Ireland Vacations with myguideIreland » Ireland vacation

Yet another enjoyable Ireland Vacation from myguideIreland

robert.carpenter — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:02:24 +0000

Here at myguideIreland we take great pride in providing a professional and personal service to our Guests when they travel to Ireland. We hear about great experiences almost daily from our Guests and we just wanted to share (ok maybe show off) one of our latest responses to a wonderful Ireland vacation provided by one of our most experienced Ireland guides, Genevieve .

Genevieve – Diana and I returned last Friday from our trip to Ireland (already filled out my survey from myguideIreland on line) and I wanted to send you a quick thank you note.
We had a wonderful time and the weather was perfect (which I will give you full credit for!). All of the travel details worked out from getting the car to the B&Bs and Ballyseede Castle. Ballyseede was a wonderful experience, I am really glad we stayed there two nights. We stayed in the Coghill room and it was amazing. We ate at the bar the first night and then in the dining room for dinner our second night – all of the food including the breakfasts was delicious.

We stayed at White House B&B in Blarney – excellent and the best overall B&B; Dromcloc House near Bantry – beautiful location and very nice folks; Purple Heather near Killarney which was nice but we probably wouldn’t stay there again and Roncalli House in Galway which was very nice (tiniest bathroom but it worked!).
We visited Waterford Crystal, Blarney Castle, Kinsale, Bantry, Healy Pass in Beara Peninsula, Killarney with a trap ride through the Gap of Dunloe and a boat trip to Ross Castle (perfectly wonderful!), Dingle Peninsula which was amazing, Cliffs of Moher and Galway.
Your advice and support was outstanding and I am heartily recommending myguideIreland to all of my friends and family – don’t know how our trip could have gone any better. Thank you again for helping make our 30th anniversary everything I hoped it would be.
Please pass this note along to your coworkers who also helped us.
Dennis Slevin

Four Star Hotels in Ireland -The official List

admin — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 12:35:13 +0000

Following last week’s listing of 5 Star Hotels in Ireland , the full Fáilte Ireland list of Irish 4 Star hotels is below.

10 reasons to travel to Ireland in 2009

robert.carpenter — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:08:35 +0000

Our most popular annual promotion, the early bird special, is back by popular demand!!
Due to an unprecedented level of requests we are again offering you the chance to get 10% off your 2009 visit to Ireland

So Why Book your 2009 Ireland Trip Now?

Secure the dates you want in advance

Everyone has their favourite time to relax and travel. Make sure this year that you do get those free days off when it suits you. Securing those dates will ensure you or your family won’t be disappointed. Get the tours, properties and dates that you deserve by booking in advance. This offer is available for bookings up until December 19th 2008 for travel in 2009

Save 10% by booking early

Save up to 10% on the cost of your trip.
5% if you book by December 19th and an amazing 10% if you pay in full.
(excludes flights and ferries)

No Risk – You can change your mind

Your deposit or full payment on the land portion is fully refundable if you change your mind before 1/1/2009
If you choose to also take flights at the time of booking these are non refundable due to airline rules

Popular Tours in demand – don’t miss out!

Our most popular tours and dates on fly/drive and escorted tours fill up fast. As do the best dates in our Magical Irish Castles, Luxurious Manor Houses and Award Winning Hotels.

So what are you waiting for? Book Now

A Royal Experience in Ireland for only $342

robert.carpenter — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:55:21 +0000

This October, In association with Adare Manor Resort we are offering you the chance to live like a Lord or Lady. Adare is the perfect base for touring the most popular tourist site in Ireland in Counties, Kerry, Limerick, Cork and Clare and we are giving you a choice of 2 great value packages that include the Adare Manor experience:

1.
7 nights on the estate in one of Adare’s luxury Villas including a Rental Car for just $342/£195 per person when 4 people share or $684/£391 per person when 2 people share. read more

2.
7 days/6 nights touring Ireland including 2 nights in the historic Adare Manor House for just €573/£327 read more

Both packages include:

Economy rental car including unlimited mileage, CDW, all fees and taxes.

Map of Ireland.

Shipping by FedEx of your accommodation vouchers

Ireland discount booklet with $600 in admission concessions

Readmore on this ireland vacation offer

$359 for 6 days in Ireland including a CASTLE!

robert.carpenter — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:49:58 +0000

This month myguideIreland have another excellent offer giving you the opportunity for only $359 to spend a 6 days in Ireland including a castle stay!

