An Isle Too Far
Beautiful, haunting, and cut off from the westernmost tip of lreland by three miles of treacherous sea, the Great Blasket...
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Travel Archives
In This Issue
The Homecoming:
My Joyous First Return to Ireland Since Covid Began
Niall O’Dowd was on the first full Aer Lingus flight from New York to Dublin this week as entry requirements in Ireland were finally rolled back. Aer Lingus flew its first full flight...
MoreMayo Day 2021 –
Tune into Mayo Day
from anywhere around the globe
Mayo Day, the day in the calendar year that recognizes County Mayo, its people, and all things Mayo returns on May 1st in true Irish style. The first county in Ireland to dedicate a day to...
MoreA Multi-Generational
Family Trip Home
Rosemary Rogers shares her experience of traveling to Ireland with her daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren, and sister in 2017. When I was 12 my mother took me to Ireland, her first trip home...
MoreLight It Up Green!
Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative will celebrate its 12th year on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 with sites all over the world going green on St. Patrick’s Day. The first Global...
MoreFinding Your Irish Roots
Is Easier Than Ever Before
By Megan Smolenyak Now is the time to get all your documents together so that when the time is right to visit Ireland and discover your ancestors you are ready to go. More and more Irish...
MoreMagnificent Munster
Munster is located in the southern part of Ireland and consists of six counties: Cork, Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, and Waterford. Its main centers of population include Cork City, the...
MoreExploring Ulster
The northern-most province of Ulster contains a diverse array of cultures and sites, which, combined, tell the tale of modern Ireland, a place of history, pluralism, and an evolving culture. Ulster...
MoreBiden Country
By Darina Molloy Mayo on the west coast and Louth on the east, boast some of the most historic sites in Ireland, and now locals living in the area of the Cooley Peninsula and Ballina can...
MoreNews: Ireland’s Best
Vacation Destinations
The best hotel and tourism operators in Ireland were recently recognized at the 30th CIE Tours International Awards of Excellence. These awards took place in Christchurch Cathedral in Dublin on...
MoreFáilte go hÉireann
℘℘℘ A journey through the native Irish-speaking areas of Ireland These are the words of welcome that Irish people have greeted visitors with for centuries. They may well be the words...
MoreIn East Mayo: A Community Where Past Is Prologue
A year-long celebration is underway to commemorate the 250th anniversary of Swinford, a County Mayo town as proud of its heritage as its time-honored strength of...
MoreSláinte! The Great October Fair
The Ballinasloe October Fair is one of the oldest fairs in Ireland. While now predominantly associated with horses, in its heyday it served as a market for the sale of cattle and sheep by...
MoreWaterford’s Annual
Harvest Festival
The 11th annual Waterford Harvest Festival is set for September 6-8. ℘℘℘ Waterford is expecting over 40,000 attendees to partake in the annual celebration of local food, culture, and heritage....
MoreThe Un-Quiet
Ghosts of the Carricks
Bones of Irish children were found 170 years after they died on a “coffin ship” en route to Canada in 1847. Vertebra and jaw bones were identified among the remains, believed to be of Irish...
MorePaddling in the Wake of St. Patrick & Game of Thrones
Looking for a truly exceptional adventure? Paddleboarding is the fastest growing sport in the world, and Ireland offers an abundance of waterways – some challenging, some less so – and, as our...
MoreMalahide Casino Returns
The repair and conservation of the Malahide Casino building is nearing its completion. A historic 18th-century cottage orné, the building had been vacant for a number of years and had fallen into...
MoreWorld War II “Eire” Landmark Restored
A historic Irish Second World War coastal landmark has been painstakingly restored by volunteers in Dublin. For six months, a team of up to 35 volunteers met on Hawk Cliff in...
MoreU.K. and Ireland Agree Common Travel Area
The governments of Britain and Ireland have agreed on a deal to preserve the Common Travel Area (CTA) shared by the two countries after Brexit. The Memorandum of Understanding guarantees the...
MoreJames Connolly Visitor
Centre Opens in Belfast
At a ceremony on Friday, April 19, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins officially opened Áras Uí Chonghaile, the new James Connolly Visitor Centre, providing a new space for discovery,...
