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.
Secret Haunted Journey to Ireland
Our Second Tour
Oct 30th to Nov 7th
2020
Cost of tour:
$1700 per person sharing.
$200 supplement for single traveler.
We are delighted to offer a second Secret Haunted Journey to Ireland tour. You will see that all of the venue's and places are the same as is on the first Secret Haunted Journey tour Oct 26th to Nov 3rd but just in a different order. The great thing that is going to happen on Oct 31st and Nov 1st is both tour groups are going to get to meet and hang out with each other . We will get to share places like underground Passage tombs, Lisheen House which is said to have a poltergeist within its walls, Brams Stoker's parents last resting place in Sligo Town and last but not least the highlight of the tour....Leap Castle! We are going to have a special Halloween weekend party and have a great time together.
Itinerary,
subject to slight change.
Day 1 Oct 30th
We pick you up from terminal two at Dublin airport and bring you across country to the North West.
But on the way we visit a few places with dark and troubled histories. Our first stop is Belvedere House in Co Westmeath. This house was owned by the Rochforts, a very old and influential family who came to Ireland during the 13th century. The 1st Earl of Belvedere was a member of Parliament for Westmeath. He married Mary Molesworth who was a very talented lady and was known in the theatrical circles in Dublin. The Earl was well known for his selfish qualities. Lady Belvedere gave birth to a son but was very lonely because her husband spent much of his time in London and was known for being unfaithful to his wife, but he was also a very jealous man and he accused her of having an affair with his brother. He took their son from her and locked her in a room in the house where she stayed for 30 years until she died.
His brother built a bigger mansion in the valley and Lord Belvedere could not stand to look at it so he built a "jealous wall" between the two mansions which is there to this day.
We then call into Strokestown House and gardens. Again a very troubled history built on the site of a 16th century castle, home of the Pakenham Mahon family. The landlord Major Denis Mahon was assassinated in Nov 1847 at the height of the Great Famine. The National Famine Museum is housed there now and it is very fitting because it houses many of the original documents which came to light during the restoration of the house. The house has a galleried kitchen, elegant vaulted stables, a six-acre walled garden, mausoleum and a lodge. Many haunted stories abound about this house.
Our last stop today is Lough Key Forest Park. Here you will see from the shores of Lough Key an 11th century castle on an island on the lake. There are many stories about the castle and many songs written telling the story of Una Bhán who was the daughter of the King. Lots of history here and we will tell you all about it and we might even sing a song or two that tells you the love stories too!
To get your name on the list please click on this link:
https://www.hauntedjourneys.com/blog/secret-haunted-journey-to-ireland-a-halloween-adventure-2
Day 2 Oct 31st
Today we join up with the first tour to visit some of the most sacred ground in Ireland. We go to a special place where we can touch a structure that pre-dates the pyramids of Egypt by 800 years. Weather permitting we will take a drive up a mountain to visit Carrowkeel underground passage tomb, but if the weather is not good then we will go to another amazing megalithic site called Carrowmore in Co Sligo. We then take a ghost tour around Sligo, visiting the last resting place of the parents of Bram Stoker, Lisheen house which is said to have a poltergeist within its ruined walls.
Day 3 Nov 1st
Today we take a journey to the world's most haunted Castle, Leap Castle. Leap Castle is in Co Offaly.
A turbulent and bloody history, used as a fortress, home and tomb. Leap Castle is home to many fascinating and sometimes horrific spirits.
Built in the early 1500’s under the supervision of the powerful and warring O’Carroll clan, Leap Castle has been the centre of much bloodshed and brutal atrocities. We will spend the day here.
Day 4 Nov 2nd
We take another scenic drive today, we go to North Sligo and take a coastal drive around the Mullaghmore coastline, then we drive around the horseshoe drive at the back of our famous mountain Benbulben and we visit Glencar waterfall too!
Day 5 Nov 3rd
We take another scenic drive west this time to Westport house and Gardens and then on to Kylemore Abbey.
Even if the sun is not shining you are going to enjoy the journey through the luscious green countryside today. Our first stop will be Westport house which is full of history. Its history goes as far back as the 16th century when Grace O'Malley the pirate Queen of Connacht ruled the land and seas around the estate. Built upon the foundations of one of her many castles which can still be toured in the dungeons today, the original Westport House was built in 1650.
We then go further West to Kylemore Abbey and walled garden. Kylemore Abbey has a history of tragedy, romance, education and spirituality. It has a 6 acre Victorian walled garden, beautiful lakeshore walks, neo-Gothic Church and a Mausoleum where Mitchell and Margaret Henry are buried side by side. Breath-taking scenery and you have dining and shopping options also. Its a must see.
