An Invitation, from Brian Collins

IRELAND. The ancient land on the far, windy, western edge of Europe. 

Because of its isolation on the distant reaches of the Atlantic, it was never conquered by the Romans. It never became commonly civilized like the rest of Europe. 

It has always remained a bit wild, a bit pagan, a bit … different. 

It has held on to what the “enlightened” continents would call superstitions and folklore. Ireland embraced the imagined world, through poetry, myth, dance, art and music, far more than the rest of the West. , Legend and history is bound up with every ruin, village, field and hill. 

Ireland embodies the idea of a dynamic of threshold– a place at the very, very edge. 

Also treasured as a great repository of wisdom and spirituality known as the Isle of Saints and Scholars – Ireland became a beacon of light during the Dark Ages. It remains so to this day. 

A place where the veil between the seen and the unseen is thin. 

I have written repeatedly on the profound influence that Ireland can have on a creative and worklife imagination, including my own. And right now, in a moment when so much around us is turning upside down, and after so many questions from fellow imaginative people about my own transformative visits there, I have finally taken my friend Chris Do’s suggestion. 

Five years later, have done something about it. So, join me on a trip this October. Unlike any you have taken.

Now is the perfect moment to for me to introduce this (potentially) transformative place to others. And, if you wish, to you. 

I invite you to join a community of 20 for a six day and six night immersive exploration into the creative imagination of Ireland. 

It is inspired by my personal experience as well the history of the landscape we will visit. 

You will be part of a community of accomplished professionals who work in creativity and design, all who are seeking to expand their imaginative horizons and discover a deeper foundation in their work. 

This journey is co-created and led by my friends, brothers Owen and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, singers, poets and both part of a family lineage that has shared the music and literature of Ireland with people from all over the world for generations. For years, Owen and Mícheál have worked closely with my friend, the English/Irish writer David Whyte.

You will experience artists, poets, musicians, keepers of ancestry and story, leaders in the arts, ancient archaeology, pristine landscapes and delicious, local food and drink. And we’ll do it all in the company of an engaged and vibrant community of self-selected souls. 

First, we will meet on-line for a preparation session. Led by Brian, Owen and Mícheál, you will be introduced into a conversation about Ireland and how it has been a place of inspiration and endeavor to humanity, both over the millennia and in our own lives, today. You will be invited to be in conversation with all of the others who will make this trip with our group. This may also be a good time for you to define a personal intention for our time together. 

Then we will pick you up from Shannon Airport, or at your hotel in Limerick City. 

We will spend: 

Two nights in Ballymalloe, East Cork 

Two nights in Gregan’s Castle or Monks in the Burren 

Two nights in the Merrion Hotel in Dublin 

At each location you will experience emerging Irish art, craft, music, hospitality and some of the finest culinary arts in the country. 

On the last morning we will drop you back to Shannon Airport or Dublin Airport. 

Beautiful accommodation in single rooms for six nights.

Ballymalloe House Hotel, County Cork

Monk's or Gregan’s Castle, The Burren County Clare

The Merrion Hotel, Dublin City

All of our meals will be at first class restaurants, with chefs specializing in local cuisine. Some of these restaurants are the finest in Ireland and considered to be among the best in the world.  (Even I, who grew up in an Irish house with endlessly boiled meat and potatoes, still finds this astonishing.)

First, you have to get yourself to Shannon airport in the West of Ireland. All flights are overnight. We will pick you up there early in the morning. 

If you can, we recommend getting in the day before and you will be picked up at your hotel in nearby Limerick City the following day. 

We recommend the hotel One Pery Square in Limerick City or Dromoland Castle for a five star experience.

We will end our journey in Dublin City. You can fly out from Dublin airport, or we can drop you back to Shannon Airport leaving very early from Dublin on the last morning. 

All ground travel during your stay is arranged for and included in the total price. Flights are not included in the cost of the journey. You book your own flights. 

Please check your passport expiry date is within six months of departure before you book your flight!

Click the green 'Select' button on the top right of this page 

Then click the 'Join Waitlist' button and in the 'Note to Organizer' box tell us about yourself and, briefly, what might be drawing you to this journey with us.

Someone will be in touch with you right away and let you know the timeline for being accepted on our trip.

Places on this journey will be offered after an application process. 

