I was in Ireland in May with 82 other people from Canada. 48 of us sing in a choir which did 8 concerts during our stay there. We did 3400 miles or Km's, I forget which. We were on a coach, from the South it got egged by a couple of kids on our last night there in Dundalk, that was the total extent of any trouble. High points which I remember off hand, unfortunately Bunratty Castle was closing when we arrived there, what we saw looked good. Cliffs of Moher were nice and scenic. Blarney Castle was good, kissing the Stone is a bit difficult and probably not worth the effort. Buy gifts in the South, they are cheaper there, Blarney Woolen Mills was a good place for that. I forget the name of the House but it has an or the "Irish Famine Museum" attached to it now, really good tour by the lady tour guide very interesting place, great kitchen. Vale of Avoca and Gledalough bloody lovely area. Not enough time in Dublin, never even got to the Guinness Brewery. Book of Kells is a bit of a rip off too, you only get to see one page, can't take photographs inside anywhere. Never got into Trinity College Museum damn. The museums are free in the South too. Wen to the Canadian Embassy, near Dalkey, South of Dublin, what a beautiful setting, we had a reception there, greta nibblies. Bono from U2 lives right across the road, behind these great big electrnic gates. which opened and closed a few times whilst we were there. Enya lives in the Castellated place just up the hill. Achill Island is a beatiful and rugged place. The North end around from the Bushmills Distillery back down to Belfast is incredible. I still don't really believe the Giant's Causeway even though I have seen it with my own eyes. Armagh was the only place I saw police with guns, hand guns shotguns and machine guns, four of all together, never saw any touble though, I wonder why. I was a bit dissapointed with the music I got to hear whilst there, partially because we were in the wrong places on the wrong nights and could not get to anyhwere I wanted to be, it also relates to knowing some really good Celtic musicians in Canada. Also the quality of the gifts, if you are in Canada go to the Goderich Celtic Festival and you will find equal or better of both. IMHO. We did have a good time though, these are just a few bits of the tour. The Guinness was great, so was the food and ALL the people we met from North South East and West. Have fun good luck, JohnB apologies for all the spelling mistakes, especially in place names.