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KILDARE

 

Sunday 15th:  Pick-up at Dublin Airport, approx. 10:30 am. Arrive at Kilkea Castle Hotel, County Kildare, about 1pm, for lunch and hotel check-in.  Afternoon introduction session, 4-6 pm.  Dinner at Castle, and evening lecture and discussion with Gerard Clarke, ecologist and history/archeology guide, for introduction into the history and landscape of Ireland.

 

Monday, 16th:  Leave 9:45 am for a day at the Solas Bhride Center in Kildare.  We will spend a day of pilgrimage with the women who re-lit the perpetual flame for goddess/saint Brigit in 1993. Morning talk by Sr. Phil and lunch at Solas Bhride. Then on to Brigid’s monastery & round tower. Dinner at Kilkea Castle.  Evening writing circle.

 

Tuesday, 17th:  Morning and lunch on your own at Kilkea Castle. Leave 1:30 pm for a return to Solas Bhride for an afternoon writing circle, within walking distance of Brigid’s Well and the Curragh fields.   Dinner in Kildare town.  Evening free.

 

 

BEARA PENINSULA

 

Wednesday 18th:   Leave 9 am. Lunch on the road, then mid-afternoon arrival in Eyeries, and get settled at Bed & Breakfasts and Anam Cara Writer's Center.  Dinner at Anam Cara. Famed Beara storyteller and stone diviner Mary Madison will join us for an evening of Irish folktales and stories.  

 

Thursday 19th:   Leave at 9:30 am for a full day writing retreat at Anam Cara Writer’s Center, with lovely gardens and spectacular river path and waterfall. There will be time to write, think, rest and reflect. Famed Beara storyteller and stone diviner Mary Madison will join us that evening.  Lunch & dinner at Anam Cara.  

 

Friday 20th:  Leave 9:30 am for exploration of the Beara Peninsula.  We will see the colorful villages of Cahermore, Adrigole, Dursey Sound, Kilcatherine Church and the Hag of Beara. Lunch on the road with time to explore and shop. Return to B&B’s at 2pm.  OPTIONAL AFTERNOON:  3pm ferry to Bere Island from Castletownbere to visit the wild, isolated place and ancient standing stone, beautiful view of Irish cliffs.  Evening free.  Participants will be dropped off in Castletownbere for dinner on your own. 

 

Saturday 21st: Leave 9:30 am to tour Eyeries,  Ring of Beara, Ardgroom Stone Circle, the Beara Gallery.  Lunch on the road.  Return to B&B’s at 2pm.  Afternoon open.  Dinner at Anam Cara, followed by Writing Circle 7-9:30 pm.

 

 

BOYNE VALLEY 

 

Sunday, 22nd:  Leave at 9:00 am for drive north to Navan. Lunch on the road.  Arrive at Bellinter House mid-afternoon for check-in. Dinner at Bellinter. Writing circle that evening with guide Gerard Clarke and orientation for Equinox on Loughcrew.

 

Monday 23rd:  Leave early for the Loughcrew passage mound.  Mid-morning meal at Loughcrew Megalithic Centre, then return to Bellinter.  Afternoon writing circle.  Dinner at Bellinter.  Evening on your own.

 

Tuesday 24th:  Morning writing circle.  Leave 11:30 for lunch in Kells at the Headfort Hotel and visit to Kells museum and monastery. Followed by nature walk at River Boyne and visit to Ardbraccan labyrinth. Dinner at 6pm in Navan, evening free.

 

Wednesday 25th:  Leave 8:00 am for tour of Newgrange and Knowth. Lunch at the Bru na Boinne Visitor’s Centre on your own. Then on to Monasterboice.  4-6 pm free time in Navan. Dinner at 6pm Ardboyne Hotel.  Evening writing circle.

 

Thursday 26th:  Early breakfast, 6-7am.  Leave 7am for drop-off at Dublin Airport.

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