Into The West

May 8-18, 2008

Itinerary

MAY 8 THURS: Leave USA

MAY 9 FRI: Arrive Shannon. You'll be met there by Mick Moloney and your bus driver Willie Ryan. You will drive through Clare and Galway en route to the picturesque town of Roscommon nestled in the middle of Ireland just west of the Shannon, the largest river in Ireland. You'll check into the beautiful Abbey Hotel and sleep for a few hours. There will be a welcome reception followed by dinner and a performance of traditional Irish music and song with Mick Moloney and local musicians and singers.

MAY 10 SAT: You'll begin the day with a talk by a local historian on the history and antiquities of County Roscommon. After lunch you'll drive to the Famine Museum in Strokestown, Co Roscommon. You'll visit the family home of the Mahons, the big local landlords at the time of the famine in the mid-19th century. There is a wonderfully detailed history of the famine years and the social, political and economic conditions that led to the greatest catastrophe in Irish history. This evening you will enjoy a unique Irish rural singing session in nearby Knockcroghery with local singers from Roscommon and Offaly.

MAY 11 SUN: You'll have the morning on your own to enjoy Roscommon town. After lunch you'll drive through the town of Athlone in County Westmeath to the monastery of Monasterboice, famed for its round tower and high crosses. This was one of the great centers of Celtic Monastic culture and Mick will talk at length about how Celtic Christianity, particularly its art and education, affected the course of Irish and European civilization. After dinner back in Roscommon you are free to visit any of the many pubs in town.

MAY 12 MON: After breakfast you'll drive to Sligo. Mick will give a talk on the mythological traditions of the area and their connection to the fields of literature and archeology. You'll visit the extraordinary Carrowmore Megalithic complex just outside the town, one of the largest and most elaborate Stone Age cemeteries in Europe. After lunch in Sligo and some time to enjoy the town, you'll visit the court tomb in Creeveykeel on the way to Donegal. You'll pass by the mountains of Knocknarea and Ben Bulben, the other-wordly home of the mythical Tuatha De Danann, the magical tribe of Celts who vanished from mortal space and time here over two thousand years ago. In the folklore of the area they appear in our world as the fairies and William Butler Yeats wrote some of his most famous early poetry about this strange and mysterious world. You'll visit Yeats' resting-place in Drumcliff Churchyard and listen to some of his final poems by his grave in the shadow of Ben Bulben. On the way back to Roscommon you'll stop in the village of Gurteen in South Sligo where you will visit the Michael Coleman Heritage Center and learn about the wonderful music of the area and the extraordinary links between the musicians of County Sligo and the United States. One of the reasons that Irish musicians all over the world are able to play together so effectively today is because of the great recordings made in the US by these musicians in the early years of the 20th century, and we will trace this extraordinary two-way musical journey right in the heartland of the tradition. We'll enjoy a late afternoon traditional music session there before you drive back to Roscommon where you will have the rest of the evening at your leisure.

MAY 13 TUES: After an early breakfast you'll check out of your hotel and drive through County Tipperary, Limerick and North Kerry passing through the city of Limerick, founded as a Danish settlement in the 7th century. After lunch there you'll pass through the picturesque towns of Adare, Rathkeale, Abbeyfeale, Listowel and Tralee en route to your hotel in Dingle. You'll have several hours in the late afternoon to enjoy Dingle, one of the most beautiful towns in Ireland. After dinner, you'll hear a concert featuring accordion and melodeon player and singer Brendan Begley, one of the finest traditional musicians in West Kerry.

MAY 14 WED: You'll spend the morning touring the Dingle Peninsula with its matchless coastal scenery and hear stories of epic figures from early Irish mythology that give their names to townlands, lakes, villages and mountains all over the area. You'll visit Stone Age, Bronze Age, and early monastic sites. We'll talk about the complex intermingling of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs in Irish culture through the centuries with particular reference to how this relationship between the old and the new beliefs shaped early Christianity in Ireland. You'll visit Kilmakelder Church with its ogham and alphabet stones, sundial and Romanesque architecture -- one of the most unique of the early monastic sites in Ireland. You'll also go to another famous sixth century monastery at Riasc, with its beautiful standing stones adorned in the Celtic La Tene style. From there you'll go to the Gallarus Oratory, the most perfectly preserved early Christian building in the country. After dinner back in Dingle you'll enjoy great music in the local pubs.

MAY 15 THURS: After breakfast you'll travel through the Ivereagh Peninsula to Tarbert in North Kerry and cross the Shannon ferry embarking at the little village of Killimer in South County Clare. You'll drive through Kilrush to the little outport of Spanish Point nestled on the Atlantic near the lovely town of Miltown Malbay famed all over Europe for its matchless traditional music. After dinner in the hotel there will be a special concert featuring local singer Tim Dennehy.

MAY 16 FRI: You'll begin the day with a visit to St. Brighid's Holy Well in Liscannor where Mick will talk about Spring and Harvest rituals and the long-standing tradition in Ireland of pilgrimage to sacred wells and mountains. After lunch in the fishing village of Doolin you'll drive up the spectacular North Clare coastline through the Burren, one of the most unique and multi-faceted landscapes in Western Europe. On the way back to Miltown Malbay and Spanish Point you'll visit the Stone Age Glenisheen dolmen and the magnificent high crosses in Kilfenora Cathedral. After dinner you'll enjoy a session featuring Mick along with Jackie Daly, one of the greatest accordion players in the history of Irish music.

MAY 17 SAT: Today you'll visit Ennis, the capital city of Clare, visiting various sites on the way all steeped in history and antiquities. You'll have lunch in this beautiful city founded around a Franciscan Friary in the 13th century and have the afternoon to enjoy the town and do some shopping. After a final reception and dinner back in Spanish Point you'll enjoy a closing concert with Mick and his musical friends.

MAY 18 SUN: After breakfast you'll check out of your hotel and except for those of you extending your stay in Ireland you'll head for Shannon Airport for the flight back to the USA.

Price: US$2899.00 per person double occupancy, land only, including all breakfasts and four dinners
Single Supplement: $500.00

A deposit of US$500 per person will secure your reservation.

Airfare available

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