I‘m friends with Tommy & his wife Saundra — great people! – this should be a fun trip!!! — Robbin
“We will be pleased to guide you through a hidden Ireland where together we will meet and play music with some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians. Step back in time and soak in the magical atmosphere as we relax and meet old friends in centuries olde pubs and inns and…..maybe even learn a few songs and dance steps along the way! Enjoy all this as we explore the stunning, rugged coastline of Cork and Kerry which boasts some of the most breathtaking scenery in all of Ireland.We look forward to sharing our Ireland with you!”
Tommy & Saundra O’Sullivan
Inclusions:
9 nights accommodations in comfortable 3*** & 4**** hotels
9 Full Irish Breakfasts
Pick up and drop off at Shannon Airport per itinerary
Lunch at the Jameson Distillery in Midleton, including tour and a whisky tasting
Group Tour of the English Market in Cork City
Dinner, tour and entertainment at Molly Gallivan’s, County Cork
Throughout the entire tour, you will be personally introduced to some of Ireland’s finest traditional musicians and dancers
Enjoy traditional music sessions at their very best in intimate olde world settings
If there are musicians in our tour group you are encouraged to bring your instruments and join in the sessions. This includes all you singers!
BBQ Dinner and Concert at O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub, Dingle, County Kerry
Tour of West Cork: the beautiful peninsulas, shoreline, coves and mountains
Luxury Coach and Professional Driver/Guide
Drive the Slea Head Drive and tour of the stunning Dingle Peninsula
Visit to Tom Crean’s pub, burial ground and Dingle Brewery, the producer of Tom Crean’s Lager in Dingle
Tour of Dingles’ oldest pubs
Farewell traditional music session in Ennis, County Clare at Cruises Pub
Pub Crawl in Ennis, County Clare
Tommy O’Sullivan as guide and your own “personal” traditional Irish musician
And MUCH MORE!!! We want to surprise you!!!
The Tour:
Day 1: Tommy and Saundra O’ Sullivan will meet and greet you at the Shannon Airport at 10:00 a.m. From there, we will drive to Cork City …..a short trip of about 2 hours. We will stop for a delicious lunch at the Malt House Restaurant in the Jameson Distillery in Midleton….which is followed by a guided tour of the distillery and a whiskey tasting. We then will take a quick drive through Cork City to get you acquainted with this lovely active city and then check into the Imperial Hotel, a luxury 4 star hotel, ideally situated in the city center. You will have the late afternoon to stroll around or refresh. In the evening, we will walk a short distance to a wonderful olde pub, An Spailpin Fanach. Here, we will be joined by; Matt Cranitch, and friends, for a talk about traditional music and a lively music session. You will love the pub! It was built in 1779 and hasn’t changed much since then.
Day 2: Tommy and Saundra will show you the “Old English Market”, in Cork City. It is really something memorable….a unique find left over from the Victorian era. We will take the time to explore this unique venue, and maybe even make a few purchases. From there we will head out into the Cork countryside. It is here that you will begin to view the beautiful shoreline Cork and Kerry are famous for. We will stop in Baltimore on the sea for a bite to eat or maybe even a Guinness. Then we will head in a northerly direction through Bantry and Glengarriff until we reach the charming village of Kenmare, Co. Kerry. We will be staying in Kenmare at the Landsdowne Arms Hotel, for two nights. Built in 1799, The Lansdowne Arms Hotel was the town residence for William Perry Fitzmaurice, the 2nd Earl of Shelbourne, and is one of the oldest landmarks in Kenmare. You will enjoy walking about this authentic Irish village…..and exploring the shops and pubs. Tommy has selected a wonderful olde pub in the heart of Kenmare for tonight’s traditional music session with some great local musicians.