Combine the luxury regal experience of a 15th Century castle with a stay in a cottage vacation rental as you tour Ireland’s most popular tourist region. The package includes:

4 nights in a cottage vacation rental.

1 night in the former Castle home of one of Ireland’s most famous Earls.

Full cooked Irish breakfast in Castle Dining room.

Economy rental car including unlimited mileage, CDW, all fees and taxes.

Map of Ireland.

Shipping by FedEx of your accommodation vouchers

Ireland discount booklet with $600 in admission concessions

Read more on this amazing ireland vacation offer

The Beauty of a vacation in Ireland

seamus.white — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:01:33 +0000

While we look at at the uncharacteristically heavy rain this August, I came across this youtube clip that reminds us just why an Ireland Vacation is just so popular:

Another happy Guest…

robert.carpenter — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:18:14 +0000

Hi Liz

We returned from Ireland on Monday evening. It was a great trip.

We enjoyed the tour and had a nice group and tour guide to travel with. And the weather cooperated, too — it was misty for a few minutes on one day only, then the rest of the days were partly sunny and cool — like fall here. I loved it! What a treat to get a break from the heat.

The only negative in the trip was when we stayed at the City Hotel in Derry. I have to say it wasn’t very clean — when we went to turn down the bed at night we noticed blood splatters on the inside of the duvet and on the bottom sheet. And several others in our group felt, too, that their rooms were unclean. Although we had requested a wake-up call one morning, the call never came and we were late for the bus departure. Others in the group mysteriously received wake-up calls at 4:30 and 5:30 in the morning that they hadn’t requested. It was the only hotel on the trip that I can say I would never go back to. The others were great, and the Cabra Castle, where we stayed the last night, was just beautiful.

And I did get to see my donkey at the sanctuary! It meant so much to me. What a beautiful place — home to about 300 donkeys. I spoke at length with the manager/owner, and I’m going to be working with him to try to help him with promoting the sanctuary and increasing its visibility in the states. Seeing as I work in advertising/marketing, he’s hoping I might be able to help with promoting it in the U.S.

And lastly, the driver that we had on our day trip to the sanctuary — Liam Sears — we can’t say enough good things about him. He made the day so much fun, and he was so kind and happy to see the donkeys himself. We truly enjoyed his company. Is there any way I can e-mail his employer and let them know what a great job he did?

So that about sums it up. Thank you, Liz, for all of your help and patience with our many questions/changes in terms of this trip.

We will most definitely contact you in the future should we plan a return trip to Ireland, which, of course, I hope we will!

Best,

Sandra

Colins Ireland Vacation Adventure June 2008

robert.carpenter — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:19:57 +0000

At myguideIreland, the service we provide to our Guests is our biggest priority! We are obsessed with always finding ways to improve our service. We firmly believe this is what sets us apart as a company dedicated to travel to Ireland. We want to always exceed our Guests’ expectations on their Ireland Vacation. We have excellent relations with accommodation owners and we strive to create the best tours to Ireland. We visit every hotel ourselves to ensure it meets our standards before we recommend it to our Guests.

We actively encourage Guest feedback and when we receive the kind of testament as supplied here by Colin Grieve and his party, it makes all our hard work worthwhile.

Read about Colin’s Ireland Vacation

19th & 20th June

Well folks – we made it. We are the champions; the Masters of the Universe. The Coombs and I are bonding with the Irish bog people! I should mention too the Irish bog fiddlers, the bog logs, the bog horses and the great *Bog Off*! This is a very prosperous country. The fact that it is Irish the English must abhor. We, in Scotland, just love it. We never liked those buggers south of the Tweed. We want Berwick back!

We missed our flight to Irland and therefore missed the joys of Dublin Castle and the Guinness factory. We did pick up in the morning.

We went to Glendalough and then on to Waterford. In the former was a very old monastery, a hotel and little else but the monastery was a fascinating old place. The newest head stone was dated 1790 but I could not read who lay under it.

At one time these monasteries were widespread and wealthy; that is until King Henry VIII had a spat with the Pope and simply dissolved them. He plundered their wealth and handed out their lands to his military (in many cases in lieu of back pay). The new land lords often broke them down for building stone. Those who do survive all have the high watch towers you see in the photo.

Waterford was a pretty enough town known mainly for Waterford Crystal. We were taken round the factory which was interesting enough. What I really did notice was the vast unused capacity in all departments. Apparently the business is not doing well and seeks to restructure debt at the worst possible time. I saw beautiful trophies there for all sports. The “Ashes” one looked like it was for just that!

