20 | WINTER 2025
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I’ve been sponsoring one-week tours of Ireland for 30 years. There’s an amazing potpourri of interesting people, things to see, do, hear and taste, and no two weeks are ever the same. A Week of Travel in Ireland Kinsale, Cork-Killarney, and Dublin
By Staff Writer Rick Bedrosian
traditional Irish breakfast, a tour of the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin (there’s NOTHING like a fresh pint of Guinness in the Gravity Bar, high atop the St. James Gate factory) and a bit of spirited Celtic music in the hotel last night with me, Sean McGuinness from the Dublin City Ramblers , members of the Steel City Rovers and Keith Williams. We traveled to Kin- sale, Ireland’s “culinary capital”. 2024 IRELAND TOUR DAY TWO: Cashel, Cobh (pro- nounced “Cove”) and overnight
W hen on tour in the Emerald Isle you never know who you’ll run into. A few years ago on the streets of Belfast, I bumped into writer/musician (Black 47) Larry Kirwan, one of my beloved drivers/guides, Keith Wil- liams, and Dublin City Rambler’s leader Sean McGuinness. My band, Hair of the Dog , had performed on the same stage with Black 47 countless times over the years and Keith had just driven my crew around Ireland two years prior. But I had never met Sean McGuinness until that day. I certainly knew the legendary, Dublin City Ramblers, Sean McGuinness' band. The Dublin City Ramblers are an esteemed Celtic folk group that has been together for more than 50 years. As it turned out, Sean, me, and our groups were staying in the same Belfast hotel that night. Somebody sug- gested that we have a bit of a session that evening, so we did. Now, we plan our tours so that they overlap, and Mr. McGuinness and I have a bit of fun with our instruments and voices two or three times each tour.
in Kinsale. Located on the southern coast, Kinsale is one of Ireland’s most charming and historic seaside towns. Kinsale has a well-pro- tected harbor which made it an important port for centuries. It was known that whoever con- trolled Kinsale Harbor could control Ireland. These tours are food-oriented so some of us ate at Max’s , a Michelin-rated seafood res- taurant in Kinsale. Max’s is owned and op- erated by the Queva family. The Quevas are lovely people and their eatery is outstand- ing. The mother and daughter work the front of the house while the father and son are the chef and sous chef. They all live upstairs. 2024 IRELAND TOUR DAY THREE : We vis- ited Charles Fort , one of the two aforemen- tioned historic citadels located at the mouth of Kinsale Harbor. Then in the afternoon, we enjoyed a fairly comprehensive Kinsale Food Tour led by a local guide. Kinsale is “Ireland’s Culinary Capital” and for good rea- son. At night, we hit some of the lively pubs! 2024 IRELAND TOUR DAY FOUR: Kin- sale- Cork-Killarney . An Irish nurse who was working in Lower Manhattan on 9/11 returned
"Kinsale is “Ireland’s Culinary Capital” and for good reason."
to Ireland and established the “Garden of Remembrance” on farmland near Kinsale. Our short visit to the gar- den seemed appropriate. The English Market , food, drink, and craic are amazing here too and my lamb shank at Hilliard’s was a winner! 2024 IRELAND TOUR DAY FIVE: After a hearty Irish Breakfast at our hotel in Kil- larney we traveled by coach (about 90 minutes) to the breathtakingly beautiful town of Dingle and nearby Slea Head , located in the extreme southwest of County Kerry.
2024 IRELAND TOUR DAY SIX: We made the drive north- east from Killarney to Dublin , stopping to see some thatched roof cottages on the way. Back in Dublin, we had just enough time for a final bit of shopping on Grafton Street , dinner, and then music with Sean McGuinness and me (with some guests) at our hotel pub. I thought about what a great job Hammond Tours did. The week was a blast but it seemed to pass too quickly so let’s do it again, October 12-18, 2025 (overnights in Dublin, Ennis, and Galway). n
2024 IRELAND TOUR DAY ONE : My 2024 Ireland Tour got started in wonderfully with a
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