Loop Head, County Clare
If you can’t sit still when you hear Irish music, you may want to contact Marianne MacDonald. There are still a few seats left on her “Back to the West” tour to Ireland October 25-November 2 which, along with all the usual places, will take you to Loop Head in County Clare, voted the best vacation spot in Ireland by The Irish Times. It has spectacular rocky cliffs overlooking the sea, small pretty villages, a light house, and even a castellated turret built (in Kilhaba) so that Victorian ladies could enjoy the sea view. You can even do some dolphin watching.
But it’s the music that MacDonald, host of the WTMR-800 AM radio show, “Come West Along the Road,” focuses on—so much so that she’s bringing topnotch Galway singer and multi-instrumentalist Gabriel Donohue, who toured for three years with the Chieftains, as “our on-board entertainer,” says MacDonald, laughing.
In this 15th year of her tours, the New Jersey native will be traveling with a small group to “my three favorite areas in Ireland,” which includes Galway, Dingle, and Ennis. She promises “music day and night.”
“In my last trip we lined up Elle Marie O’Dwyer and she’s now really big in Ireland,” says MacDonald. “We’re going to have Don Stiffe at least one night, possibly two, and Noreen Lynch, who is very big in Ennis.”
The group may be meeting up with Kevin Crawford of Lunasa, and will be treated to a demonstration of sean nos, or old-time Irish dancing. There’s even a class available.
Accommodations at four-star hotels, breakfast every day, and four dinners are included in the land package for $1,889; airfare is $700 RT if you fly with the group.
You only have until next month to sign up. Contact Marianne at rinceseit@msn.com or Johanna at Mayfair Travel, 877-338-8181.
