The Quilt of Ireland
Ireland
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Jun 6 - Jun 19, 2026
The Quilt That is Ireland
Claire and her team stitched together a patchwork of history, culture, spectacular scenery, food, and music, threaded together with engaging guides, drivers and staff. My heart was especially touched by the people. Welcoming, kind, anxious to share and so very proud of their heritage. And those who left other countries and adopted Ireland, offered great insights as well. New best friends all. (Pretty sure I was the last one to get back in the taxi, on the bus or in the trap at every stop!)
Grouping our tour into Architecture, Geography, Culture, these are my "highlights."
St. Patrick's Cathedral is just jaw droppingly gorgeous. Kylemore Abbey and Kilkenny Castle offered insight into an elegant lifestyle that was a dramatic comparison to the humble one-room thatched roof cottages shared with livestock that were showcased in the Bog Village museum. Our first hotel, Staunton's on the Green, deserves special mention. Loved the Georgian architecture, decor, garden, food and staff. I want to live there.
Our circular route through the country gave us a real understanding of how diverse Ireland's landscape can be. Lush farmland seamed with stone walls and dotted with herds of sheep and cattle, dense forests with a plethora of wildflowers, the incredible granite domes of the Burren made way to the Stones of Viking lore and then land's end, at the Cliffs of Moher. Additionally loved the view drives-Connemara Sky Road, Ring of Kerry and the Inishmor pony and trap tour with Tom. (Shout outs to Tom, Colleen and Derrick for informative and humorous narratives.)
As an artist and calligrapher, The Book of Kells, and Trinity Library were a high point for me. The evolution of the written word from Ogham script on stone to the Illuminated Manuscripts was fascinating. Not enough time here!
Howth Castle Cooking Class -Julie and Pierre were delightful and we definitely learned some new skills. I would go back! (and would like to tour the castle)
Sheepdog experience- the border collie's command of sheep wrangling is awe-inspiring. Fun and well done.
Falconry- Another high point. Excellent presentation and extremely knowledgeable. And yes, I got to hold a PEREGRINE FALCON!
Killarney Lake by kayak- My first time in a kayak. My first time in a kayak in front of a castle. Hester and William are charming - great experience. Loved the stop at Innisfallen Island.
Taylor's Irish Night-Flatley-esque, good food and lovely combination of music, dance and history with a bit of humor.
All of the city tours were informative and helped get us acclimated. Note: Cromwell= bad.
The Ross-Maeve and Sheila our breakfast waitresses made us feel like family. We sampled MANY pubs. Loved the Guinness, the opportunity to try Irish cuisine and enjoy a wide variety of music. I cannot get the song "Grace" out of my mind, still. Not one negative comment, Claire and Team, it was the trip of a lifetime!
I will miss being told "Lovely and Brilliant" when I place my breakfast order.
I love you, Ireland, and will bask in my memories of your incredibly green quilted country.
Renee'
Aer Lingus gets a huge thumbs up!
Hotel Review
I felt like royalty in this gorgeous hotel. Staff from front desk to waiters was warm, welcoming and efficient. LOVED the art work, the garden and the food was delicious. Cozy room with a view of St Stephen's park with great people (and Irish Wolfhound) watching. Great proximity to St. Patrick's, the pub scene and park activities. Really loved our stay here.
Activity Reviews
One of the more modern cathedrals, especially the stained glass. Interesting that JFK is included on a mosaic. A liturgy was just being concluded so that was meaningful. Also liked that they offer a prayer book where one may leave a request for prayers.
Beautiful drive through "Quiet Man" country. The Abbey was magnificent. I needed more time to wander the gardens as I spent so much time on the inside tour. Sheep dog experience thumbs up. I have 5 border collies that we use for cattle. The dogs are "brilliant" and to me it would be impossible to work the sheep on that hilly country without them. Really good job explaining how they work and background on the sheep industry. Well done.
Enjoyed the tour with all of the landmarks explained. Same with the jaunting car through the forest with deer and wildflowers. the boat was fine, but probably wouldn't choose that again as we also did the kayak experience.
This is quite a bit of land to cover with a lot of diversity. Lucky to have clear enough sky to see the Skellig Islands. Derrick was great, though he commented that he could pick me up next Wednesday....I was lollygagging I guess.
Great to start in the park, liked the architecture, Guinness history, Handel performance building and Rock n Roll wall of fame.
A fun approach to foods and the various locations were interesting and had great back stories. Especially liked the small grocery and the lovely lunch.
LOVED this. One of my favorite visits. Unique, Well presented, wonderful to participate and could have talked to him for hours.
Another high point of the trip!! As mentioned, we learned, ate and drank well and loved hearing the stories of how Julie and Pierre made their way to Ireland for keeps. We strolled up the grounds to the ocean overlook. Lots of birds and wildflowers which I loved.
What a fascinating place to visit! Really impressed with the horse pulling the trap with a LOT of tourist traffic all around him- steady! Tom was an excellent guide and shared much info about the island and his own history. Excellent!!
This was an okay ride- not a lot to see after the "Castle of despair" as I'm calling it. Sad story. had a nice chat with the boat captain and got a great pic of a Mute Swan family .
We ran out of time and did not experience this tour. Only giving one star as I cannot complete this item without using a star...