We saw the blowing process, mould cutting from beech wood, metal moulds and the moulding of the crystal glass. We then saw the cutting process and the final cleaning. They use computers to draw a matrix guide for the cutters who do a rough cut and a final fine cut. The cutting wheels are water cooled. I can see why the damned stuff is so expensive!

We also were taken on a walking tour of the city from west to east. It turned out to be not too far at all and our Irish guide was a very funny fellow. One thing of note was an old tower, built circa 1000AD. It has been in continuous use since and is now a museum (unfortunately closed when we got there!) Waterford, like so many towns and cities we visited, has a river running through. I have really been impressed at the high quality of most homes here; there are many very palatial properties and even the more humble of dwellings are mostly well maintained, walled and have fine well tended gardens.

After Waterford on the morning of 20th we had tea and scones in an old castle cum farm house. This was a working farm with just 100 dairy cattle and I doubt it was ever the castle the old owner described. It did make a pleasant interlude and the scones were first rate. They handed out the recipe but I seem to have lost it! We moved on from there to Blarney Castle and wool mills. You can “Kiss the Blarney Stone” for about $8.00 and a two hour queue! They section those who complete this ordeal! Only the blessed Irish could charge folks for kissing a bit of old rock. We finished the day in Killarney, which was hugely commercial but lovely too. It poured as we arrived and was still pouring as we left. As a result I have no photos.

Outside of our Best Western Hotel horse drawn carriages waited in the rain for the customers who did not come. The owners looked as miserable as the horses. Killarney is a party town and they sure party of Fridays and Saturdays. Our hotel was right in the centre of town and they were still whooping it up at 3.00 AM. This is now County Kerry. County Waterford is the one we just left. There are many fine churches, including a cathedral, but cathedrals here are seldom older than a couple of hundred years.

21st June

On Saturday 21st the weather was no kinder. We had a day trip around the “Ring of Kerry”. Our driver, a most charming and likeable John Tulley spent the day describing what we would see with no wind and driving rain. It all sounded delightful – but we saw none of it. In the end I bought a DVD called “The essence of Kerry”. It should tell me what I missed.
The countryside is very green and well wooded but not always too fertile. Some places are very rocky with only 2 or 3 inches of topsoil. Here only sheep survive. In commercially forested areas much more topsoil is needed and that supports crops such as wheat and barley. We saw no potato crops but plenty were on sale by the roadside, as were strawberries in many places. I also noted cabbages and cauliflower. Many farms also keep horses.

As an aside we passed through one small town where there was a statue of a King Goat. I have a note of the name somewhere in the many leaflets we have collected. Apparently the natives capture a wild Billy goat in the surrounding hills, bring him to town and secure him in the town square. There he is treated as king during three full days of partying! Here they need no excuse. What can one say about folks who party with goats?
I have just raided the brochures and can tell you that the goat is known as King Puck and the festival is in Killorglin in Killarney. In this area we saw “bog ponies” which are sure footed and small. They are used to work the peat bogs.

22nd June

After the mist, wind and rain around the “Ring of Kerry” we left for a ferry ride into County Clare and on thence to County Galway. The brochure said “View the Cliffs of Moher” but 65 / 70 MPH wind gusts together with driving rain certainly did not encourage me to risk being blown off the cliffs and into the Atlantic. Actually the wind was off shore so I would have been blown back to the coach. We could hardly stand up in that wind! Who would be a tour operator? Again I saw photos of what I missed. We moved on from Galway to County Mayo.

23rd June

This was not an eventful day but we did visit a Celtic crystal factory and a local marble cutter in Moycullen. Both were interesting but the ever present gift shops were grossly overpriced. Our party is mainly American and bought all kinds of stuff at prices which they would have freaked out at if home. My only souvenir is my video.
We finished up in Ballina but not before I saw and photographed some folks floating down a river inside large plastic balls. This was in a town called Westport.

We were assured that this is not some ancient Celtic ritual so it is perhaps a rag day prank.

The main streets in all of those small towns are really not too suitable for modern traffic needs and certainly difficult for coaches. Our driver (John Tulley) has been excellent and had to back up many times during the tour. They are very colourful (literally), painted in bright yellows blues, greens, reds etc. They also all seem to be pretty laid back. We have quickly become this too! It is all too easy here.

24th June

This was our second last day and the weather again was foul. It has been poor overall since midway through. We visited an old Georgian Manor House ((Strokestown) and a grim old place it was too. Built in seventeen hundred and frozen to death It had been lived in until 1981 by the last survivor of the Mahon family (Olive). She died in London in 1982. Take a look at her kitchen!

