Depart from your hometown for your overnight flight(s) to Ireland. Meals will be served on board.

Cead Mile Failte – Welcome to Ireland! Upon arrival into Dublin, collect your luggage, pass through passport and customs control, then walk to the Arrivals Hall where you will meet your tour guide, and, or driver. Depending on your arrival time, check into your hotel. We will celebrate Mass and have dinner before our overnight stay in Dublin.

After breakfast we will begin our adventure with a panoramic tour of Dublin city on both sides of the River Liffey, where we pass by Phoenix Park, the largest city park in Europe. On the other side of the river are Georgian squares characterized by colorful doors, and Trinity College, the oldest university in Ireland. It was founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I. We will visit the ancient library at Trinity College containing over 20,000 manuscripts, among which is the famous illuminated Gospel manuscript: the Book of Kells. After breakfast depart for Dundalk. Dinner and overnight.

After a hearty Irish breakfast, prepare for your first day’s walk. The first part of the walk will take you through Rostrevor Forest towards Spelga Dam. C S Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, holidayed in the Mournes near Rostrevor, and the location inspired his fictional landscapes. During the day you follow parts of the Ulster Way, through the foothills of mountains on spectacular terrain. Keep your camera close to hand! At end of your day’s walk travel to Warrenpoint. Dinner and overnight.

After breakfast this morning, following Mass we will start at the pickup point from yesterday to continue the walk to Newcastle. The Pilgrim’s Walk takes you around Slieve Bearnagh into Tollymore Forest Park, finally ending in Newcastle. Slieve Bearnagh is the 4th highest mountain in the range. Walking in the Mournes is exciting because of the varied terrain and wonderful views – forest, water, sea and majestic granite tors and peaks. Links with St Patrick are many. The summit of Slieve Donard has a hermit’s cell in the Great Cairn and an oratory in the Lesser Cairn, both constructed by St Donard, the son of a pagan chieftain and an important disciple of St Patrick. Dinner and overnight in Newcastle.

Today you follow part of the Lecale Way, giving you fantastic views of the County Down coastline and rolling hills. You will pass the elegant façade of the Slieve Donard Resort and the world-famous Royal County Down Golf Club before continuing to Murlough National Nature Reserve. You follow the coast for most of the day, watch out for the ancient sand dune ecosystem and the wading birds along the route. At end of the day in Tyrella we will travel back to Newcastle. Dinner and overnight in Newcastle.

After breakfast, the coach will transfer you back to Tyrella for the last leg of your journey and the walk to Downpatrick, known as ‘St Patrick’s Country ’, as the links to the Saint’s life and legacy are so significant. The story of Christianity in Ireland began here, where St Patrick brought his boat ashore on Strangford Lough. The coastal landscape around Tyrella and the rolling green farmland of Lecale is a treat – the traffic free roads are dotted with churches and grand estates as well as holy sites and historic buildings. The spiritual centre of this section is Down Cathedral, a place of Christian worship since the 5th century. Visitors can walk in St Patrick’s footsteps from the site where he established his first church to his final resting place at Down Cathedral.

In the afternoon take time to visit St Patrick’s Centre and discover the story of St Patrick and his place in Ireland’s history. It features an interpretative exhibition which tells the fascinating story of our Patron Saint and begins with the impressive ‘In the Footsteps of Saint Patrick’ Imax presentation about the life of St Patrick and has aerial video footage of some of the landmark sites in Ireland associated with the Saint. A series of interactive displays allow you to explore how Patrick’s legacy developed in early Christian times and reveal the fabulous artwork and metalwork which was produced during this Golden Age. The exhibition also examines the major impact of Irish missionaries in Dark Age Europe – a legacy which remains to this day. End you day with dinner and overnight in Dundalk.

Today as we leave Dundalk, we will enjoy plenty of breathtaking scenery while traveling to Dublin. We will arrive in Dublin to visit the National Museum, situated in the heart of the city. Its collection of golden prehistoric jewelry is without a doubt some of the most stunning in Europe. You will be particularly interested in the Celtic finery, as well as numerous early Christian artifacts and incredible relics. There will be some free time for lunch and relaxation later in the day. In the evening, we will have a final delicious dinner before retiring for our last overnight stay in Ireland.

Following breakfast, we will board our bus that will bring us to Dublin Airport for our return flights home. We will bid farewell to our new friends and to a pilgrimage which will be in our memories and hearts for a long time to come.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.