Celtic Ways Tales

“Around Bhride’s Garden” itineraries. During the last 5 years of presenting various Ireland tours and vacations of between 1 and 14 days, here’s what I have discovered. folks find that Ireland has more to offer than they thought and that trying to tour all of Ireland is exhaustive and not a vacation. folks enjoy spending several days at one accommodation and then do tours, activities and workshops based from that location. by staying at a single location for a few days individual travellers can opt for their own “time out” days and rejoin the group later by staying in one location a fuller experience of Ireland, its places, its people, its traditions and its culture becomes a deeper experience folks like to spend 4 or 8 days with a group So now we offer this vacation as a choice of these 4 day journeys. Most folks will choose two of these vacations  and some will extend their vacation to spend a couple of days in Dublin.   Based at “Tighe na Cláirseach”, Co. Sligo Tighe na Cláirseach i

“Veil Between Two Worlds” itinerary. During the last 5 years of presenting various Ireland tours and vacations of between 1 and 14 days, here’s what I have discovered. folks find that Ireland has more to offer than they thought and that trying to tour all of Ireland is exhaustive and not a vacation. folks enjoy spending several days at one accommodation and then do tours, activities and workshops based from that location. by staying at a single location for a few days individual travellers can opt for their own “time out” days and rejoin the group later by staying in one location a fuller experience of Ireland, its places, its people, its traditions and its culture becomes a deeper experience So now we offer this unique 8 day vacation that should also interest anyone looking for an Irish vacation that is rich in Celtic Spirit but easy on the budget. Though optional, one of the best ways of converting this vacation into even lower cost is to fly into our local Knock, Ireland West, airp

“Rekindling Lost Traditions” itinerary. During the last 5 years of presenting various Ireland tours and vacations of between 1 and 14 days, here’s what I have discovered. folks find that Ireland has more to offer than they thought and that trying to tour all of Ireland is exhaustive and not a vacation. folks enjoy spending several days at one accommodation and then do tours, activities and workshops based from that location. by staying at a single location for a few days individual travellers can opt for their own “time out” days and rejoin the group later by staying in one location a fuller experience of Ireland, its places, its people, its traditions and its culture becomes a deeper experiences So now we offer this unique 8 day vacation that should also interest anyone looking for an Irish vacation that is rich in Celtic tradition but easy on the budget. Though optional, one of the best ways of converting this vacation into even lower cost is to fly into our local Knock, Ireland Wes

“Craic & Ceilis” itinerary. We assembled this unique 8 day vacation after requests to create tours for Celtic and Americana music bands and their fans. I would like to extend this vacation idea to any music bands of any culture worldwide, and to any individuals, fans and families who enjoy the idea of coming to Ireland for true fun. This tour is about scenery, songs, music, stories and heritage. Starting at “Leenaun”, Co. Galway We love this place, a beautiful village near the head of Killary Harbour, Ireland’s only Fjord, a sea inlet shrouded by steep mountains. Amongst beautiful scenery this village is full of lively sessiún pubs, good food, hospitable people, dancing, stories and lovely local craft shops.  Our hotel is traditional, peaceful at night, serves traditional food in a spacious restaurant with friendly staff. Day 1:  Brigit’s Garden We rate this as one of the “must do” sites in any itinerary of Ireland. Jenny Beale has created a garden with an exceptional interpretati

A collection of video clips of live performances by singer harper Claire Roche .     Fields Of Fasseroe     Symbolic     Robin’s Jaunt     Gabhain Molta Bhride (Brigid’s Song) click box & tap your Space Bar to start then run your mouse over the video screen to reveal thumb images of each video clip ( may take a few moments to appear ) or just let the whole playlist run. Some of these do have a blank video beginnings because the coding of my opening title editing program does not seem to be compatible with YouTube processing.    

Why Visit Co. Clare? Think of Co. Clare and most people think of the Cliffs Of Moher, the Burren with Paulnabrone Dolmen, Listoonvarna and its famous festival that many heard through the song sung by Christy Moore, and Doolin with its music for tourists sessions. Some go to The Burren of Co. Clare for the flowers in Spring and to take photos of Father Ted’s house, but this is a minority compared to the above, yet is very popular with UK visitors. Our mission with Celtic Ways is to provide a sharing into Ireland’s sacred spirit and living traditions to try and prevent their extinction as they are so healing and helpful to our daily lives today. We usually achieve this through sharing sites and locations and visiting people away from the familiar tourist boardwalk. So far, we have not included The Burren of Co. Clare in our tours, but through 2008 this will become an important choice offered. It will be offered as part of our “Around Bhride’s Garden” and “Rekindling Lost Traditions” pack

The One Irish Tradition That Connects All Irish Traditions Where possible, I like to guide tours around some of the “components” of the Tara Hill, Co. Meath, complex of sites. My theme during this tour is always on the balance of justice. I share what I understand and feel was the ancient process of creating balance and justice starting with families and working through tribes, clans, regional kings and through to the high king of Ireland. It appears that the ancient process of justice was based on beliefs and faiths that we enter the “otherworld” continuing how we left this world. The ancients believed that we sustain the family connections we have here when we enter the next world so if a husband and wife fight here, their fights will continue in the next world. Their resolve for this was to form as many peaceful solutions and treaties her on this earth, ready for the journey to the next “world”. Samhain, just past, was and still is an important ritual for enacting the passage betwee

Ballycrottry, “The Place Of Harps” Situated a couple of miles from Corofin town in the heart of The Burren of Co. Clare, Claire, myself and some travellers from Asheville, North Carolina are enjoying our exclusive use of this remarkable preserved 520 year old castle tower. It is currently called Ballyportry names after the townland its is resident on. A townland is a measurement of land so this does not mean this is in town. However, once upon a time it took a lot of ploughmen to maintain this amount of land. A lot of people need supplies, entrepreneurs moved in and towns as we know today evolved from this, but this tower served this townland differently. This is a former home and fortress of the O’Brien clan. It is unique in that it is truly a Gaelic home with the visibility of being a former Norman stronghold. It is said to have been a place of hosting, merriment and harp music between the O’Brien chief of the area and trading partners of France and Spain. Here we are, Claire with he

This announcement inspired a loud chuckle when I read it this morning. “The Office of Public Works celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the Winter Solstice at Newgrange”