This was overlooked by a balcony. Apparently the mistress never set foot in the kitchen but shouted instruction from that rickety structure to the servants below. All the old pots and pans were there, as was an ancient chain weight driven spit roast which would have taken a pig, a sheep or a quartered cut of beef. The place was a dingy time warp now open to the public as a famine museum. We don’t have much to be proud of there! It was apparently possible for both the family and the servants to move independently with each group never seeing the other. Of course wenches could be summoned by “Bell Pull”. One of old Emily’s forebears used a post horn to announce his return from London or wherever and that horn also cleared the town streets. He did not wish to see or be seen by the “Great Unwashed!” “He was pronounced mad in the end”, we were told.

We checked into our hotel last evening and were taken off for supper to the Abbey Tavern (about 15 minutes away) for an evening of Irish song and dance. That was much better than the food but the restaurant had about 250 people seated in the stage area on long tables.

As I type I am in the Grand Hotel, Dublin at the end of our tour. It is the morning of 25th and I will shortly be thinking of breakfast. The Coombs still sleeps.

Last night, as we arrived he wandered into the bathroom and saw a red pull cord. “What’s this?” he said as he pulled same and paramedics started to batter down the door. Our room was one for aged and infirm people. Perhaps John had forewarned them about the whiskey in the baggage!

Our flight out is at 8.50 PM arriving in Glasgow at 9.45 PM. We should be home by 10.30 PM. It is dull outside so we are in for a long day. They will move us from here by noon and I have no wish to spend hours in an airport!

All in all it has been a very pleasant trip but not really for youngsters. We did have two little girls on board and they were perfectly well behaved but the teens / early twenties went off to plunder and pillage as the opportunity arose. They were all American girls by the way!

I would recommend a break like this for the not so old but not so new either but all must remember not to joke about the Tudors, Cromwell or potatoes! I saw whole books devoted to cooking that one single vegetable! (Every which way but loose!)

Our driver John kept us well entertained throughout with his considerable knowledge of Irish history and his clean but funny jokes. He recited a story about a man who drank and a pig. He was asked to repeat it but didn’t get to it so here it is. If anyone knows the young woman who wanted it then send it on.
A MAN AND A PIG

One evening in October,

When I was far from sober,

And dragging home a load with manly pride,

My feet began to stutter,

So I lay down in the gutter,

And a pig came up and parked right by my side,

Then I warbled: “It’s fair weather

When good fellows get together”,

Till a lady passing by was heard to say:

“You can tell a man who boozes

By the company he chooses!”

Then the pig got up and slowly walked away.

Now here is an Irish joke he didn’t tell. We know them too!

John O’Reilly hoisted his beer and said, “Here’s to spending the rest of me life; between the legs of me wife!”

That won him the top prize at the pub for the best toast of the night.

He went home and told his wife, Mary, “I won the prize for The Best toast of the night”

She said, “Aye, did you now. And what was your toast?”

John said, “Here’s to spending the rest of me life, sitting in church beside me wife.”

“Oh, that is very nice indeed, John!” Mary said.

The next day, Mary ran into one of John’s drinking buddies on the street corner.

The man chuckled leeringly and said, “John won the prize the other night at the pub with a toast about you, Mary.”

She said, “Aye, he told me, and I was a bit surprised you know, he’s only been there twice in the last four years. Once he fell Asleep, and the other time I had to pull him by the ears to get him to come.”

You got to love them! I hope you enjoyed it all as much as I / we did.

Cheers,

Colin.

7 Day Ireland vacation cheaper than an iPhone

robert.carpenter — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:02:37 +0000

Hands up if you’re tired yet of the endless talk about a recession in the economy? For months now, there has been speculation about whether there will be one, if it’s not there already.
Well if the answer above is yes, here’s some good news at last – myguideIreland are offering you a 7 Day Ireland vacation for only $250, thats less than the price of an iPhone!

You can customize your Ireland tour in many ways all with the help of your own personal Ireland specialist. Here’s an overview of whats included in the tour:

7-day rental of an economy car including all fees and taxes, CDW, theft protection and location service charge
6 nights at one of Ireland’s finest cottage vacation rentals
Road map of Ireland
Heritage guide to Ireland including admission special offers
Free calls to your personal Ireland specialist

Read on to see a detailed tour summary

Top 10 Reasons to Vacation in Ireland in 2008

robert.carpenter — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 11:09:09 +0000

Here at myguideIreland, we always like to ask our Guests why they love vacations to Ireland and what it is that makes them dream of coming back, because we all know its not the weather here!.
Based on feedback and numerous myguideIreland Vacation Reviews over the last year, here is a list of our Guests Top 10 Summer events for 2008.

