholic church to the Church of Ireland over the centuries. Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels and a critic of British rule was a pastor here. John Wesley spoke and administered communion here on one of his numerous visits to Ireland. Travel on to Phoenix Park. Once a private park only for titled gentry, it now serves the public as both a recreational venue and home to the Dublin Zoo. You may opt to purchase lunch here near the site of Ashtown Castle, a Norman castle keep. After a short driving tour of Dublin, we will check into our hotel for some downtime before dinner. Take the opportunity to wander the streets of Dublin in the late evening light (sunset is after 9 PM local time). Perhaps, make your way along the River Liffey to the Temple Bar area, where outdoor music can be enjoyed.

Start your day in Dublin with a walking tour of Trinity College. Founded by Queen Elizabeth I in 1592, it is the oldest college in Ireland. We’ll visit the Old Library here and see the Book of Kells, an ornately illustrated Bible produced by Celtic Monks around 800 AD. Then, onto the bus for a ride through scenic Wicklow County to Powerscourt Gardens, part of a large country manor built in the 1700s. From here, we will make our way to Glendalough, one of the most beautiful spots in all of Ireland. Here, St. Kevin founded a monastery in 498. See Celtic High Crosses and a stone-roofed church, as well as the wonderful hiking trails around the two lakes. Return to Dublin to our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Depart Dublin for southern Ireland. We’ll see the Rock of Cashel, the traditional seat of Irish kings. Here St. Patrick is thought to have converted the King of Munster. The present ruins are from structures built in the 12th and 13th centuries, during the Norman era. In Cobh, we will visit the Heritage Center. From this port, between 1845 and 1860, 2.5 million people sailed to America. If you have an ancestor who came from Ireland to America, chances are they departed from this very place. Find your family name on the archived passenger lists. We will finish our day in the port city of Kinsale and take a trip to the famed Charles Fort, one of the finest examples of a 17th-century star fort.

This morning, we will enjoy a walking tour of Kinsale. See the Norman French inscriptions in St. Multose Church, which was built in 1190, and remains in use to this day. The courthouse was used for the inquiry over the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915. Then, we’ll travel to Cork to visit Blarney Castle and Blarney Woolen Mills Shop. At the Castle of Blarney, we will see the fabled Blarney Stone. Legend says that those who kiss the stone acquire a gift of eloquence. Visit the town of Kenmare. A 5-minute walk from town takes us to one of the hundreds of stone circles that can be found in Ireland. These ceremonial sites date back as far as 5,000 BC. We will finish the day in Killarney, where we’ll check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.

Delight in some of Ireland’s most spectacular scenery as we travel around the Ring of Kerry, where the sea crashes into the soaring coastline. Weather permitting, we’ll take in a sheepdog demonstration. Stop around lunchtime in Waterville. Charlie Chaplin brought his family here in the summers. We can choose from several seafood restaurants along the shore. After lunch, we’ll visit the 19th-century Muckross House. Enjoy this magnificent Victorian mansion that is considered one of Ireland’s leading stately homes. Experience the elegance of the day when you see the elegantly furnished rooms. Downstairs, however, reveals the working conditions of the servants employed in the house. Return to Killarney for dinner and overnight.

Today, we will enjoy the beauty of the thatch-roofed streets of Adare. The church here has a Norman castle keep at its center. We will travel through the enchanting Irish countryside, an ever-changing patchwork of green and dotted with ruins, to Bunratty Castle, near the town of Limerick. Bunratty is Ireland’s most complete and authentic, elaborately furnished medieval castle. As we travel through the Burren Region, we’ll arrive at the Cliffs of Moher, sheer cliffs dropping 600 feet to the water below. One of the most impressive stretches of shoreline on the west coast of Ireland. The eroded limestone rock through the Burren has flowers popping up through the crevices. We’ll continue on to the ancient port city of Galway, where we will check into our hotel for dinner and overnight.

This morning, we will visit the Connemara Region, famous for its rugged scenery. The National Park consists of 5,000 acres, where ponies and Irish red deer roam freely. The scenic mountains, bogs, and grasslands are a feast for the eyes. The region is world-famous for its green and white marble. We’ll stop at beautiful Kylemore Abbey run by the Benedictine nuns. This granite and limestone structure is one of the most photographed buildings in the country. We will return to Galway for a walking tour of the city.

Today, we visit Clonmacnoise, an important monastic site and the burial place of kings. Among these fascinating ruins are the famous thousand-year-old cross and the most important collection of tombstones in the country. Explore the cathedral or some of the eight churches. There are two round towers to capture your imagination. Three High Crosses, two hundred graves, and the ruins of a 13th-century ringfort also remain. But it is the 10-foot South Cross, with its Passion carvings, that testifies to the high level of artistic excellence of that day. We continue across the island to Malahide Castle, set on 250 acres of parkland in the pretty seaside town of Malahide, which was both a fortress and a private home for nearly eight hundred years. The Talbot family lived here from 1185 to 1973, when the last Lord Talbot died. The house is furnished with beautiful period furniture together with an extensive collection of Irish portrait paintings, mainly from the National Gallery. Then, we check in for one last night in Dublin.

We will carry the people, beauty, and history of Ireland with us as we return home.