http://www.irishcentral.com/topics/Susan+Byron IrishCentral Susan Byron en-us http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/step-into-a-storybook-garden-with-a-fairytale-castle-at-lismore-castle-and-gardens-arts-centre-in-county-waterford-201753811.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/step-into-a-storybook-garden-with-a-fairytale-castle-at-lismore-castle-and-gardens-arts-centre-in-county-waterford-201753811.html Sat, 06 Apr 2013 04:33:00 PDT
Lismore Castle Gardens, Lismore, County WaterfordLismore Castle Gardens are exactly how I imagined my storybook garden to be, complete with a fairytale castle and Prince Charming throwin for good measure A place where I could wile away endless sunny afternoons in a floaty dress, playing Titania in "A Midsummer’s Night Dream" Or take afternoon tea in the shade of a gnarled old apple tree having painted yet another perfect botanical watercolorNeatly trimmed box hedges barely contain the flower filled borders with not a dead plant, bald spot or a weed to be seen anywhere READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/colorado-native-has-a-eureka-moment---sets-up-full-irish-whisky-tour-of-ireland-196753661.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/colorado-native-has-a-eureka-moment---sets-up-full-irish-whisky-tour-of-ireland-196753661.html Sun, 10 Mar 2013 04:47:16 PDT
Brian Wess - Full Irish Whisky Heritage TourHere’s the answer to most guys prayers? A Full Irish Whisky Tour of Ireland, led by Brian Wess of Colorado, USANow, what would an American know about Irish whisky you might ask? Well, Brian has spent the last 5 years training with whiskey experts & master distillers while also independently touring the whisky bars and distilleries of Ireland (nice work if you can get it) in an attempt to put together the best whisky tour of Ireland and I think he has succeeded He has even managed to cajole private whiskey tours and tastings out of all the major Irish distilleries including Jamesons, Bushmills, Killbeggan and Tullamore Dew, which is no mean featWhat this means for his customer/clients (limited to just 15 per tour) is that they do not have to queue for a ticket or follow the crowd and do the regular tour, which do not get me wrong are excellent in all of the above, but even I would like to have an audience and tasting with Jameson’s master distiller Barry Crocket, in the Master Distillers Cottage at the Old Midleton Distillery in Cork where he was actually born!It sounds like a match made in heaven a small group of like minded folk doing what they love most, touring Ireland, drinking whisky and having the craic! READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/susan-byrons-predictions-for-the-top-ten-visitor-attractions-in-ireland-for-2012-137816443.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/susan-byrons-predictions-for-the-top-ten-visitor-attractions-in-ireland-for-2012-137816443.html Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:30:22 PST
Bunratty Castle1 Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, Shannon, County ClareIf you have only time to ‘do’ one visitor attraction in Ireland, this is it! Absolutely excellent, fantastic castle, medieval banquets, Irish cottages, farmyards, streetscape with traditional pubs, shops, school etc, great good value day out for all the family2 Butlers Chocolate Experience, Clonshaugh, DublinWhat’s not to like about a Willa Wonka-style experience with suspended walkway tour over the factory floor and all the chocolate you can eat?3 Crawford Art Gallery, Cork CityA smashing selection of superbly curated Irish Art, just the right amount in a wonderful city centre location and admission is free!4 Croke Park Museum, DublinProbably the best guided tour in Ireland, especially if you know nothing at all about Gaelic Games? The only carbon neutral stadium in the world? And top of their game right now, with a momentous Dublin win in 20115 Glasnevin Cemetery Museum, DublinThe only recipients of a Thea award in Ireland, excellent modern museum with superb multi-media, as well as the personal touch which is so important when dealing with a subject like this READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/escape-to-the-countryside-with-a-fall-break-in-ireland-132315118.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/escape-to-the-countryside-with-a-fall-break-in-ireland-132315118.html Fri, 21 Oct 2011 08:45:19 PDT Isn't Autumn just the perfect time for a short break away in the country?Summer is long gone and our thoughts are turning inwards to cosying up in front of a crackling log fire with a nice hot whiskey having perhaps tramped through a thick carpet of leaves in an ancient beech woodIreland has many beautiful forests, national parks and leafy lanes bordering ancient riverside walks that wind their way through quaint little Irish villages that thankfully have retained their rural charm Old fashioned, meaty butchers sport big roasts, proper sausages and locally caught game if you are lucky The smell of freshly baked bread and cakes (you can forget your diet on a weekend away in Ireland) wafts out of small bakeries turned coffee shops where you can sit and people-watch a different kind of lifestyle altogether READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/the-old-jamesons-distillery---home-to-irelands-favourite-whiskey-128186838.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/the-old-jamesons-distillery---home-to-irelands-favourite-whiskey-128186838.html Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:20:07 PDT