MoreGame of Thrones Set to be Turned into Tourist Attractions in Northern Ireland
“The world’s most popular show,” Game of Thrones, may have wrapped up, but that doesn’t mean you’ve seen the last of Westeros. HBO plans to convert several of the series’...
MoreIrish War Brides:
A Little Irish Romance
A group of workers on the docks serenaded the passengers with “When Irish Eyes are Smiling” and “Come Back to Erin.” The sirens of other ships in the harbor wailed while the 314 Irish brides...
MoreWinterval in Waterford City
On Saturday, November 17, International Rose of Tralee, Kirsten Mate Maher joined Santa and the mayor in Waterford City for the launch of the seventh annual Winterval, Ireland’s largest Christmas...
MoreMighty Mayo
Steeped in history with landscapes that go from brilliant beaches to windswept boglands, lakes, mountains to islands, pilgrimage sites to pirate queens, Mayo has it all. ℘℘℘ There’s something...
MoreWest Cork
Take a walk (or a drive) on the wild side. West Cork offers an abundance of wildlife, nature, and scenery. ℘℘℘ Is there a more intriguing place in Ireland than West Cork? On a recent trip, I...
MoreRetracing the Footsteps
of the Last Gaelic King
of Ireland in Rome
Why it’s time to reclaim the last days and figureheads of the old Gaelic world. ℘℘℘ Stories matter, so here’s a good one. Four hundred and ten years ago this November the last two...
MoreBringing it All Back Home
Four new festivals, intended to embrace the diaspora, some 70 million, and entice them back to Ireland, were announced in August. The Global Irish Festival Series is part of a partnership effort...
MoreCounty Galway
Home to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, County Galway also features and ancient city with ties to Spain that doubles as a modern-day thriving university...
MoreClothing-Optional Beach Established in Ireland
The County Council of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown announced plans in March to accommodate nude bathers at Hawk Cliff beach in Dalkey, County Dublin, making it the first Irish beach to do so. Signs...
MoreTravel:
Girls on a Bus Through Ireland
CIE Tours International’s Taste of Ireland Tour is a trip not soon to be forgotten. Irish America sent Tara Dougherty and Sheila Langan to discover its splendor. Scroll down for more photos and a...
MoreSt. Brigid’s Tourism Trail Opens in Kildare
A tourism trail honoring Ireland’s female patron saint, Saint Brigid, has opened in Kildare. The town and county of Kildare are named after a monastery Saint Brigid established in the fifth...
MoreU.S.-Ireland Flights Increase in Number and Affordability
Spring of 2018 promises an array of new price and destination options for flights between Ireland and the U.S. In February, Irish national airline Aer Lingus and Norwegian Air both announced plans...
MoreWoman with Terminal Cancer Gets Dream Trip to Ireland
In January, single mother and grandmother Kathryn Doyon, diagnosed with Stage 4 colon and liver cancer, was surprised with €600 in funds raised to help her finally take her dream trip to Ireland. A...
More300 Years of Scots-Irish Immigration to U.S.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the first great wave of Scots-Irish migration to the United States, and over the next 12 months, several towns in Northern Ireland and the U.S. will be...
MoreThe Irish Airman’s Grave:
From Padua to Kiltartan
The story of W.B. Yeats’s tower, Lady Gregory’s autograph tree, and the grave of Irish airman Robert Gregory, whose death inspired some of Yeats’s most well-known...
MoreRoscommon, Part I:
Ireland’s Lake District
A county that is rich in beauty and many historical sites. ℘℘℘ The third largest of Connacht’s five counties, Roscommon is also the province’s most water-logged. Three-quarters bound by...
MoreIreland At Christmas
CHRISTMAS is the most magical time of year in Ireland, where the festive atmosphere is not to be missed. Cheerful Christmas markets spring up all across the island, traditional decoration displays...
MoreKerry: The Beautiful Kingdom (Photos)
Photographer John Wesson on the landscape and people of Kerry that captured his imagination more than 30 years ago. ℘℘℘ I am lucky enough to have had a long association with Kerry, having...
MoreReading West Cork
A trip to the West Cork Literary Festival turns into an unexpected and inspiring look at Bantry Bay and the people who call it home. ℘℘℘ In the words of Man Booker Prize-winner Anne Enright,...
