Transport will be several steps up from this. iStock image by Steve Jacobs.
It’s not too late—or too early—to think about a trip to Ireland. Or, at least, to see where your ancestors lived when they came here.
You can get the full Irish immigrant experience—except for the “No Irish need apply” part—September 18 and 19 in New York City, the gateway for millions of Irish immigrants. “The Irish Immigrant Experience” will take you by motorcoach to The Tenement Museum, which introduces you to life as our ancestors experienced it in many migratory waves. The building at 97 Orchard Street was built as a tenement in 1863 and was home to nearly 7,000 working class immigrants. Two books—“97 Orchard Street, New York: Stories of Immigrant Life” by Linda Granfield, and the just released “97 Orchard Street: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement” by Jane Ziegelman”—will help you prepare for the trip.
There will be a visit to St. Patrick’s Cathedral for Sunday morning mass, a trip to the Ellis Island, which opened its doors in the early 1900s, and houses the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, and the Statue of Liberty. For $299 per person, you’ll stay at the Doubletree Jersey City, have dinner at O’Connell’s Pub in Jersey City with your own personal musicans—the Malones: Fintan Malone and Luke Jardel.
To reserve a seat or for more information, contact Marianne MacDonald at (856)236-2717 or rinceseit@msn.com or contact Johanna Greene at Mayfair Travel at: (215)331-8880 (office), (267)255-4417 (cell) or johanna@mayfairtravel.com.
Speaking of the Malones
This local musical group—Fintan Malone and Luke Jardel—are organizing their first tour of Ireland November 12-19. Along with sight-seeing, you’ll be treated to music wherever you go in the counties of Clare, Galway, Mayo, Kerry, Limerick, and Tipperary. Among the highlights: a stay in Spanish Point, Miltown Malbay, county Clare, birthplace of Fintan Malone and the site of his family pub, Tom Malone’s, one of the most famous musical pubs in Ireland (a focal point of the Willie Clancy School trad music event in July); a trip around the breathtaking ring of Kerry, and a tour of Limerick and the sights made famous in the late Frank McCourt’s celebrated memoir, “Angela’s Ashes.”
Price per person, based on double occupancy, is $1,499 and includes roundtrip airfare from Newark to Shannon, six nights lodging, daily full Irish breakfast (guaranteed you’ll be ordering porridge by the third day), and deluxe coach transport, among other things.
Contact Ian Duffy, Royal Irish Tours, 1-866-907-8687, or email ian@royalirishtours.com.
Irish Music on the High Seas
Galway musician Gabriel Donohue, who has been appearing frequently at the Philadelphia Irish Center, is one of the headliners on the Irish music cruise, Concerts at Sea, Eastern Caribbean escape January 29-February 5, 2011. He’ll be joined by the Irish Rovers, Archie Fisher, the Makem Brothers, and half a dozen other Irish musicans who will turn this Holland America cruise ship into the tune boat. The ports of call include Fort Lauderdale, Half Moon Cay, Turks & Caicos, San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and the US and the US Virgin Islands.
Prices range from $1499 to $2979 (there will no “steerage” on this vessel) whch doesn’t include airfare. If you love Irish music and hate cold weather, contact Irish Music Cruises at 1-888-564-7474 or info@irishmusiccruises.com and get lots of one and none of the other, at least for a week.
Heading North
The Ulster American Society’s 2011 Northern Ireland Tour is tentatively scheduled for June 3-12. A brochure should be available this week. This leisurely 10-day, 9-night tour, with stays in Ireland and Scotland, will showcase Northern Ireland’s premier attractions and rich Irish and Scots-Irish cultures. Estimated prices start at $1,495 per person (land only). For more information, contact the Ulster American Society—which is headquartered here in Philadelphia—at info@ulsteramerican.org or (267) 328-6123.
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