HellFire Club:

The best-known Hellfire Club story is the one in which the Devil himself appears. According to legend, a stranger joined the club members at a game of cards. Then, when one of the players dropped a card on the floor, he bent down to retrieve it and saw that the stranger had cloven hooves instead of feet.

Another popular tale concerns a young farmer who was curious to find out what went on at the club’s secretive meetings. Climbing up Montpelier Hill, he was invited in by the members and allowed to witness the night’s activities. The young man was found the next morning, trembling and terrified. Tradition says he spent the rest of his life unable to speak; unable to even remember his name.

Glendalough Monastic Site:

We then bring you to a stunning monastic site called St Kevin's Monastic Village. Glendalough itself is a beautiful part of the country with breathtaking scenery, but the monastic site is one of those places where you can really feel the history, folklore, and spirits while there. 

You will see the amazing round tower built many 100's of years ago. This site dates back to the 5th century and has a long, rich history.

You will see as you walk around the ruins, the designs carved in stone, the old and new burial places throughout the graveyard. You will be able to read the plaques on the walls of the different buildings, learning as you go of the rich history of this place and you can take in the Spiritual air and feeling of this amazing place too.

Leprechaun Museum:

Going from the old to the ancient to the mystical. Your last stop today is the mystical Leprechaun Museum. Welcome to a world of Irish Myth, Folklore & Legend, where you explore the magical landscape of Ireland. We have a special event planned here for you that we think you will totally enjoy!

Activity level: Low

Belvedere House:

Belvedere House is a Georgian villa on the shores of Lough Ennell near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. Open to the public, the estate features several striking follies, including the so-called “Jealous Wall,” which bears testimony to one of the most sordid family squabbles in Irish history.

It all started in 1836, when an ambitious aristocrat, Robert Rochfort, (later the 1st Earl of Belvedere) decided he wanted to marry a popular young woman in Dublin artistic circles, the 16-year-old Mary Molesworth. She evidently sensed he wasn’t quite the catch he appeared, as she resisted his initial advances, but her family, seduced by his power and great name, arranged the match. For a few years, the relationship worked, and the couple had four children. 

Robert lost interest in her. There are suggestions that his mistress poisoned his mind against his wife and other suggestions that it was his brother, George. 

He locked her away in her bedroom for 30 years until he died. During this time she never saw her 4 children.

It is a sad tale that will be told to you by a very impressive tour guide. 

Strokestown House:

Strokestown Park’s Georgian Palladian House is a kind of time capsule you can step inside to gain insights into very different Irish lives.

When Olive Pakenham-Mahon sold this striking Irish Palladian house in 1979, her family had owned it for over 300 years.

Each generation had left their mark on this great house, and each layer they left has a story to tell!

The faded grandeur and fascinating collections in this atmospheric mansion, give us unique insights into everyday life in the Irish country house.

And they offer intriguing clues about Irish experience in centuries past for people living vastly different parallel lives.

A visit to Strokestown Park House, combined with a trip to the National Famine Museum, allows you to explore vastly different lives lived in parallel.

• The affluent lives of the house’s owners contrast with the poverty and destitution their tenants faced in the mid-1800s.
• The tragedy of famine and the beauty of the estate create a conversation that weaves in very different strands of life in Ireland.
• Local and national narratives play their part in illuminating the past.

Activity level  Low/Moderate

Sliabh Liag:

Reputed to be the highest cliffs in Europe, the beauty of this place is breath-taking and you could not do it justice with a camera. It must be seen and experienced by the person.

The views from the viewing platform, of the ocean, is amazing, and if you walk up the steps to the top you see so much more. As you are driven up to the cliffs you will see some stunning scenery too so get your camera's out and be ready to take some amazing photos.

Donegal Town:

You get a chance to stop for a spot of lunch and explore the beautfiul town of Donegal with its castle, and Church ruins, its gift shops and great restaurants too!

Mullaghmore Coastal Drive:

Stunning coastal drive around the Mullaghmore Coast. This area is internationally known for its great surfing and high waves, but also known as a place of beauty. 

You will see Classiebawn Castle stand proud on a hill with Benbulben Mountain in the backround and the Wild Atlantic waves crash on the rocks down below. The Sheep in the fields and you might even see some seals bask in the sun. 

Creevykeel Court Tomb:

Creevykeel Court Tomb is located in Co. Sligo, and is considered to be the largest and finest example of a court tomb in Ireland. One of five megalithic monuments in the area, this court tomb, is also known as a court cairn. It dates to between 4000 and 2500BC, the Neolithic period, with Early Christian usage located to the north-west.