I have to say I prefer the Old Jameson's Distillery as a visitor attraction to the Guinness Storehouse for the simple reason that the tour here is guided whereas in Guinness’s you are left to your own devices Which can be very pleasant, especially above in the Gravity Bar with a view of the city and a pint in your hand, but for me I want something more?I like to leave a place a little bit wiser and in Jameson's case (a little bit tipsy) having learned something Properly guided tours will do that for you and at Jameson's it’s very well done, just the right length of time and information to hold your attention, finishing up with a genuinely, convivial tasting session in the Jameson's BarPerhaps, when you understand how something is made you appreciate it more? It’s quite amazing how three simple ingredients, barley, water and yeast can be turned into ‘uisce beatha’ or the water of life? And interesting too, how each of the processes, whether it was the malting of the barley, the marrying of the whiskey in casks or the vatting into bottles, shaped the lives and social history of such a small part of Dublin READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/taras-palace-one-of-the-largest-dolls-houses-in-the-world-127295638.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/taras-palace-one-of-the-largest-dolls-houses-in-the-world-127295638.html Tue, 09 Aug 2011 04:20:08 PDT
Taras Palace at Powerscourt House in Wicklow, is one of the greatest dolls houses in the world, on par with the Fairy Castle in Chicago, and Queen Marys own dolls house at Windsor Castle in LondonTaras Palace is modeled on the famous Titania’s Palace which was sadly lost to Ireland in the 1970s and is now on display at Egeskov Castle in Denmark The original having been built in Dublin in the early 1900s for Sir Neville Wilkinson’s daughter Gwendolen, who like all other little girls believed in fairiesA wealthy man, he commissioned artists and craftsmen from all over the world to recreate this view of their privileged world in precise and meticulous miniature READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/red-lips-and-hot-tips-for-the-galway-races-126009398.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/red-lips-and-hot-tips-for-the-galway-races-126009398.html Fri, 22 Jul 2011 06:50:08 PDT God be with the days of the Celtic Tiger when the Galway Race Festival was the richest and most glamorous event in Ireland’s summer sporting calendar Where the golden circle used to press the flesh and toast their success in an endless flow of free champagne in the hospitality tents, at someone else’s expense! While the ordinary mortals, having spent hours in traffic queues as long as the M50 had to then join the scrum for an overpriced warm drink in a plastic glass, just to be part of the great occasion that is the Galway Races Not to mention risking the fake tan (rain equals paint stripper) or your silly hat (gale force winds) are all par for the course in an Irish summer and I have never known ‘the going’ to be good enough for any Louboutin heel yet READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/tall-ships-festival-in-waterford-promises-to-be-the-largest-event-in-ireland-this-summer-124784919.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/tall-ships-festival-in-waterford-promises-to-be-the-largest-event-in-ireland-this-summer-124784919.html Thu, 30 Jun 2011 10:05:08 PDT
“I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and sky and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by” wrote the poet John Masefield over a 100 years agoThe same evocative line of thought will lure some 500,000 to Waterford this weekend to visit the Tall Ships Festival which will be largest event in Ireland this year Some 50 ships from all over Europe are taking part in the Tall Ships Race organised by the Sail Training Association of England with predominately youth crews of every nationality with youngsters still being asked to sign up for this leg of the race to Scotland Oh to be under 25 again, never mind READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/return-the-ballyvaughan-road-sign-now---controversy-over-removal-errupts-in-ireland-124075599.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/return-the-ballyvaughan-road-sign-now---controversy-over-removal-errupts-in-ireland-124075599.html Fri, 17 Jun 2011 09:20:08 PDT
Do you know it defies belief, when every man woman and child in this country is putting their best foot forward to recover from our economic woes that the government pulls the rug from under us, yet againThis time its one of those ‘jobs worth’ moments when the NRA (National Roads Authority) have simply removed an iconic sign that has been standing at the crossroads in Ballyvaughan for over 30 years Possibly the most photographed road sign in Ireland, as one protester rightly put it, more ‘folk art’ then actual road signage It is located along what Conde Nast has described as one of the Top 10 road trips in the world, out to Doolin via Blackhead READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/a-better-guide-to-ireland---dont-follow-the-flock-get-off-the-well-beaten-track-123638189.html http://www.irishcentral.com/story/travel/irelands-hidden-gems/a-better-guide-to-ireland---dont-follow-the-flock-get-off-the-well-beaten-track-123638189.html Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:20:08 PDT
The recently published ‘official’ list of Irish visitor attractions leaves most of us (those in the know) scratching our heads and wondering why or how some of them even made the cut?As is often the case the 'must see sights’ in any country (but most especially in Ireland) are the very ones to avoid? No prudent independent traveller wants to be ripped off or more importantly, waste their precious holiday time on over-rated tourist traps that should have been closed down a long time ago---------------READ MORE:Ireland is top budget destinations this year when it comes to European travelIreland’s top ten most popular tourist attractions for 2011 named - PHOTOS ‘Certificate of Irishness’ available to applicants within months---------------Which would certainly be no real loss considering we now have world class attractions such as the Glasnevin Museum, Blackrock Observatory and Irish Museum of Country Life (free) running alongside such stalwarts as the Guinness Storehouse, Bunratty Castle & Folk Park and the Cliffs of Moher Buts there’s even more and dare I say better to be found (depending on your interests) throughout Ireland Beauties like Beaulieu House, warm favorites Foxford Woollen Mills, the Foynes Flying Boat Museum and the wacky West Clare Railway READ MORE ]]>