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Monday, March
15 – Depart Limerick and travel to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. Opportunity to shop. Lunch
on your own. Depart for Dublin, check in
at the hotel. Dinner at hotel, tentative
performance in
Dublin.
Tuesday,
March 16 – Guided Tour of Dublin, lunch on your own.
The afternoon is free for shopping.
Dinner at hotel, evening at leisure.
Wednesday,
March 17 – Participate in the Dublin International Band Competition and
the
‘Official’ St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Return
to hotel, lunch on your own, afternoon at
lesiure. Dinner at hotel.
Tentative disco for groups participating in the
parade.
Note: This ininerary is
absolutely tentative and unofficial and is based on information dated
Dec. 7,
2003
Bunratty:
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Bunratty (Bun Ráite) Castle and
Folk Park is a popular
tourist destination. The earliest known history of the site was when
the
Vikings set up a trading post on the site in 950 and the first castle
was built
by a Norman in the 13th century. Its strategic position on the river
Shannon
made it the centre of many a battle, and it has it has been destroyed
and
re-built on at least eight occasions. Today we can enjoy the Castle
built in
1425 by the MacNamara Clan. The style is called Irish tower house.
Americans
might be interested that Admiral Penn, father of William Penn, resided
here for
a short time. It fell into ruin, and in 1954 Lord Gort bought the
castle and
with the help of Bord Fáilte restored it to its present
condition.
The Folk Park, situated on 26 acres,
is a living museum
intended to show what village life was like in Ireland at the turn of
the
century. It contains farmhouses, cottages, and shops with great
attention to
authentic detail. The Park is a living museum: animals are tended,
bread is
baked, milk is churned, walls are whitewashed and roofs are thatched.
You may
visit an Irish farmhouse, watch the blacksmith fit a horseshoe, attend
a
weaving demonstration, and bake and eat scones at the local tea house.
There
are several options for eating and drinking within the Folk Park.
Shannon
Heritage ·
Bunratty Folk Park,
Co. Clare, Ireland.
Bunratty
Castle History
Bunratty
Folk Park
Dublin:
 
Mespil
Hotel
Mespil Road, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Tel: +353 1 667 1222
Fax: +353 1 667 1244
Email: mespil@leehotels.com
A
warm and
friendly welcome awaits you at the Mespil Hotel. Situated
in the heart of Georgian Dublin
overlooking the leafy banks of the Grand Canal and just a short walk
from St.
Stephen's Green.
Dublin, Ireland's capital city is steeped in history and buzzing with
youthful
energy.
Medieval,
Georgian and modern architecture provide a backdrop to a friendly,
bustling
city where the cosmopolitan and charming converge in delightful
diversity.
Stroll through the streets of this wonderful city and you may still
hear echoes
of the generations of famous personalities that called Dublin home.
ST. STEPHENS GREEN
St.Stephen's
Green is a 27 acre park in the
heart of Dublin city centre. A popular lunchtime retreat for many of
the office
workers in the area, it was originally open public ground until 1663
when the
Corporation fenced the area off. The green was then sold and the ground
was
closed to the public. It was during this time that the Georgian houses
around
the Green were built.
The Green
remained private ground until 1877
when Sir A.E. Guinness, a member of the Guinness brewing family, pushed
an act
through Parliament making the Green open to the public once again. He
later
paid for the laying out of the Green including the gardens and the
ponds which
date from 1880.
The park
has many statues including memorials
to Yeats and also to James Joyce. Also present are the Three Fates, a
group of
bronze female figures watching over man's destiny.
The Green
today is very popular, particularly during the summer,
to go and spend time watching the passing crowds or just spending time
in the
sunshine. The gates of the Green are open according to daylight hours.
 
On St.
Patrick's Day the world is Irish! What better place to have
been than Dublin for the best parade in the world. For an hour and a
half
hundereds of thousands of people were entertained by a fantastic array
of
colourful and creative pageants, marching bands, pomp, ceremony and
celebration. The parade started at 12pm from St Patrick St. It followed
a route
through Dublin's finest streets - Patrick Street, Dame Street,
Westmoreland
Street and O'Connell Street.
This
year's parade was an incredible spectacle with an 80%
increase in performers, from 1,970 last year to 3,500 this year. The
theme of
Voyages and Visions was the inspiration for a host of talented street
theatre
groups and bands who took part. With bigger presentations from top
street
theatre groups such as Bui Bolg and Inishowen Carnival Group joined by
new
companies from Cork, Omagh and Kildare; as well as collaborations with
Fatima
Mansions, Emmet 200 and a new cross border initiative, this year’s
parade was
truly a nationwide event.
Dublin, the
capital of Ireland, situated in the
east of the country, offers the same facilities as any big European
city while
still maintaining the most traditional and vibrant of Irish culture.
Dublin has
attractions to suit anyones fancy, from museums to shopping, from
castles to
sport centres, from churches to restaurants, and of course a very
special and
exciting night life with pubs, cafés and night clubs. Getting
bored in Dublin
city is just not possible.
Dublin has some wonderful parts to explore, like the River Liffey that
cuts the
city in two parts or Grafton street, the cities shopping heart, and of
course
the famous O’Connor’s street. The home of Oscar Wilde, this city will
prove a
thrilling expirience for anyone, surrounded by music and the
hospitality of the
Dubliners.
dublinsfaircity.com will inform you of everything
you can see and do in
Dublin, as well as providing you with listings of bed & breakfasts,
guesthouse accommodation, self catering accommodation and hotels in the
Dublin
area.
We
sincerely believe you will enjoy this magnificent city
Dublin,
Ireland - Travel to Dublin
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