Day 3: We will start our tour a little later today (and leave you some time to stroll around Kenmare) and we will end up eventually in the late afternoon at Molly Gallivan’s in Bonane. Here you will be fascinated by a 100+ year old stone cottage/farmhouse sited in a serene spot in the mountain. The cottage has been left in its original condition: stone floor, large open fireplace and a rickety staircase that leads to the bedrooms. After we tour the outer buildings and grounds, we will be enjoying a delicious hot Irish meal complete with beer or wine in the main parlour of the cottage. But the best part may be the entertainment we have after dinner……..An American Wake. This evening is going to be a memorable one! Bring your cameras. Tonight we will be singing, dancing and will be wildly entertained.
Day 4: Today we will be leaving Kenmare. We will take a picturesque drive to Ballyvourney and will check into one of Tommy and Saundra’s favorite places, the Mills Inn. The Mills Inn was established in 1755 by James Colthurst as a stop- off for stagecoach travellers, and was originally part of the Colthurst estate, of which Blarney estate is still included. The Mills Inn Hotel is one of Ireland best kept secrets of the real Ireland in West Cork. It is located right in the middle of one of the largest Gaelic speaking areas in Ireland. Tonight get ready to meet Timmy “the Brit” McCarthy for a hilarious and energetic night of set dancing and a spontaneous Ceili.
Day 5: Today we are lucky to have another day to enjoy the beautiful lakes and mountains of County Cork. We will start the day off exploring a dramatic and ancient graveyard, Ballyvourney’s Monastic Site, dating from before 650 c.e. We will then head out to Gougane Barra, one of Ireland’s most treasured sites…..a small chapel in the mountains in the middle of a picturesque lake. We have several choices for a great lunch site today. Currently, we can’t decide. We will keep you posted. We are planning a fun music session at the Mills Inn tonight.
Day 6: Day 6: We are leaving this morning for the stunning Dingle Peninsula. On the way, we will stop at the breathtaking Gap of Dunloe. The Gap of Dunloe, hewn two million years ago by giant, slow moving ice is probably the finest example of a glaciated valley in western Europe. Afterwards, we will visit The Beaufort Bar located on the map of the famed Whiskey Trail of Ireland. The Beaufort Bar is set in the tiny village of Beaufort on the road to the Gap of Dunloe and only about 10 minutes drive from the popular town of Killarney. It was first opened in 1841 and has been in the O’Sullivan family ever since. The good news is the current owner Padraig O’Sullivan, very much believes in the Open Bottle – Open Mind philosophy, so you can enjoy every one of the whiskeys behind his bar. That’s about 100 different whiskeys to try out – with an emphasis on whiskey of the Irish variety obviously – making it one of the most extensive whiskey collections in Ireland. We then head out to Dingle. En route we may take a stroll along Inch Beach… a mile long… and one of Ireland’s most beautiful and stunning beaches, which, you may recognize from the opening scene of David Lean’s classic movie “Ryan’s Daughter”. Upon arrival to Dingle we will check into our Hotel, The Dingle Bay Hotel, located on the wharf in Dingle Town…a great place to watch the boats come in and out of the harbor. Tonight we will have our first session at O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub! Which is one of Dingle’s oldest pubs and is owned by your guides, Tommy and Saundra O’Sullivan.
Day 7: It is always a pleasure for us to show you the Slea Head Drive, once voted by the National Geographic Photographers as the most beautiful place in the world. We agree with the photographers. We will leave mid morning, take the breathtaking tour and follow it up with a visit to the Blasket Island Tour Center, a wonderful venue and a terrific place to purchase a book. Back in Dingle Town, we will have a tour of Tommy’s favorite olde pubs followed by a Session at O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub.
