Ireland, The Magical Land of the Irish

Tanya and I just returned from leading two groups of photographers to the spectacular island of Ireland. We had a fabulous month in this wonderful country and I’ve put together a collection of photos for you to see it for yourself. Our Ireland trip actually began almost two years ago with Tanya and Jill taking two scouting trips to investigate the possibilities. When they returned I heard all about the friendly people, the beautiful landscapes, the lush green countryside, the gorgeous National Parks, the medieval villages, the history, old churches and the friendly people. Did I mention friendly people? They were really right. The people were unbelievable with their smiles, their work ethic, the desire to make things happen and all around just great attitudes. I have to say there is only one other place we travel where we experience as much hospitality and kinship as Ireland and that’s Kenya.

An iPhone panoramic of the Ashford Castle where we stayed for one night, Ireland

Follow this link to a portfolio of Ireland images.

As most of you reading this know, a trip for  culture, landscapes and history is a bit out of the norm for me. There were few wild animals on this trip. We did see red deer in Killarney National Park and I was temped to get off the bus but unfortunately we had another destination in our sites.  We moved regularly and spent most of our time in the middle to northern part of the country. That was intentional. Tanya and Jill found quickly that the south is very touristy with lots of people, so we chose to try and avoid the crowds by getting off the beaten path. We’re glad we did. There were castles galore, old historical churches, rolling landscapes, beautiful walking trails and rugged seascapes. I shot a fair number of people images which I really enjoy and when the photography was done for the day, the food was as good as anywhere we’ve ever traveled.

Dinner at Cooke’s Restaurant in Galway, Ireland.

We already have a list going for our next adventure in this part of the world. We’ll be traveling to Ireland again along with a full tour of Scotland. So stay tuned. Contact Jill or Tanya to get on our Interested List for 2015

An Vo receives a Harris Hawk during our event with the Ashford Castle falconry program, Ireland.