10-Day Choir Tour | Celtic Ireland
Armagh | Belfast | Giant's Causeway | Knock | Connemara | Bunratty | Dublin
This program includes the following venues:
- Sung Mass at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Armagh
- Sung Mass at St. Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry
- Sung Mass at the Basilica of Knock
- Informal concert at Ballintubber Abbey
- Sung Mass at Galway Cathedral
- Informal concert in the St. Patrick's College Chapel
- Concert at St. Patrick's Cathedral or Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin
All concert venues, Sung Masses, and performances are subject to confirmation. This itinerary can be customized or modified to include additional venues for choirs and performance groups, as well as daily liturgies if so desired.
Customize your itinerary by including choir competitions and festivals in Ireland, or adding an extension to England or Scotland.
10-Day Itinerary
- Day 1 | Depart for Ireland
- Day 2 | Arrive in Dublin | Boyne Valley | Monasterboice | Armagh
- Welcome to Dublin! Proceed to the Boyne Valley to see the Hill of Tara and the Hill of Slane. Visit Monasterboice and see the High Cross of Muiredach. Continue to Armagh.
Day 3 | Downpatrick | Armagh- Tour Downpatrick and St. Patrick’s Country, including the St. Patrick’s Center, Saul Church, St. Tassach’s Church, Struell, and Down Cathedral. Continue to Armagh and visit St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland as well as St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral. Sung Mass at St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral.
- Day 4 | Belfast | Giant’s Causeway |Derry
- Continue to Belfast and enjoy an orientation tour. See an exhibition at Titanic Belfast and shipyard, where the Titanic story comes to life. Drive along the famous Giant’s Causeway to Derry. Sung Mass at St. Eugene’s Cathedral in Derry.
Day 5 | Derry | Sligo | Knock | Galway- Enjoy a walking tour of Derry, passing St. Augustine’s Church, the Bloody Sunday Memorial, and the Guildhall. Continue to Sligo and Ireland’s National Marian Shrine in Knock. Sung Mass at the Basilica of Knock. Proceed to Galway.
- Day 6 | Ballintubber Abbey | Lunchtime Concert | Croagh Patrick | Connemara | Galway
- Visit Ballintubber Abbey, the beginning of the ancient pilgrim path to Croagh Patrick. Present an informal concert at Ballintubber Abbey. Proceed to Croagh Patrick, Ireland’s traditional pilgrimage site known as the Holy Mountain. Drive through the scenic Irish countryside of the Connemara region to Galway.
- Day 7 | Galway | Cliffs of Moher | Bunratty Castle and Folk Park
- Sung Mass at Galway Cathedral. Drive through the Burren region and stop at the majestic Cliffs of Moher. Continue to Limerick. Visit Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and enjoy the world-famous Bunratty Medieval Banquet.
- Day 8 | Clonmacnoise | Maynooth | Dublin
- Visit Clonmacnoise, a monastery founded by St. Ciaran in 548. Continue to Maynooth, home to Ireland’s main Roman Catholic seminary, St. Patrick’s College. Present an informal concert in the St. Patrick’s College Chapel. Continue to Dublin.
Day 9 | Highlights of Dublin | Lunchtime Concert- Enjoy a highlight tour of Dublin, including the “Doors of Dublin;” Phoenix Park; and Trinity College, where we’ll view The Book of Kells. Visit Christ Church Cathedral. Present a lunchtime concert at St. Patrick’s Cathedral or Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Free afternoon to explore Dublin on your own. Farewell dinner with traditional Irish entertainment at The Merry Ploughboy Pub.
- Day 10 | Return Home