The cairn of stones is trapezoidal. The internal oval court, entered via an entrance passage, measures 15m long by 9m wide. The largest of the internal court stones flank the entrance to the main chamber within. The main chamber, originally corbelled, roofed with a roof stone is divided into two. Creevykeel was excavated in 1935 under Hugh O’Neill Hencken. 

 The tomb was found to have had cobble-stone flooring. A polished diorite axe was part of the finds, along with pots, quartz crystals, a flint knife and a lozenge shaped arrow head. Animal bones found included sheep, pig, ox, with fish and periwinkles also unearthed.

Just before you walk to the tomb you might just see a wishing tree with ribbons and string left on the branches of the people who have visited the site and left their wishes and hopes on that tree will bring it to the universe and wishes will be granted.

Activity Level: Moderate/High

Alpaca Farm:

Much more that just Alpacas, you see all kinds of animals, and get to walk and touch them. Siobhán will bring you around and introduce you to them all. They all have names and you get to take them on a walk and feed them too!

Sheep Dogs:

Watching the dogs do their work every day is amazing and watching the farmer control them and tell them what to do with whistle commands is a wonder. It is truly a sight to behold and you get to see it all in action.

Bram Stoker walk:

We have a local guide who will bring you around Sligo town and point out the places of importance pertaining to the Stoker family. 

Bram Stoker's mother came from Sligo and it is believed that the cholera epidemic that hit Sligo and the stories that she told young Bram inspired him to write Dracula. 

Acticity Low/Moderate

Leap Castle:

One of the longest continually inhabited Castles in Ireland, Leap Castle has a rich and fascinating history.  Leap Castle is thought to have been built in the early 1500’s by the O’Bannon clan.   The O’Bannon clan were the secondary chieftains under the ruling of the O'Carroll  clan.  The current building is thought to have been built over an earlier castle.  Before that the site was used by Druids for initiation ceremonies.   The castle has been home to much bloodshed and violence over the centuries.

The O’Carrolls were a fierce and brutal people, bent on domination.  

They were known for their ruthless tactics, often killing others and each other on the path to supremacy.  The O’Carolls called Leap Castle their home until it was wrenched from their hands in 1642 by an English soldier of the Cromwellian forces named John Darby. 

 The Elemental is one of the most interesting spirits that reside at Leap Castle.  It is an entity that is shrouded in mystery and intrigue.  The first encounter, origin, and exact nature of the Elemental are unknown but many theories have circulated over the years. 

Two young girls have also been seen at Leap Castle. Emily & Charlotte. Emily is thought to be aged around 11 or 12 and Charlotte around 6 or 7. They are mainly seen playing in the main hall and running up the stairwell. They are believed to have lived at the castle during the 1600s and are thought to be the last of the O’Carrolls or the first of the Darbys. These are just two examples of spirits in this place, Sean Ryan will tell you all the stories and his experiences, and he might just play a few tunes for you too.

Kinnitty Castle:

The first castle at Kinnitty was destroyed in 1209 and was rebuilt by the Normans in 1213. During that period an Augustinian abbey (St Finnian's) was established near the castle, of which the famous High Cross and Abbey Wall still remain. Later the Normans were replaced by the O'Carrolls of Ely and in 1630 William O'Carroll built a new castle close by the old abbey. 

This castle was confiscated in 1641 as part of the plantation of Offaly, or Kings County as it was then named. In 1664, the crown granted an estate, which included the castle, to Col. Thomas Winter in return for his military service. 

As you go around the grounds you will see a stone circle, a unique bridge and you will be given a special tour of the castle banquet hall and rooms.

Activity level: Low/Moderate

Fairy Farm:

Fairies, she-wolves and fertility stones: Strange tales from a hidden Ireland,

Pat Noone will welcome you to his farm with a warm Irish welcome, he will bring you on that hallowed ground past the standing stone, the fertility stone down the path to the cairn and then you walk into the fairy field. 

You will stand at the portal between the hawthorn trees which is where the Fairies come and go. It truly is a magical place and we know you will enjoy it and the stories Pat has to tell.

Pat is also an amazing healer. 

Galway City:

Some time to explore and do some shopping in Galway city. Enjoy the street music and ramble into some of the small quaint shops and bars there too. Restaurants are amazing in Galway and you will be sure to find some great food. 

There is so much to explore and see there, Galway museum, the Gladdagh area of Galway, shopping, knitting shops and so much more.

