Unique Irish Tours
Tailor-made small group tours

I will confess from the start that I have not been a person who was drawn to group travel tours. No Club Med. No cruises. When the opportunity to join this tour arose from my old friend I jumped at the chance. The tour is managed by that old friend, Daniel Burt, a highly recognized author and professor of Irish literature. His very capable partner, another published writer is his wonderful wife Deborah Felder. Long before your date of departure you can anticipate a wealth of reading material; all of this provides a cerebral banquet before you have even arrived for the tour. Our tour started in Dublin where Bloomsday was celebrating the 100th anniversary of Joyce’s Ulysses, and Dublin was out in splendor with many wearing period costumes and a memorable team of actors reenacting scenes for Ulysses in the novel’s actual locations. Absolutely delightful!! Tours of the new Seamus Heaney museum, Trinity College (and the Book of Kells), a performance at the Abbey Theatre, and visits to many vintage pubs followed on our remaining days in Dublin. Then off the West coast and Yeats country, and a splendid night with a Yeats scholar in his own house overlooking land that had been in his family for more than a century. And finally, the Aran Islands and its charm and beauty that you will carry in your memories always. The size of the group was ideal to permit us all to easily travel in a small comfortable bus expertly driven by tour partner Joe Noonan who is every bit a part of the energy of the group, a grand Irishman and a natural storyteller! This tour has left me an endless treasury of memories and has made my life rich in ways it never would have been had I not agreed to partake in it.

I liked everything equally! I really enjoyed participating in the Yeats poetry reading at the Lake Isle of Inisfree. I loved the Bloomsday Irish actors at Wynn's, the pubs, the Yeats day celebration. I liked the walking tour of Dublin, the teas at the castle and at the Gresham Hotel. Just being with everyone on the bus was fun, chatting and experiencing the moment. I enjoyed the Jewish Museum, the Joyce Museum - everything!

I was a participant in the 2014 Yeats Day/Bloomsday tour and was delighted to be immersed in the Yeats and Joyce experience under the guidance of such a knowledgeable and friendly team! One of the highlights was our visit to Howth Head, which was memorably dramatic - both in its rugged beauty and our own readings from Ulysses. Throughout, Professor Burt hit just the right balance of information, anecdote, and humor in his role as literary tour guide. But the entire tour was more than just following in literary footsteps: we visited a holy well and shrine, the stark beauty of the "Gleniff Horseshoe," the stately Markree Castle, and imbibed fine food, drink, and local music. Deb Felder and Joe Noonan, the other members of the team, added their own insights and kept spirits bright. Moreover, they were very helpful in providing all kinds of information and easing any bumps in the road. Bravo!

I am an economist, not a literature teacher or literature major, and I found the tour very interesting. We went to many beautiful places and did short hikes, which I loved. I also enjoyed learning about Yeats and Joyce, Irish myths, the importance of landscapes to Yeats, Irish history. The day we spent in a famine area keeps coming back to me. And somehow it all happened in the sunshine. The amazing range of backgrounds of people on the tour added interesting conversation.

I learned so much about Irish history in recent times from a balanced perspective, and it was amazing, an eye opener that banishes stereotypes. I also enjoyed a new appreciation of Irish writing. And it was a really good time too!

The tour of Yeats Day in Sligo and Bloomsday in Dublin was the richest experience I've had in the Emerald Island. I was particularly pleased with cultural immersion of the trip and the focus on the literary study of Yeats and Joyce. I had a good background knowledge of both of these literary giants that was deepened by this experience. I truly felt that I had walke in the shoes of these great writers. The various excursions were led by solid class authorities, who embellished this wonderful experience. The tour afforded a chance of a lifetime. I recommend Unique Irish Tours most enthusiastically! Nobody does it better!

Unique Irish Tours offers literary tours which combine just the right amount of group and individual activity to afford travelers the opportunity to customize their experience. The tour guides are extremely friendly and knowledgeable. The Yeats/Joyce tour to Sligo and Dublin was outstanding and was scheduled to coincide with celebrations honoring W.B. Yeats and James Joyce. The accommodations were excellent, centrally located, and offered wonderful breakfasts. Group dinners were outstanding as well, including a gourmet dinner at the lakeside home of a Yeats scholar. My rating: Four pints of Guinness!