Day 6 Nov 4th
We return to Dublin today, and I first stop is Dublin Castle, where Bram Stoker worked as a clerk for 8 years. Dublin Castle has a long and dark history. Until 1922 it was the seat of the British Government Administration in Ireland. Most of the current construction dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland. The Castle served as the seat of English, then later British, government of Ireland under the Lordship of Ireland (1171–1541), the Kingdom of Ireland K (1541–1800), and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1800–1922).
The castle has many beautiful rooms and it a place worth visiting. We then take a trip into Dublin City center where we go to learn how to pull the perfect pint of Guinness. Guinness Store House. This is truly a great tour experience.
day 7 Nov 5th
Our first stop today is the very haunted Kilmainham gaol. The is now a very famous historic museum but during the 1916 rising this is where 16 of the rising leaders were executed by the British forces. There are many historic documents housed in the jail and you might even catch a glimpse of a ghost or two. Malahide Castle. The estate began in 1185, when Richard Talbot, a knight who accompanied Henry VIII to Ireland in 1174, was granted the "lands and harbour of Malahide." The oldest parts of the castle date back to the 12th century and it was home to the Talbot Family for 791 years, from 1185 until 1976, the only exception being the period from 1649–60, when Oliver Cromwell granted it to Miles Corbet after the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland; Corbet was hanged following the demise of Cromwell, and the castle was restored to the Talbots. The building was notably enlarged in the reign of Edward IV, with towers added in 1765. Today it is a very famous tourist destination with many ghostly inhabitants.
We finish off the day with a pub crawl around the famous Temple Bar area of Dublin. This is a famous area of Dublin where you will be able to roam into the Brazen Head pub, reported to be one of the most haunted pubs in Dublin.
Day 8 Nov 6th
We take a very scenic drive south of Dublin today to Wicklow where we visit Wicklow Light house and Wicklow Jail. Both places have a long and dark histories. Wicklow Jail has been a prison since the late eighteenth century. Prisoners from the 1798 rebellion and the Great Famine were held there. It also held some republican prisoners during the Irish war of Independence and Irish Civil War. The last prisoners left in 1924. It is now a museum but it is reported to be one of the worlds most haunted buildings due to the long history of suffering associated with it.
Wicklow lighthouse is reputed to be haunted by a headless woman. It is said that this woman was beheaded with a slash hook by her jealous boyfriend when he found out she was in love with another man. Many people claim to see her tormented headless body prowling around the lighthouse. We then return to Fitzpatricks Castle where we will have a group evening meal and spend our last night in Ireland together. You an do a ghost hunt if you wish or just relax in the Dungeon bar with a drink and great company.
Day 9 Nov 7th
Today we return to Dublin airport but we don't say goodbye, we say...until we meet again in Ireland, so long!
Costs and methods of Payment:
1st payment method,
One payment of $1700 per person sharing on or before May 20th.
2nd payment method:
Pay a deposit of $250 by May 20th and pay balance by July 9th
3rd payment method:
Deposit paid by May 20th with installments of $362.50 on 20th June, July, Aug and Sept.
Remember to add the supplement to your last payment of $200 if you are traveling alone.
What your cost covers:
1 Airport transfers.
2 8 breakfasts.
3 Luxury Coach.
4 Expert Driver.
5 Expert Secret Ireland Tours guide.
6 Expert Medium.
7 Fee's into all venue's on itinerary.
8 Snacks and soft drinks on bus.
9 Accommodation in a rural, family run hotels both in Dublin and Sligo and 1 night in a 5 star Castle.
10 All taxes and charges associated with accommodation.
11 Musical entertainment some nights.
Contract for this tour
Please click on link below to read our contract for this trip. You can print it out and post it to our address or sign in and email it back to us.
Please click like to contract here, print it our or sign it online and send it back to us via email.
Click here to find out more about the hotel accommodation!
We accept Checks, bank draft, postal order, payment through Venmo or we can send you a invoice and you can pay online at mai@secretirelandtoursllc.com
Please make your check out to:
Secret Ireland Tours
P.O. Box 75059
Ft Thomas
Kentucky,
41075-0059
Or if paying through Venmo please contact us by email and let us know your email address and name and what amount you paid.
What is not included.
1 Airfare
2 Evening meals
3 Entry fee's into venues not on itinerary.
4 Travel insurance.
Travel Insurance
We recommend that you purchase a travel insurance protection plan to help protect you and your travel investment against the unexpected. For your convenience, we offer Travel Insurance through Travelex Insurance Services. For more information on available plans on or to enroll, contact Travel Insurance Services at 800-228-9792and reference location no170074. Click link below to apply.
https://www.travelexinsurance.com/index.aspx?location=17-0074&go=bp
Travelex Insurance Services, INc CA agency Licence#oD10209. Travel Insurance is underwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company, NAIC #22275 55Y
