Mai's
Secret Ireland Tours
With your authentic, local Irish Guides.
Mai Hernon
The Threshold of Your Dreams
Imagine yourself enjoying an adventure in the Irish countryside, rich in history, music, song and dance. From value-packed great tours to luxury once in a lifetime tours, we can give you that choice.
Meet my Tribe:
Mai Hernon McEvilley, Owner/Director.
Séamus Hernon, Musical Director. ,
Dr Rachel Scoazec, Druid and Tour Guide.
Adrian O'Neill, Historian, tour guide.
Joanne Kavanagh, and
Helen Kavanagh, amazing tour guides.
Mai Hernon McEvilley and her son Séamus Hernon,
Mai is a recording artist who comes from Gurteen, a small village in South Sligo, Ireland. The area is full of traditional singers, musicians, storytellers, and dancers, making it a very cultural place. Mai has released four CDs of traditional songs and has performed in various parts of Europe, Ireland, England, and 27 states in America.
In 2013, Mai moved to Kentucky and started her tour company in 2017. Since then, she has taken many groups to her home country, Ireland, to visit places that other tour companies may not know.
Mai's son, Séamus Hernon, is a musical genius and is regarded as one of the best flute/whistle players in the country. When Mai brings tours to the North West, Séamus and his musical friends entertain the visitors. Séamus resides in a small town in Sligo called Tubbercurry and is also a recording artist.
Meet Adrian O'Neill:
Adrian is originally from Sligo and started working as a tour guide in 2015, after completing his studies in Classics and Archaeology at NUIG.
He initially worked for Auriel Robinson of Seatrails, conducting tours of Sligo town. Later on, he established his own walking tours of the town. Eventually, he founded the Sligo Heritage and History club, which has been operating successfully for seven years now. His hard work for this club earned him a Cathaoirleach's Award.
Adrian is currently working with UK companies such as Hidden History Travel and Andante Travels. He set up his own company, Wild West Ireland Tours, two years ago, which he loves being a part of. He is a fantastic tour guide, and we are delighted to have him on board as part of our Tribe..
Meet Dr. Rachel Scoazec Brennan.
She lives in Miltown, Co. Kerry, and has a wide range of skills and expertise. Rachel is a musician, language teacher, composer, singer, songwriter, Bandrui, and holds a PhD in Irish Studies. She is also a permaculturist and environmentalist.
Rachel runs a successful healing center in Kilderry, Co. Kerry, where she conducts workshops on healing through sound, nature, traditions, music, herbs, and more. She collaborates with European tour companies, particularly those that bring French tours to Ireland, as Rachel is fluent in Breton, French, English, and Irish.
We are honored to have her as one of our tour guides, and we also work with tour groups who want to benefit from her expertise in healing and her center.
Meet Helen Kavanagh
She is a self-motivated, flexible, organized individual with a proven focus on safety and customer service. She is pleasant, friendly, supportive, and tactful, with an approachable manner and enjoys meeting people. She worked as an Environmental Health & Safety Officer for over 20 years in the pharmaceutical, food, and electronic sectors. After deciding to make a life change, she retrained in 2018 to become a Registered National Tour Guide. Since then, she has led tours in Ireland – North and South, Scotland, Wales, and England, including London, and received excellent feedback from clients, co-workers, and line managers. During the off-season, she works as a curator in a local museum, caring for the museum and its contents, promoting the museum, and communicating local history and points of interest to visitors. She also promotes tourism in the local area and County Carlow. She strongly believes that the wealth of skills gained during her years of work both in tourism and heritage is valuable.
Joanne Kavanagh
Hails from Galway, and has been working in the tourism industry for many years. A very experienced tour manager, Joanne knows Ireland like the back of her hand. She enjoys meeting people from all over the world. She works hard to make sure that every member of the group she is with are well looked after and that they feel safe and at home during their stay with Secret Ireland Tours.
Joanne has traveled to many countries abroad and is happy to guide tours both in Ireland and beyond. Hard worker and very nice person.
Séamus in full flight.
Come home with me, and we will travel the Highways and Byways together. We'll dance and sing and have great fun.
May your blessings outnumber the shamrock that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.
Our aim is to please, so if you have an idea for a tour, or there is something you would like to do while on one of our tours that is not included in our itinerary, please feel free to let us know. If we can accommodate you, we will be happy to do so.
We would appreciate any idea's you might have for future tours.