MoreHospitality and History in the American South
History abounds on a tour that began in Washington, D.C. and visited Civil War battlefields, colonial towns, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. ℘℘℘ As you might expect, Memorial Day weekend is a...
MoreCounty Clare in All its Glory
One of the most beautiful counties in Ireland is captured in pictures and videos that Eoin O’Hagan made using a drone. By Sharon Ní Chonchúir “It’s a long, long way from Clare to here.”...
MoreReport from Havana: Irish Latin American Conference
The annual conference of the Society for Irish Latin American Studies (SILAS), “Island Relations: Ireland, Cuba and the Latin World,” was held in Havana over four days in February. The conference...
MoreDonegal Crowned World’s Coolest Destination
Co. Donegal claimed the number one spot on National Geographic Traveller’s annual “Cool List” of recommendations for those who love travelling the world. The isolated western county ranked...
MoreIreland’s Ancient South East
A stroll through Ireland’s mystical past, from ancient castles and rugged stone monuments to lively taverns and modern day crafts. ℘℘℘ I recently paid a visit to Ireland’s Ancient East....
MoreDublin’s Fair County
Seaside villages, mountains, and castles. There’s more to Dublin than its famed city. I thought I knew Dublin. I’ve spent lots of time in the capital and even accompanied friends from other...
MoreThe Pain and the Pleasure
Reek Sunday, the last Sunday in July, when pilgrims climb Ireland’s holiest mountain, Croagh Patrick went ahead with far few climbers this year. Fr. Charlie McDonnell, parish priest of...
MoreRebranding Limerick
As Ireland’s first City of Culture, Limerick is positioning itself to become a new capital of the arts in the west. Adam Farley traveled there to see how it’s going and what it means for the...
MoreThe American Cemetary
Near Omaha Beach
An Irish American takes a family trip to Normandy’s WWII battle site. June marks the anniversary of the D-Day landings when the United States and her allies, primarily Britain and Canada, launched...
MoreAll Around Ireland
Michelle Meagher’s photographs of her first trip to Ireland. Wicklow Mountains, County Wicklow. This panoramic view of the Wicklow Mountains and Lake is my favorite of all the pictures I...
MoreSliabh An Iarainn
Sliabh An Iarainn at 10:30pm in mid June is the most ethereal setting I have ever experienced. This magnificent landscape just down the road from my home in Augnasheelin, Country Leitrim was a...
MoreDONEGAL:
The Forgotten County
An appreciation by Enda Cullen. Apologies to readers from other counties but my mother used to say that Donegal and Clare people were the friendliest people in Ireland. She has passed on to...
MoreA Sacred Place: Skellig Michael
Photographer and writer Chris Ryan visited the larger of the two Skellig Islands off the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, where an early-medieval monastery survives at the edge of the material...
MoreGolfing the Emerald Isle
Five days of golf in Ireland’s southwest and a day of football in Dublin. I credit my brother-in-law Tom Coyne for inspiring my golf trip to Ireland. Not too long ago, Tom completed what can...
MoreThe Charms of the West
Patricia Danaher explores the high season of Galway City and the delights of the western landscape. The west of Ireland has a quiet magic at most times of the year, a tranquility that sneaks up on...
MoreYour Travel Story: Tara Cross
I took this image of Tara cross on the evening of May 26th, 2012, almost 214 years to the day that the Battle of Tara took place. On that occasion the fields of Tara ran red with the blood of Irish...
MoreJoe Duffy Made Me Famous, Dingle Saved Me
When Mary Tolan’s backpack – containing her wallet, passport and six months of writing – was stolen in Ireland, she thought all was lost. Over the course of five weeks on the Dingle Peninsula,...
MoreLandscapes of the Heart
Photographer Eoghan Kavanagh on the Irish landscape. I began to work as a freelance photographic assistant in New York City twenty years ago. It was a wonderful opportunity but I could not settle,...
MoreYour Travel Story: Killarney National Park
I discovered The Killarney National Park on one of my first trips to Ireland many years ago, and I’ve returned to Killarney many times since. Just last September, on yet another stroll through this...