1. Irish Seniors Open, Ballyliffin Golf Club – 19 to 22 June

The Old Links Course at Ballyliffin Golf Club, in Co. Donegal will see one of the strongest fields in the 12 year history of the Irish Seniors Open for the competition’s first visit from June 20-22 2008.

2. Cork Week 2008 – July 12 to 19th

Cork Week, commonly known as Ford week (The festival was sponsored by Ford Motor Company for many years), is Ireland’s largest international sailing regatta and is held in July every two years.

Entrants come from all over the globe to enjoy one of the sailing world’s premier events. In 2006 entrants included boats from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Channel Islands, England, France, Isle of Man, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, United States and Wales as well, of course, as Ireland.

3. The 2008 Galway Races – July 28th to August 3rd

The The 2008 Galway Races are a tradition that date back to 1869 and involves major race events over 7 days. The highest prize kitty is in excess of 200,000 euros, which will have more than the horses chomping at the bit. One of the highlights of the seven-day Galway festival is Ladies Day, which falls on a Thursday, where there’ll be some fine fillies on show, both on and off the course.

4. The Dublin Horse Show 2008 – 06 to 10 August

The Dublin Horse Show is a Dublin institution. A celebration of Ireland’s affinity with the horse, from the best show horses to the best international show jumpers. It is one of Ireland’s largest events, a highlight of the summer, each year welcoming tens of thousands of people Ireland and all over the world.

5. The 2008 Rose of Tralee – 22 to 26 August 2008

Ireland’s premier beauty festival The Rose of Tralee attracts contestants and visitors from all over Ireland and the World to the colourful town of Tralee in Co. Kerry.

6. Irish Match Making Festival Lisdoonvarna – Aug 29 to Sept

Throughout the month of September, the spa town of Lisdoonvarna close to the Burren in Co. Clare, celebrates the world famous Lisdoonvarna Match Making festival with music and lots of fun.

The small spa town of Lisdoonvarna, with a population of around 800 people, has attracted visitors from all over Ireland to its mineral springs, since the 18th century. A long held traditional in this central town on the southern edges of the scenic Burren area, is the matchmaking festival.

7. Galway International Oyster Festival 2008 – 25 to 28 September

The 2008 Galway Oyster Festival is the premier event in the Galwegian calendar, when people from all over the world descend on Galway to sample the world famous oysters of Galway Bay and the legendary craic of the West of Ireland.

On the last weekend of September each year, the cosmopolitan town of Galway hosts the Galway International Oyster Festival, one of the biggest events in Ireland’s social calendar. A feast of live entertainment, gourmet food, fine wine and of course Oysters and Guinness are enjoyed by some 10,000 people with guests and luminaries from all over the world.

8. Kinsale Food Festival 2008 – 10 to 12 October

In October 2008, Kinsale, the gourmet food capital of Ireland, holds the Kinsale food Festivalpromising a host of culinary delights, appearances from renowned celebrity chefs and a range of entertainments for all the family.

Situated on the West Cork Coast outside Cork City, the quaint fishing port of Kinsale has long been associated with the finest seafood and gourmet cuisine and has been at the heart of Ireland’s culinary circles for decades. Each year in October, the town holds the world famous Kinsale Food Festival, celebrating the very best of what the town’s numerous local restaurateurs, who make up Kinsale’s Good Food Circle, can offer.

9. Belfast Festival at Queens 2008 – October 24 to 27

One of Ireland’s largest international arts, the Belfast Festival at Queens 2008, takes place during the last two weeks of October with a host of internationally renowned acts in theatre, dance, music, comedy, literature and art.

The festival started out as a small event on Queen’s University campus, Belfast and has grown to become the largest event of its kind in Ireland. Now in it’s 45th year, the Belfast Festival at Queens attracts the cream of international acts to the city and celebrates the dynamic artistic talents of Belfast.

10. The Guinness Jazz Festival Cork 2008 – October 24 to 27

Ireland’s biggest Jazz Event, the The Guinness Jazz Festival Cork 2008 kicks off at the end of October this year and promises to be one of the biggest ever.

The Cork Jazz Festival is celebrating in association with Guinness with around 1,000 musicians from over 30 countries playing at over 80 venues throughout the city, along with a host Fringe events, in a weekend to remember in Cork.

All that should be enough to whet the appetite!