Overview

Join us on our 1 Day Celtic Tour which will bring you to one of the most ancient parts of Ireland.  County Meath is known as the Royal County, the place from which the High Kings if Ireland ruled the country from.   This is a place steeped in history from the passage tombs at Loughcrew said to be even better than that of Newgrange.  Inside you will see artwork carved into the stones still visible after 5000 years.  A breathtaking drive through Ireland’s finest countryside will take us to the old town of Trim.  Here you will be taken on a guided tour of the famous Trim Castle, the largest, best preserved and most impressive Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland.  

From there you will travel to the most sacred sites of ancient Ireland – The Hill Of Tara.   The High Kings ruled the country from this high ground; it was the royal centre of Ireland. It is said that a quarter of Ireland’s landscape can be seen from this hill.  Before we leave here you’ll enjoy some lunch where you can gaze for hundreds of miles and admire the beautiful green landscape.  Leaving Tara we will pass through the village of Slane were we will stop to take some photos of the incredible Slane Castle which is the residence of Ireland most famous aristocrat, Henry Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles. 

Just outside Ardee we stop at ‘The Jumping Church’.  This church has been the source of fascination by visitors and locals alike.  The popular folklore says that the gable wall of the church jumped 3 feet moving an excommunicated occupant of a grave outside the walls of the church – whatever the real story is, it makes for a fascinating stop.   One of the many famous things Ireland is famous for is the Celtic High Cross.  On this amazing Celtic Tour you will next be brought to one of Ireland’s earliest and best-know religious sites at ‘Monasterboice’.   The Celtic High cross of Muiredach at Monisterboice is the finest High Cross in Ireland and is highly regarded as one of the best surviving examples of Irish religious art.  Next stop is just a short trip to the historical town of Drogheda where you will get a walking tour of the town.  After your walking tour you’ll have some free time to explore the meandering streets and check out the local shops and street stalls. 

DETAILS :

THIS ONE DAY CELTIC TOUR TO COUNTY MEATH LEAVES DUBLIN EVERY MORNING AT 8:00AM FROM THE TOURIST OFFICE ON SUFFOLK STREET ( OUTSIDE THE OLD STONE CHRUCH ) IN THE CITY CENTRE.  THE TOUR WILL ARRIVE BACK TO DUBLIN CITY CENTRE AT APPROXIMATELY 6:00PM.

PRICE : €35 EURO PER PERSON

PRICE : €30 EURO FOR STUDENT / OAP

THIS 1 DAY CELTIC TOUR INCLUDES LOUGHCREW PORTAL TOMB, GUIDED TOUR OF TRIM CASTLE, HILL OF TARA, SLANE CASTLE, THE JUMPING CHURCH,  MONISTERBOICE MONISTORY AND A GUIDED TOUR OF DROGHEDA TOWN.

ITINERARY

8:00am

Depart from the tourist office at Suffolk Street in Dublin city centre (outside the old stone church).  After our guide introduces himself we travel north into the royal county of Meath towards Oldcastle.

9:30am

We arrive at the sacred site of Loughcrew with a concentration of around 30 passage tombs.  This is one of the most important prehistoric cemeteries in Ireland and many agree that it is better than that of the famous Newgrange.  You’ll walk to the top of the hill where one of the best preserved and most accessible tombs on the site can be seen.  Once we open the iron gate you’ll enter the tomb with a flash lamp to find along the walls and the ceiling Celtic designs carved into the rock over 5000 years ago, still perfectly visible.  This central tomb is said to be the burial place of the legendary High King of Ireland Ollamh Fodhla.  You will stand on this sacred high ground and see for miles and imagine the kind of ceremony that took place as this great man was laid to rest.  Afterwards we will take a short coffee stop to a café nearby where you will see the family church of Saint Oliver Plunkett.

11:00am

After a drive through some breathtaking Irish countryside we make our next stop at the great Trim Castle.  Here you will be given a guided tour of this fabulous stronghold that is still standing after  800.  It was at this castle where some of the best fight scenes in the film ‘Braveheart’ were shot.  Trim castle is the most important and best preserved Anglo-Norman castle in Ireland situated on the edge of Trim town itself.   Trim castle was the stronghold of Hugh de Lacy who was granted the Kingdom of Meath by King Henry II shortly after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland, in 1172.  Over the centuries the castle was used for many different purposes to suit the changing political climate but still today much of its walls and battlements remain. 