MorePainting the Burren
Andy Weeks, a New York-based artist, finds inspiration in Clare’s rocky landscape. Two years ago, my wife and I decided to visit Ireland. We were in the process of buying a house outside of New...
MoreThe Dunbrody: The Ark of New Ross
Celebrating the Dunbrody Famine Ship, the Irish Emigration History Centre, the Irish America Hall of Fame, and the upcoming inaugural Irish America Day, hosted by the town of New Ross, Co....
MoreFinding Roots in Ireland,
Land of Enchantment
Heidi Boyd on her trip to Ireland. “Do you have Irish ancestors?” This is normally the first thing people ask me upon finding out I went on holiday in Ireland. In most cases, the person...
MoreYour Travel Story: Doolough
On a lonely stretch of road in Co. Mayo, between Louisburgh and Delphi Lodge, I took this photo of Doolough, which translates as dark lake. It was a lovely day, and the light was perfect, as it...
MoreBring Them All Back Home
‘Ireland Reaching Out’ is a pilot project that aims to reconnect all 70 million Irish people worldwide with their ancestral homeland. The Ireland Reaching Out project is the brainchild of...
MoreThe Most Spectacular Golf Course on the Planet
The Old Head Golf Links in Kinsale, County Cork has been ranked by Links magazine as the most spectacular golf course on the planet (Spring 2011 edition). Truly one of the most unique golf courses...
MoreTravel Stories from IA
Return to Ireland: Mary Pat Kelly writes about the ancestors calling her home. The kings of Ireland were not inaugurated in Christian churches as were other European monarchs. The chieftains stood on...
MoreA Course Called Ireland
Bestselling golf author Tom Coyne wrote about trekking across Ireland for 16 weeks in search of the greatest round of golf ever played. He shares his experience and excerpts from his book A Course...
MoreA Winter Honeymoon
April Drew married John Mooney on Saturday, December 5, 2009 in Killarney, Co. Kerry. The New York couple discovered that a honeymoon in Ireland in mid-winter warmed the heart, offered spectacular...
MoreTouring Ireland with Brian Stack
“Let me tell you the deal we have right now,” says Brian Stack in his good-natured brogue. “For $363, you can have six nights in Ireland staying at a choice of over 1,100 bed and...
MoreSalsa Verde: The Irish in Chile
I have been visiting Chile since 1991 and had learned quite a bit about Bernardo O’Higgins, who had a most significant impact on the politics and culture of Latin America and on Chile in...
MorePoets & Pubs in Dublin: A Literary Tour
Dublin’s fair city has changed in recent years. Cranes have come to dominate its skyline and people of all hues – Polish, Chinese and African as well as Irish – now throng its streets. Yet one...
MoreMagnificent Munster
Magnificent Munster Munster is located in the southern part of Ireland and consists of six counties: Cork, Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford. Its main centers of population include Cork...
MoreExploring the Kerry Kingdom
Who was the first European to discover the Americas? Contrary to popular opinion, it may not have been Christopher Columbus. In fact, it may well have been St. Brendan – an Irishman who hailed from...
MoreThe Magic of Yeats Country Lives On
Ed: This post originally appeared in the February / March issue of Irish America after Bridget English was sent on assignment to attend the Yeats International Summer School the previous summer. The...
MoreIreland’s Cultural Heartland: A Visit to Ireland’s West and Northwest
The West Patricia Harty’s tour of the West Landing in the West of Ireland “the cultural heartland” is a wonderful introduction to Ireland. “It is,” as Liam Scollan, the CEO of Ireland West...
MoreOileán Iathghlas Éireann: The Emerald Isle
In late September, Irish America designer and photographer Patrick Cahalan took a CIE seven-day tour of Ireland. The photos in the next few pages give a taste of his experiences on his first trip to...
MoreParis: The City of Lights Has a Brogue
The master of the steaming griddle performs theatrical flourishes while preparing crêpes or gallettes in the window of a crêperie. Waves of pure chocolate cascade over the multiple tiers of a brass...
MoreA Postcard from Prince Edward Island
The unique Irish / Scottish heritage of PEI, off the coast of Nova Scotia, is preserved in music and dance and in the faces of the people. ℘℘℘ “An always but never known place” is...