Day 8: One of the most famous pubs on the Dingle Peninsula, The South Pole Inn, is not in Dingle Town but in the countryside several miles from town in a wee village called Annascaul. The South Pole Inn is one of those pubs featured on posters you see of Irish pubs. It was originally owned by the famous Antarctic explorer Tom Crean who was a crew member with both Scott and Shackleton in their expeditions to reach the South Pole. We will take the time to tour the pub, view Crean’s burial site at the foot of the mountain above the pub, and take a peak at the pristine Lake Annascaul…a short distance away. On the way to Annascaul we will stop off at the ruins of Minard Castle and the unusual and beautiful Stone Beach. If it is sunny that day, this cove will be one of the most beautiful sites you will have ever seen.To top off this relaxing afternoon, we have been invited to the Dingle Brewery for a personal tour and a taste of Tom Crean’s ale. What a perfect day!
We are going to have our Farewell Dinner that night early in order to allow Tommy and Saundra to host it at their pub. By this time, we will know each other well and this night is certain to be a grand one! The Texas BBQ will be followed by a session at O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub opened up to the public.
Day 9: We are going to leave the Dingle Peninsula and head out to Ennis, Co. Clare, one of the best kept secrets in this whole country. En route, we will stop at Adare….the “most photographed village” in all of Ireland. You will love the thatched roof cottages! We will reach Ennis mid to late afternoon and will check into one of the town’s leading 4 star hotels, The Old Ground Hotel. The Old Ground Hotel was built in the early part of the 18th Century as a private dwelling, by Barry Upton & John Dwyer, who leased it to Charles Mahon for “Three Lives”. It still retains all the splendour of a by-gone age. We want to have plenty of time to explore this village, which will remind you of a set from a movie about “Charles Dickens.” That evening Tommy is going to show us a couple of his favorite pubs and we will wind up in Cruises Pub. This famous traditional music pub’s ‘olde world’ atmosphere is greatly enhanced by the flickering candles or tea lights on each table and in the various nooks and crannies which give off a warm glow once the lights have been dimmed. Here we will have our final session with some of the most famed local musicians.
Day 10: All good things must come to an end. This morning we will be leaving early for the airport.
What differentiates us from other tours?
First, we have booked updated 3*** & 4**** star hotels for your accommodations. After all, this is supposed to be a vacation for you and we want to insure you are as comfortable as possible. All rooms are ensuite. Many of these hotels have an olde world ambiance and are historical local landmarks in their own right.
Second, we have booked you in the center of the town and villages we stay in so that when you have time to yourself you can easily prowl around and won’t have issues connecting with your friends or the rest of the group. We feel that booking hotels at the edge of town or even worse in a nearby area is a waste of time because at night you have to take a taxi to come into town and that is a lot of effort. This way, you can walk around at will, even late at night.
Third, Tommy O’Sullivan is a talented and well-know musician. He is not only going to play you his favorite tunes but he will bring many of his musician friends into our circle. We will hear music most tourists only dream of hearing. To top it off Tommy and his wife Saundra are going to delight you with several duets along the way and will show you out of the way pubs and places that most people have never heard of.
Fourth, Tommy & Saundra own their own pub, O’Sullivan’s Courthouse Pub in Dingle Town, on the Dingle Peninsula. Have you ever heard that saying, “Me Casa es su Casa?” It translates: “My House is Your House”. Or, make yourself right at home. Tommy and Saundra say to you, “Our Pub is your pub!” We will have our own “home” pub while we are in Dingle and even have a Texas BBQ there one night! Incidentally, Tommy and Saundra’s most frequently asked question is, “ how did the two of you meet?”
Fifth, We are going to take a small group of 22 people. Our goal is to make you feel at home right from the start…while we share an intimate look at authentic Ireland. In the process, we will all get to know each other really well and this is just a bonus part of the tour.
Not Included:
*Airfare
*Lunches and dinners not listed in the itinerary
*Travel or Health Insurance
*Drinks
*Tips to driver *Personal Expenses
*Baggage handling & gratuities
Based on 22 travelers
$2,599 per person sharing
$2,499 if booked before March 15, 2014
Please call or email Linda Rosen with any questions regarding this tour or registration:
Linda Rosen
Ireland On My Mind.com
irelandonmymind@msn.com
763- 475- 0508