A Fun Journey around Ireland

Sunday 15th July

Arrive at Dublin at 9.35, meet your driver guide and transfer to the city centre and check in to your hotel

A walking tour of Dublin to give you an overview of the capital.  Your guide, a local expert, is a much published writer and broadcaster on 18th century Dublin :-

Dublin has long been a centre of art and culture. Stroll through the elegant Georgian streets of Merrion and Fitzwilliam Squares, shop in the elegant emporiums of Grafton Street and Powerscourt Townhouse, explore the collections of the National Museum and National Gallery, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and many fine small private collections. The range of art and artefacts is enormous, and you will have no problem spending many hours enthralled.. The city is over a thousand years old, and many of the towns and settlements that surround it are equally ancient. Successive centuries have left their distinctive overlays of character and architecture which means that Dublin has a wealth of historically significant and fascinating sights to explore such as Dublin Castle, where the Normans ruled from the 12^th Century, St Patrick's Cathedral, of which Jonathan Swift was Dean, and Trinity College, famous for The Book of Kells and for its alumni who include Oscar Wilde and Oliver Goldsmith. And no visit to Dublin could be complete without visiting either the Old Whiskey Distillery or the Guinness Storehouse!  

A Tour of Dublin's Fair City

Bank of Ireland , College Green The prestigious officesof Ireland's national bank began life as the first purpose-built parliament house in Europe . Completed in 1739 it served as Ireland's Parliament until the Act Of Union in 1801

Trinity College Founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth. Among many famous students to attend the college were playwrights Oliver Goldsmith and Samuel Beckett. Trinity's lawns and cobbled quads provide a pleasant haven in the hearth of the city. The major attractions are the Old Library and the Book of Kells, housed in the Treasury. Exit form the front of the Trinity complex and walk from College Green to Dame St and Continue west passing:

The Olympia Theatre - Dating back to the 1800s, this Victorian music hall-style theatre has a capacity of 1,300. It presents an eclectic schedule of variety shows, musicals, operettas, concerts, ballet, comedy, and drama. As a variation, for the late-night crowd, live bands are often featured after regular programs.  A brief diversion here will bring you into the trendy Temple Bar area. Across the Street is

City Hall  Erected between 1769 and 1779, and formerly the Royal Exchange. It is a square building in Corinthian style, with three fronts of Portland stone. Since 1852, however it has been the centre of the municipal government. The interior is designed as a circle within a square, with fluted columns supporting a dome shaped roof over the central hall. The building contains many items of interest, including 102 royal charters and the mace and sword of the city. Adjacent to City Hall is:

Dublin Castle Built between 1208 and 1220, this complex represents some of the oldest surviving architecture in the city, and was the centre of English power in Ireland for over seven centuries until it was taken of by the Irish Free State in 1922. Highlights include the 13th-century record tower, the largest visible fragment of the original Norman castle and the State Apartments, once the residence of English viceroys and now the focal point for government ceremonial functions, including the inauguration of Ireland 's presidents. At this point Dame St takes on the name Lord Edward St , and leads to

St. Patrick's Cathedral Ireland's largest church was founded beside a sacred well where St. Patrick is said to have baptised converts around 450A.D. A stone slab bearing a Celtic cross and covering the well was un-earthed at the turn of the century(20th). It is now preserved in the west end of the cathedral's nave. The original building was just a wooden chapel and remained so until 1192 when Archbishop John Comyn rebuilt the cathedral in stone. Much of the present building dates back to work completed between 1254 and 1270.  Cut back to

Powerscourt Town House Centre The townhouse of a famous Georgian family. Today the building houses one of the cities nicest shopping centres. In the 1960's major restoration turned it into a centre of specialist galleries, antique shops, jewellery stalls, cafés and other shop units. Carry on to Grafton Street down the narrow Johnson Court Alley and back to the hotel.

And of course past  Molly Malone herself and back to the hotel. "In Dublins fair city, where the girls are so pretty, I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone As she wheeled her wheel-barrow, through streets broad and narrow, Crying cockles and mussels, alive, alive o!"

This afternoon there is horse racing at The Curragh, 45 minutes from Dublin , where VIP access and a tipster can be arranged.

Dinner at Johnny's Foxes, a mountain pub overlooking the city, noted for its traditional music.

Overnight at the Merrion

Monday 16th July

Malahide	The RIB	Georgian Dublin

Visit Malahide Castle , home to the Talbot family from the 12^th century till 1979.   Consider taking a ride at 40 knots in a RIB over the waves of Dublin Bay ,  Lunch at the Hop Store, followed by a VIP tour of Guinness – to experience the heart of Irish culture!  The brew master will occasionally take a tour into the factory itself – the cost is quite high - €700, but the experience is reserved for only a privileged few.

Tea and a tour of a private Georgian mansion in the city centre, restored from being a run down brothel in 1900 to its original 18^th century elegance by an Irish eccentric lady who was an account manger of a top US advertising agency.

Zozimus Ghost tour during the evening

A night time theatrical walking tour / ghost tour / street theatre / circus / comedy / whatever….. a cocktail mixture of all of the above and much, much more.
Visit the scenes of great escapes, murders and mythical happenings within the medieval city of Dublin . With the blind and ageing Zozimus as your story-teller, help him guide you down the eerie alleyways and austere courtyards.

Zozimus

Tuesday 17th July  

A day sea fishing - 

The different species of fish Dublin Bay has to offer includine codling, conger, mackerel, plaice, pollock to name but a few.

Alternatively

One unusual and possibly interesting idea is a Farm day - spend the day like an Irish farmer at the Orchard Farm in the mountains of Wicklow.  The 'Working Farm Day' is a unique and memorable experience of the countryside and the farmer's way of life. It allows people to live out their dream of being at one with nature and the land..

Joe Hayden is the owner of this beautiful farm, looking after his cows, whose milk is turned into Baileys – this is The Bailey’s Farm.  The idea of the day would be rather like a trading places game – on arriving at the farm you get a set of overalls and join Joe as he milks and feeds the cows.  Another aspect of modern farming life is a daily check on environmental integrity – ensuring that  Irish and EU laws that protect the large and unique variety of flora and fauna which exist on the farm, are upheld.  .A home cooked lunch in the big farmhouse kitchen.  After lunch escape back to ordinary life and visit the sites of the Wicklow Mountains on the way back to Dublin . 

Thursday 19th July

VIP tour of Waterford Crystal, then cruise on the Blackwater River

A private lunch could be arranged in the ancestral home of Princess Diana’s grandfather

and finally tour of the old Midleton distillery, where you will receive a personalized bottle of whiskey.  Become a qualified Irish Whiskey Taster with a presentation diploma!   Overnight at Castlemartyr, once the stately mansion  of  The Earl of Cork.  The grand 17th Century manor house within a heritage site of the original old castle, now a ruin, has been stunningly restored and it  is now an amazing  new hotel on a 250 acre park, the first of the 6 star Capella  Hotels, taking the Ritz Carlton one level higher!   The village of Castlemartyr , with its charming pubs, is a 3 minute walk from the hotel.  The hotel will have been open for 12 weeks  

Midleton Distillery	Waterford Crystal	Castle Martyr

Friday 20th July