MoreChile’s Irish Flavor
Nancy Griffin travels to Chile and finds a beautiful country still celebrating its Irish founding father. ℘℘℘ Chile is a long, narrow, mountainous, beautiful country on the Pacific Ocean, its...
MoreTilting Towards Ireland
Tilting, a village on the island of Fogo and about 300 miles from St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland, was recently nominated as an Irish Heritage site. This is largely due to the efforts...
MoreThe Postman Only Brings Once
In this modern age there isn’t a lot of practical difference between traveling to a foreign country and moving to live in one. Both acts entail a degree of psychic upheaval, which is, after...
MoreIrish America’s Tour of Ireland
Irish America with CIE Tours International arranged a very special trip to Ireland for our readers this past October. Highlights included a medieval feast and some fantastic...
MoreThe Greens of Ireland
The American love of golf has created a new form of business in Ireland – golf tourism. ℘℘℘ A mean Atlantic southwesterly howls up the sand dunes, blasting a wintry chill across the grassy...
MoreThe Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Hugh Mulligan Visits Ireland’s premier retreat For artists and finds a workplace without a time clock. ℘℘℘ The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig is located in lush and lovely...
MoreThe Jewel of the West
A visit to Westport encompasses many aspects of the unique history of the West of Ireland. ℘℘℘ On a clear day the panoramic vista from Sheeaune Hill on the Castlebar Road approach to Westport,...
MoreHibernia: South Armagh
A tourist haven? Tommy Makem thinks so and he held a festival there to prove it. ℘℘℘ June, 2000. A bus packed with American tourists pulls out of Newry and takes the road to South...
MoreAn Isle Too Far
Beautiful, haunting, and cut off from the westernmost tip of lreland by three miles of treacherous sea, the Great Blasket lsland lies abandoned since the last remaining islanders were evacuated in...
MoreHibernia
Hibernia: South Armagh
A tourist haven? Tommy Makem thinks so and he held a festival there to prove...
Game of Thrones Set to be Turned into Tourist Attractions in Northern Ireland
“The world’s most popular show,” Game of Thrones, may have wrapped up, but that...
Winterval in Waterford City
On Saturday, November 17, International Rose of Tralee, Kirsten Mate Maher joined Santa and the...
Malahide Casino Returns
The repair and conservation of the Malahide Casino building is nearing its completion. A historic...
World War II “Eire” Landmark Restored
A historic Irish Second World War coastal landmark has been painstakingly restored by...
Waterford’s Annual
Harvest Festival
The 11th annual Waterford Harvest Festival is set for September 6-8. ℘℘℘ Waterford is...
U.K. and Ireland Agree Common Travel Area
The governments of Britain and Ireland have agreed on a deal to preserve the Common Travel Area...
Donegal Crowned World’s Coolest Destination
Co. Donegal claimed the number one spot on National Geographic Traveller’s annual “Cool List”...
Report from Havana: Irish Latin American Conference
The annual conference of the Society for Irish Latin American Studies (SILAS), “Island Relations:...
The Un-Quiet
Ghosts of the Carricks
Bones of Irish children were found 170 years after they died on a “coffin ship” en route to...
St. Brigid’s Tourism Trail Opens in Kildare
A tourism trail honoring Ireland’s female patron saint, Saint Brigid, has opened in Kildare. The...
James Connolly Visitor
Centre Opens in Belfast
At a ceremony on Friday, April 19, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins officially opened Áras...
300 Years of Scots-Irish Immigration to U.S.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the first great wave of Scots-Irish migration to the...
U.S.-Ireland Flights Increase in Number and Affordability
Spring of 2018 promises an array of new price and destination options for flights between Ireland...
Woman with Terminal Cancer Gets Dream Trip to Ireland
In January, single mother and grandmother Kathryn Doyon, diagnosed with Stage 4 colon and liver...
Clothing-Optional Beach Established in Ireland
The County Council of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown announced plans in March to accommodate nude...
News: Ireland’s Best
Vacation Destinations
The best hotel and tourism operators in Ireland were recently recognized at the 30th CIE Tours...
Bringing it All Back Home
Four new festivals, intended to embrace the diaspora, some 70 million, and entice them back to...