Hi Robert,

Back from Ireland for two weeks, it’s hard to believe. I wanted to take a
moment to reconnect with you and let you know what the trip meant to me.
Leland and I have decided that it was our favorite vacation and that we
will never again do a cursory tour of a particular place. The depth of
understanding you provided into the history, culture, folklore, and people
made the trip *such* a deeper experience.

I didn't say so at the time, but the trip to Ireland provided me with a
sense of balance and peace I haven't felt in a long time. I felt different
almost as soon as I arrived at the B&B in Dun Chaoin; there was something
about the mix of the beauty and rural ambiance, and absolute quietness of
the peninsula, of the islands in the distance, of the coming and going fog
and damp air that affected me meditatively and almost spiritually. There
was a sense of wonder and awe of the history, and the place that never left
me while I was there. The quiet was such a contrast that the day after I
returned, I was eating lunch at an Italian restaurant I frequent, and could
barely stand the noise. In the past, I had never noticed the noise.

As well, I enjoyed the walking every day to find these incredibly beautiful
or unique sites; and I sensed that you were delighted, somewhat
mischievously, to plan special events for us each day. Even cow manure
became a spiritual experience!!!

When I returned, a therapist friend of mine asked me what I would like to
bring away from the trip back to this life. I replied that the balance and
sense of inner peace was harder to come to in non-vacation mode, but since
my return, I have been filled with energy, and feel renewed to make more
creative and self-preserving decisions in my busy world. ...Anyway, I hope
that the above expresses the joy that I took in the special experience you
offered to all of us.

Thank you for your special attention to the trip and to us while we were
there.

M. E.
San Diego, CA

For me it started with the idea that I didn't know much about the Celts. A magazine ad put me in touch with The Celtic Traveler. We were a small group and we didn't do touristy things nor were we subjected to staged entertainment.

There were no lavishly reconstructed archeological sites. We saw mostly what remained untouched all these years. The landscape was beautifully natural and we traipsed over fields and bogs to see historical remains and artifacts. We climbed along cliffs to view the power of the sea from high vantage points.

We visited several homes of local people and mingled with students in an elementary school. Most of our meals were taken in pubs that happened to be close by and we just took our places with the local people. Fortunate we were when musical sessions were in progress.

It gave me an introduction to the people and the mood that the land and the weather creates. I consider myself very fortunate in having picked a tour that concentrated on the traditional way of life for the Celts of today.

The trip was only a starting point because we were exposed to so many aspects of the history and culture of Ireland. It will keep me busy reading for the rest of my life. Each piece of information leads me to something else and so on. It was good to have my world view expanded by the careful program of The Celtic Traveler.

E.H.
Honolulu, HI

Dear Robert:

I am an experienced traveler and have a partiality for visiting Ireland, a land of such varied and extraordinary beauty and a people of legendary hospitality. Robert, your guidance and warm-hearted help placed me in landscapes and among people in West Kerry that went beyond all my expectations. Your Celtic Traveler service is a treasure, enhanced by your personal touch and exceptional knowledge of the region-- its culture, history, archeology, and topography.

There is much discussion now among travelers about getting to the hidden places where the heart and soul of a people and their homeland can be experienced. You provided such an unforgettable experience for me this summer in Dún Chaoin and on the surrounding Dingle Peninsula. Accept my thanks for the truly enchanting time spent in a place that encapsulates all the awesome beauty and gentle charm of Ireland.

The basic Irish language program and the expert tutoring of Micheál again met all my expectations and more. The personal association of students and teacher was much appreciated. I have written to him, in Irish, expressing my thanks. Meeting him and Feargal and their families was a treat for me.

Special thanks to you for showing me all those small monasteries, to be found only with your guidance and over the fences and through the sheep meadows and cow pastures. I have been telling my friends of these adventures.

J. F., MD
Kensington, MD

Dear Robert,

Perhaps it was our walk home from dinner at Micheál and Áine’s on the last night of our four night stay in Dún Chaoin, perhaps it was over lunch at Dan Foley’s in Anascaul, or perhaps it was while walking beyond Anascaul Lake to the little “fairy glen” and “wee shamrock garden” that you asked Caitlin and me for our observations on the 4-day option to your longer full Celtic Traveler experience.

Was a four day experience worthwhile, aside from fitting into our timetable? Yes. However, the four days with you began before our arrival and continue after our departure. That is the magic of a good trip! The stirrings of the desire to plan a trip to Ireland lay in our Irish ancestry and after we had confirmed our trip we dug into some of your suggested and our discovered readings: we opened our minds and hearts to the fullness of the Celtic Traveler’s four days.

Irish roots-- I grew up with “Mamore,” my Irish grandmother, my mother’s mother, living one quarter of a mile down the street from us... It was this grandmother, not my own mother, who passed along the something Irish that I felt in a hidden sort of way. It was in planning this first trip to Ireland that I sought to pick up my maternal Irish thread to pass to Caitlin a fabric richer than my own. It is difficult to explain how, with the four day Celtic Traveler experience, I found this thread in so short a time, but I did, both through your love and knowledge of the place and through the gentle pride of Micheál and Áine. At their table between succulent crab fresh from the bay and sweet rhubarb picked from the garden, Gaelic culture and legends, easy talk and insights began to reweave my Irish sense of self.

Irish culture and history-- With you we had a private experience for we did not have to share your insights and expertise with other travelers. You introduced us to prehistoric burial sites, pointed out the mounded furrows of fields abandoned during the potato famine, guided us to twelfth century churches and holy wells, oratories, and Norman castles. You even knew when to send us out alone, when the weather and our growing sense of place were right for an outing to the Blasket Islands. Caitlin and I walked the paths of Peig Sayers and the read the words of Tomás Ó Crohan’s “The Islandman”-- a wonderful overlapping of visual and verbal experiences.

The continuation-- Caitlin and I are more alive to the Irish (Gaelic) in ourselves as well as to that around us: the Irish peace process, the Irish mapping over the past 150 years of our cities, Boston and Worcester, Irish fiction and folktales, music and magic. We had a wonderful trip, Robert. Thank you.

S.M.
Falmouth, MA