Literary Ireland | Past & Present - Travel Experience
Embark on a journey through the Emerald Isle discovering the rich literary history of the island.
Highlights
- Meet with distinguished authors and literary experts
- Private Literary Walking Tours
- Garner knowledge of some of Ireland's most famed literary icons, including WB Yeats, Oscar Wilde, and James Joyce
Educational Literary Excursions
Countryside Exploration
Experience Overview
Embark on a journey through the Emerald Isle unearthing its rich literary history. Discover how acclaimed Irish authors, including WB Yeats, James Joyce, and Oscar Wilde, catapulted Ireland into a position as as one of the most respected countries of literature in the world. Your "odyssey" commences in Dublin, continues to Northern Ireland, through the Yeats country of Sligo, down to County Clare, and returning finally back to the Irish Capital. Along the way, enjoy walking tours, private experiences, and meetings with literary specialists.
Sample Itinerary
Literary Walking Tour & Dublin Writers Museum
Arrive at Dublin Airport. Make your way into Dublin city centre to check in to your accommodation. Your afternoon will start with a Literary Walking Tour of the city with Pat Liddy. Stops will include the National Library of Ireland, home of the W.B. Yeats exhibition and the Chester Beatty Library – in the shadow of Dublin Castle. You will learn about some of Ireland’s most famous literary icons, including James Joyce and Oscar Wilde. Take the remainder of the day to visit the Dublin Writers Museum, which celebrate the rich literary history of the Irish capital. In the evening, enjoy a literary pub crawl where you will not only get to experience the best pubs in Dublin but also watch on as storytellers re-enact Irish literary gems!
Accommodation options
The Shelbourne
The Alex
Oscar Wilde & Turtle Bunburry
Take the morning to visit Oscar Wilde House – the childhood home of Oscar Wilde situated off St Stephens Green. The first floor of this Georgian building was the scene of Speranza’s famous salons, which ran from around 1859 to 1874. Jane, Oscar’s mother, held gatherings each Saturday afternoon, inviting the great and the good to participate in conversation, debate, poetry and song. Artists such as Bram Stoker, John B Yeats and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu were frequent visitors. In the afternoon, you will meet Turtle Bunbury for an afternoon tea. Turtle, younger son of Lord Rathdonnell, is a best-selling author and historian based in Ireland. His books include the Vanishing Ireland series, Sporting Legends of Ireland, The Irish Pub & Living in Sri Lanka. He was curator of the first ever History Festival of Ireland in June 2012. He is the presenter on the ‘Genealogy Roadshow’, an ongoing tv series which first aired on Ireland’s RTE1 television channel in 2011.
Accommodation options
The Shelbourne
The Alex
Senator David Norris & James Joyce
In the morning, enjoy coffee or breakfast with Senator David Norris. Senator Norris, one of the most significant figures in Irish political and cultural life today, is an historian and academic, a gay rights activist, and a politician. He serves as a member of the Upper House of the Irish Parliament and a bureau member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. One of Ireland’s leading Joyce scholars, Norris is chairman of the James Joyce Centre in Dublin, and the author of Joyce for Beginners. Following your meeting with the Senator, depart Dublin and begin your venture north, perhaps stopping at Newgrange. Your destination this afternoon is the Seamus Heaney Home Place exhibition, which showcases the life workings of perhaps Ireland’s most famous poet.
Accommodation options
Bishops Gate
Ardtara Country House
Samuel Beckett
You have the option this morning of taking a tour of the islands only walled city, Derry. Otherwise hit the road early as you make your way to “Yeats Country”, County Sligo. Stop in the town of Enniskillen, yearly host of the International Beckett Festival – celebrating the life and work of Samuel Beckett. With its lakelands, caves and the Cuilcagh Boardwalk – Enniskillen is the perfect base for a day of activities and sightseeing. County Sligo awaits you in the late afternoon for an evening of relaxation.
Accommodation options
Coopershill House
Castle Dargan
Damien Brennan & WB Yeats
Start your morning with a tour to Yeats’ grave, followed by a trip into Sligo town for a walking tour of the town and lunch with a Yeatsian expert. An afternoon exploration of the pre-historic site of Carrowmore. Carrowmore is the largest cemetery of megalithic tombs in Ireland. The tombs are spread out over 3.8 sq km (1.5sq mi) in the shadow of the Knocknarea to the east, over a number of fields and townlands, most of them situated near the road. Carrowmore’s placement on a low-lying gravel ridge contrasts to the hilltop situation of other cemeteries; each monument stands on its own little eminence. Enjoy an evening of fine dining and the poetry of WB Yeats around a family table. Damien Brennan and Paula Gilvarry entertain their guests at Broc House which has fabulous views across Lough Gill. Their passion for fine food, entertainment and the poetry of WB Yeats will deliver you with an evening you will never forget.
Accommodation options
Coopershill House
Castle Dargan
John Healy
Leave Sligo behind and venture south to Galway. Through John Healy’s Charlestown and George a Birmingham’s Westport, with a visit to a private antiquarian book dealer on the way. Lunch at leisure in Westport and then through North Connemara to Galway. There is the option of adding a pub tour of Galway this evening.
Accommodation options
Glenlo Abbey
Cliffs of Moher & the Burren
Start your day with a trip to the Cliffs of Moher and the Burren in County Clare, perhaps enjoying lunch in the Burren Smokehouse – tasting the best of Irish Smoked Salmon. Make your way back to Galway in the late afternoon to enjoy a literary walking tour of the city, including a visit to Nora Joyce’s house. The option is there for an evening theatre show.
Accommodation options
Glenlo Abbey
Oliver Goldsmith
Leave Galway behind and head back to Dublin. Your first stop is Clanmacnoise. The ancient monastic site of Clonmacnoise is situated at the crossroads of Ireland in County Offaly and dates back almost 1,500 years. St. Ciaran, the son of an Ulsterman who had settled in Connaught, chose the site in 545 AD because of its ideal location at the junction of river and road travel in Celtic Ireland. The location borders the three provinces of Connaught, Munster and Leinster. The monastery is on the east side of the River Shannon, in what was then the Kingdom of Meath, but occupying a position so central it was the burial-place of many of the kings of Connaught as well as those of Tara. Enjoy lunch in Glasson, home of Oliver Goldsmith, before arriving back into Dublin in the late afternoon. Enjoy your final evening at a theatre show in Dublin.
Accommodation options
The Shelbourne
The Alex
Departure
Departure day. Make your way to Dublin Airport to catch your flight home.
DAY 1
Literary Walking Tour & Dublin Writers Museum
DAY 2
Oscar Wilde & Turtle Bunburry
DAY 3
Senator David Norris & James Joyce
DAY 4
Samuel Beckett
DAY 5
Damien Brennan & WB Yeats
DAY 6
John Healy
DAY 7
Cliffs of Moher & the Burren
DAY 8
Oliver Goldsmith
DAY 9
Departure
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