Activity level: Moderate/High

Aran Islands:

This is a unique opportunity to experience the "real Ireland". Today you will go by ferry to visit the largest of the three Aran Islands off the West coast of Galway. The Aran Islands is a unique place with flora and fauna that cannot be found anywhere else. The scenery is breathtaking and the journey by ferry is refreshing. 

You will be able to hire a horse and trap driven by a local or hire a bike and take a trip around the island. You could visit Dun Aengus which is the best-known of several prehistoric hill forts on the Aran Islands of County Galway, Ireland. It lies on Inis Mór, at the edge of a 100-metre-high (330 ft) 

Some of the best seafood restaurants are on the island and you can take all the time you want to just relax, take in the Wild Atlantic fresh air and great food.

On your way back to Galway you will be brought around by the Cliffs of Moher and you get to see the cliffs from the ocean.

Activity level Moderate/High

Glasnevin Cemetery:

Prior to the establishment of Glasnevin Cemetery, Irish Catholics had no cemeteries of their own in which to bury their dead and, as the repressive Penal Laws of the eighteenth century placed heavy restrictions on the public performance of Catholic services, it had become normal practice for Catholics to conduct a limited version of their own funeral services in Protestant churchyards or graveyards. This situation continued until an incident at a funeral held at St. Kevin's Churchyard in 1823 provoked public outcry when a Protestant sexton reprimanded a Catholic priest for proceeding to perform a limited version of a funeral mass. 

The outcry prompted Daniel O'Connell, champion of Catholic rights, to launch a campaign and prepare a legal opinion proving that there was actually no law passed forbidding praying for a dead Catholic in a graveyard. O'Connell pushed for the opening of a burial ground in which both Irish Catholics and Protestants could give their dead dignified burial.

Besides the famous interred at Glasnevin, nearly 800,000 people have been buried in Glasnevin in unmarked mass graves due to the death toll from the Great Famine of the 1840s and a later cholera epidemic.

Originally covering nine acres of ground, the area of the cemetery has now grown to approximately 124 acres. 

Dublin explore:

You have time to shop and explore Dublin city and the Temple bar area too!

We might have another treat for you later in the evening.

Activity level Moderate/High

Dublin Castle:

Bram Stoker, best known as the author of Dracula, spent a significant portion of his early professional life working at Dublin Castle. From 1878 to 1890, he served as a civil servant in the Irish civil service, holding the position of Chief Clerk in the Petty Sessions Legal Department. His time at Dublin Castle placed him at the heart of British administration in Ireland during a turbulent political period, which may have influenced his later writings with themes of secrecy, power, and the supernatural. 

Though his days were spent immersed in bureaucratic work, Stoker pursued his literary ambitions in the evenings, writing fiction and theater reviews. The experience of working in such an imposing and historically rich setting like Dublin Castle likely left a lasting impression on his imagination.

Howth Cliff Walk:

Coastal experiences in Ireland. Winding along the rugged edges of the Howth Peninsula, the trail reveals panoramic views of the Irish Sea, dramatic cliffs, and hidden coves teeming with seabirds. On clear days, you can spot Ireland’s Eye, a small uninhabited island offshore, and even glimpse the mountains of Mourne in the distance. 

The path weaves through wild heather and gorse, with bursts of sea breeze and the scent of salt in the air, making it feel worlds away from urban life. Whether bathed in sunshine or cloaked in mist, the Howth Cliff Walk captures the wild, poetic beauty that defines Ireland’s east coast.

Fitzpatrick's Castle:

Fitzpatrick Castle, perched above the picturesque village of Killiney in South Dublin, is a striking blend of historic charm and modern elegance. Originally a grand 18th-century castle, it has been transformed into a luxurious hotel while preserving its old-world character—complete with granite turrets, sweeping staircases, and panoramic views over Dublin Bay. Surrounded by lush gardens and nestled at the edge of the Dublin Mountains, Fitzpatrick Castle offers a tranquil retreat just minutes from the city. With its rich heritage, opulent interiors, and warm Irish hospitality, it provides both a regal atmosphere and a gateway to nearby coastal walks, including the scenic Killiney Hill and Vico Road.

Activity level Moderate/High

We say "Slan Abhaile' to you as we bring you back to the airport to catch your return flight home. 

We hope you had a great time and that you will come back to visit Ireland with Secret Ireland Tours again with us soon.

If you have a group of family and friends that would like to do a private tour please contact us and we will arrange everything for you.

www.SecretIrelandToursLLC.com