IrishCentral hidden ireland - b5cc3275d518416eacb61d676e8d84d1

Hidden visas for Ireland and many other countries in new immigration bill (IrishCentral)

Sun, 12 May 2013 04:53:21 PDT

By: JAMES O'SHEA

Several countries, including Ireland, are seeking hidden visa programs for themselves in the new immigration bill, The New York Times reports.

Step into a storybook garden with a fairytale castle at Lismore Castle and Gardens Arts Centre in County Waterford (IrishCentral)

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

Colorado native has a eureka moment - sets up "Full Irish Whisky Tour of Ireland" (IrishCentral)

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

Top golf official charged with voyeurism after hidden camera found (IrishCentral)

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 05:12:21 PDT

By: PATRICK COUNIHAN

A friend of golf superstar Rory McIlroy has been charged with voyeurism after a camera was found at a house he rents out in Northern Ireland.

Top ten hidden beauty spots in Ireland - PHOTOS (IrishCentral)

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 05:12:05 PDT

By: PATRICK COOPER

We all know the Ireland of Saints and Scholars, Book of Kells, Guinness Storehouse and Dublin Castle, not to mention the Ring of Kerry and Cliffs of Moher. But what about a trip to the hidden Ireland, where few tourists go?

Hidden Ireland - Ireland's private house a world away from Irish hotels (IrishCentral)

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:45:21 PST

Old Irish house - stylish bathroomHidden Ireland is a collection of magnificent private houses throughout Ireland who offer seasonal accommodation, albeit on a grand scale, to the publicA stay in one of these great houses is quite unlike anything else you will experience in Ireland "Downton Abbey" addicts (like myself) will delight in the country house experience where you are made to feel more like an invited friend than a paying guestWhilst not obviously commercial and not to be confused with country house hotels, these wonderful homes (most of which have been in the same family for many generations) offer something truly different READ MORE

Escape to the countryside with a fall break in Ireland (IrishCentral)

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

Hidden Gems in Irelands rockpools? - a new book of Irish landscapes (IrishCentral)

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 05:50:07 PDT

Ireland is renowned for it's magnificent landscapes being blessed with a diversity not many countries can equal, but having just picked up Daragh Muldowney’s beautiful new book even I have had to do a double takeCalled "Jewellery Box - Irelands Hidden Gems" (I wish I could have taken credit for it) but am more than happy to endorse his excellent workDaragh spotted something (under his feet) no one else did and had the creative genius to expose it, in this wonderful selection of imagesInspired by Dulra (Irish for the natural elements) he spent the last summer exploring the miniature landscapes of Ireland's coastal rock pools READ MORE

The Old Jamesons Distillery - home to Irelands favourite whiskey (IrishCentral)

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

Taras Palace one of the largest dolls houses in the world (IrishCentral)

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

Irelands Hidden Places enchanting hideaways... (IrishCentral)

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 08:20:06 PDT

I am not sure I should really be telling you about the Hidden Places of Ireland, an amalgamation of five of the nicest self-catering properties you will find in the Midlands, as I seem to have stumbled upon a little corner of paradise tucked away in North Tipperary that I would rather keep to myself Previously I had only imagined what treasures might lie at the bottom of those seemingly endless driveways that wind their way through grassy parklands, studded with magnificent mature trees with only the odd racehorse lazily lifting his head to see who it is that has interrupted his bucolic peacefulness For this is Aga-land darlings, where life in the big house rubs off nicely on the little houses this nice group of people let out on occasion to the savvy few There isn’t a sound in these quiet back waters, apart from the rhythmic slushing of the watermill or the butterflies dancing through the flowery borders READ MORE

Red lips and hot tips for the Galway Races (IrishCentral)

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

Tall Ships Festival in Waterford promises to be the largest event in Ireland this summer (IrishCentral)

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

Return the Ballyvaughan road sign now - controversy over removal errupts in Ireland (IrishCentral)

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

Top ten hidden beauty spots in Ireland - SEE PHOTOS (IrishCentral)

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:08:10 PDT

By: PATRICK COOPER

SEE PHOTOS - Ireland's hidden gems

A better guide to Ireland - Dont follow the flock, get off the well beaten track (IrishCentral)

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

Top 10 hidden beauty spots in Ireland (IrishCentral)

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 04:11:26 PDT

By: PATRICK COOPER

Gallery / 10 hidden tourist gems in Ireland / Click here

10 Places President Obama will most likelyvisit in Ireland this May. (IrishCentral)

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:50:07 PDT

News of President Obama's forthcoming visit in May has been greeted with great joy and anticipation by the people of Ireland We have always had a reputation for hospitality and a particular fondness for some American presidents ie JFK and Bill Clinton, but this is going to be a party to end all parties It's already put a pep in the step of our newly formed government and Enda is right it's a great opportunity for us to showcase Ireland to the world and reclaim our national prideNo doubt it will be a whirlwind tour but like I am always advising tourists, less is more! You really dont need to cover the whole of Ireland in a week, honestly I have lived here all my life and have only scratched the surface! You can see and more importantly experience the real Ireland much more if you limit yourself a little bit READ MORE

Top ten hidden beauty spots in Ireland - SEE PHOTOS (IrishCentral)

Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:25:59 PST

By: PATRICK COOPER

SEE PHOTOS - Ireland's hidden gems

Top 10 hidden beauty spots in Ireland (IrishCentral)

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 04:06:49 PST

By: PATRICK COOPER

Gallery / 10 hidden tourist gems in Ireland / Click here