Read about our BIRDING PLUS tours concept.

Our goal on our Birding Plus Ireland tours is to show you Ireland as the Irish know it--to meet the people, take in the culture, visit unique pubs, listen to outstanding traditional Irish music, while at the same time watch Ireland's birds as we travel the Emerald Isle. Irish pubs are the cultural center of the Irish community--where you will hear stories, jokes, history, poetry, music, and malarkey--so a tour of Ireland that doesn't include the pubs is not a tour of Ireland at all. We'll visit a variety of pubs, especially those featuring traditional music. We'll also visit several fine museums and experience private music performances known as "sessuns" (pronounced sessions). We have arranged some surprises and amazing traditional Irish music venues in all types of pubs and session houses, including the now-declining country pubs, which are becoming rare.

The limit of 24 participants alone on this Birding Plus tour dictates a different rhythm from our customary birding tours, as does our range of activities. Daily routines--birding reserves, refuges, and coastal bays and estuaries, visiting an array of historical sites--will be relaxed and flexible, as we provide opportunities to see birds well (especially from hides), indulge your own particular cultural interests, and take advantage of your guides' expertise. Our evenings engaging in pub culture will be carefully arranged and often magical. We'll bring the Irish music with us as we travel in search of birds, and all the while we'll partake of that wonderful Gaelic spirit defined by the word "craic" (pronounced crack), meaning fun, Irish style.

IRELAND IN SPRING
In early May, tourists are not around in large numbers, but migrant birds are beginning to return, seabirds are amassing in impressive nesting colonies, and resident and migrant species are beginning to vocalize, many with rich song. The famed "Irish spring" is a lovely time to visit, with folk ballads and avian melodies alike celebrating an ancient renewal of hope.

The famous sites we'll visit include the Wicklow Mountains and Glendalough (a beautiful spot of lakes and glens); Cobh (an important departure point for Irish emigrants); Skibbereen (a unique inland salt-water lake and ecosystem); Skellig Islands (a pelagic trip to a magical place--probably the prettiest seabird colony you'll ever visit, combining seabirds with an ancient monastery), Killarney National Park (with misty lakes and ancient forests), Magillicuddy Reeks (the highest and most impressive mountain range in Ireland), and the River Shannon (largest river in Ireland and a haven for birds).

Note: For a visit to Ireland at a different season, we also have a fall Birding Plus -- Ireland tour on our schedule (see it here).

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