$8,850 USD

You can chose to pay in full or in three installments of $2,950.

Please keep in mind that neither I or COLLINS make money from this event. 

Fees will go to the local Irish artists, chefs, writers, performers, hoteliers and guest house owners and support staff in Ireland who are helping organize and deliver our visit.

You have 7 days to cancel with 100% refund.

After 7 days we will refund any money you paid minus a cancellation fee of $1,800 USD.

If you cancel within 60 days of the start of the journey, August 10, 2024, there will be no refund.

We suggest you make sure that you have travel insurance so that you can claim back this expense in case of an emergency that causes you to cancel. 

There is the option to purchase travel insurance on the weTravel platform where you will register for this journey. 

There can be, unfortunately, no exceptions to our cancellation policy.

Still, all of that said, we so hope you will join us,

Owen and Mícheál ‘Moley’ Ó Súilleabháin are brothers from an esteemed Irish musical and cultural lineage. Singers, storytellers, poets, their vocal harmony, poetry and stories of life experience are generously mixed with a wild sense of humor.

They draw from a huge repertoire spanning thousands of years, embodying Ireland in song: Ireland’s oldest tradition, Celtic sean nós; Medieval Gregorian Chant from the Monastic period; Irish folk songs in English and Gaelic; original inspirational pop-songs, and even human beatbox and Irish rap. 

The brothers have recorded and performed around the world with their mother, singer and theologian Rev. Nóirín Ní Riain Ph.D., in a trio called AMEN.

Their late father, Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, renowned musicologist, composer and pianist, brought traditional Irish music and culture to the world stage and founded the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick, home to the Blas International Summer School and an internationally recognized center of excellence in the arts.  The lads proudly continue their parents’ legacy - sharing the inspiring genius of Irish culture with people the world over.

The root of all culture is nourished by agriculture. In our modern lives it is easy to become detached from this reality. Certain fields in Ireland were renowned for the sweet taste of the butter that came from the genius of that particular microclimate. 

Fly into Shannon airport on the West of Ireland. We will pick you up there in the morning or fly in the day before and you will be picked up at your hotel in nearby Limerick City. 

Drive to Ballymaloe House

Evening grounding gathering and performance from Owen & Mícheál in the Ballymaloe Grainstore

Experience the story of Ballymaloe. Take part in a demonstration at the Ballymaloe Cookery School. 

Discover the iconic design of Stephen Pearce at Shanagarry Potters.

Evening lecture and private contemporary dance recital in the Grainstore. 

The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick

The Irish World Academy of Music and Dance is the center of academic and performance excellence housed at the University of Limerick, Ireland. The Academy honors the energies of performance and academic reflection across a wide range of genres and disciplines. These in turn are informed by innovative community outreach and artist-in-residence initiatives that take the Academy to the wider community while attracting a wealth of   performance and scholarly expertise. Founded in 1994 by Owen and Mícheál’s late father Professor Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin, it has come to find its true home on the  beautiful banks of the River Shannon in a state of the art building.

Stay that evening at the exceptional Gregan's Castle Hotel.

On the Atlantic west coast of Iireland, the Burren is an internationally renowned location of stunning natural beauty that has been a place of artistic and spiritual inspiration for thousands of years.

We will walk this landscape and meet with some of the artists who make this place their home and source of their inspiration. 

The group will stay across two of the finest hotels in the heart of this breathtaking region and explore how this location inspires contemporary expressions of creativity and imagination. 

Leaving the Burren we will drive across the island and visit an old family friend and internationally renowned silver smith and arts curator Kevin O’Dwyer

Kevin will introduce us to St. Manchan's Shrine, one of the great masterpieces of medieval Irish and European art. 

From there, we will check in to The Merrion Hotel in the heart of historic Georgian Dublin. That evening we will see what theater is happening in one of the city’s many prestigious performing arts venues. 

The Book of Kells in Trinity College Dublin

Ór – Ireland’s Gold at the National Museum of Ireland

The finale of this experience culminates in experiencing the Book of Kells, the highest point of craft and design in Ireland’s early medieval period. 

We will also visit the largest exhibition  of ancient gold artifacts in the world at the National Museum of Ireland. 

That evening we will have our closing festive supper at the award winning, Michalan Two Star Patrick Guilbaud's, located in the cellar of our hotel.

The following day we will depart and return home.