12:20pm

Not far from Trim castle we will arrive at the Hill Of Tara, the seat of the High Kings  – the most sacred site in ancient Ireland.  It is said that a quarter of Ireland’s landscape can be seen from this point.   Tara gets its name from ‘Teamhair na Ri’ which means ‘Sanctuary of the Kings’ and is the traditional inauguration site of the ancient High Kings of Ireland.  Tara was at the height of its importance around 600BC and was the royal centre of Mide, meaning ‘The Middle Kingdom’ once the 5^th province of Ireland.   There is a standing stone called ‘Lia Fail’ located at the centre of a circular mound know as The Royal Seat.  According to tradition when a true Irish King placed his foot on the Lia Fail, it cried out to announce his rightful reign – so you can have a go while you’re there.  We might have the true King of Ireland in our mists!!  We’ll grap some lunch at Tara before we push on to our next destination.

1:45pm

We travel through the village of Slane and make a photo stop at Slane Castle, the home of the Earl of Mount Charles; Henry Conyngham.   The castle is a remarkable building built in 1785 by Ireland’s most distinguished architect, James Gandon who designed Dublin’s Four Courts and The Custom House.  The Earl is only one of a very small handful of Irish aristocrats that still live in the Republic.  At the turn of the last century many of these Anglo protestant families were at their peak of power and controlled much of Ireland’s lands which were confiscated from the Irish by the English after the Williamite War 1689/91.  After the War of Independence in the early 1920’s many of these aristocratic families fled as the revolution spread throughout the country.  Some did manage to stay and hold on to a fraction of their lands and many became farmers.  In Slane Castles case, they made the unorthodox decision at the time to turn to live music in the late 1970’s.  Today Slane Castle hosts Ireland’s premier annual music concert.  It can hold 80,000 fans and over the years has hosted concerts by Queen, The Rolling Stones, Guns N’Roses and U2 to name a few.  In fact, U2’s fourth studio album ‘The Unforgettable Fire’ was recorded in the great Hall at Slane Castle!  As you leave Slane village, ask your guide to tell you the story of the four sisters !

2:15pm

Your guide will meander through some back-roads and make an unusual stop at what is known locally as ‘The Jumping Church’.  Shrouded in local mythology since 1715 nobody knows if the phenomenon of the jumping church is natural or supernatural.  Local folklore says that a once prominent and prosperous member of the local community was buried inside the church at the gable wall ( a great honour in those days ) was later found out to have a secret sinister past, and was excommunicated from the church.  The morning after a storm in 1715 the gable wall of the church had jumped 3 feet inward fully intact, leaving the grave of the disgraced person outside the church walls.  The mystery that has surrounded this spectacle since the 18^th century will probably never be satisfactory solved.   

2:45pm

Our next stop on the fabulous Celtic 1 Day Tour is at the religious site at Monisterboice.   The High Cross of Monisterboise is the finest in Ireland and is highly regarded as one of the finest surviving examples of Irish religious art.  This religious site has been there since 520AD founded by Saint Buite.  Its name derives from the Irish ‘Mainistir Bhuithe’ meaning ‘the monastery of Buite’.   The monastery holds the 2^nd highest round town in Ireland which was burned in 1097 destroying its library and other treasures but still remains intact apart from its head cap.  You will also find the Celtic High Cross of Muiredach from the early ninth century and probably the finest of its type in the world. 

3:15pm

Just a short hop to our next and final stop before we make our way back to Dublin.  You will have approximately 2 hours in the historical town of Drogheda.  When we arrive in the centre of the town you will be met by a local tour guide who will walk you through this fascinating place lasting 1 hour which is steeped in highly significant Irish history.  You will visit St. Peters Church where inside you will see the decapitated head of Saint Oliver Plunkett.  Drogheda was an important Anglo-Norman settlement and was one of the largest walled towns in Medieval Ireland.  The town walls held strong twice from attack.  Firstly from Edward Bruce in 1317 and again by Phelim O’Neill in 1642.  However the walls were breached in 1649 by Cromwell and sacked the town massacring 3500 people inside. After your walking tour you will have about 1 hour free time to explore the town and check out the many shops and stalls.    

5:15pm