Ireland by bus... bad singing, good guinness, cute pubs and cute Irishmen... bring it on!
The Radical Travel Network is a company which runs tours through Scotland, Ireland and England. It is run by three Campbell brothers who returned from a backpacking holiday and decided to start a backpacking business with a difference.
Tours are taken in Mercedes mini-coaches and passengers are aged between 16 and 35, give or take the odd year. Accommodation along the way varies from cottages to castles, small fishing villages and lakeside hideaways.
As many as 15,000 people a year travel with Radical and during their 10 years of operation they have established a solid reputation for reliability. Their guides are carefully chosen and have the ability to spin a good yarn.
The aim of Shamrocker Tours is to have as much fun as possible while visiting well-known and out-of-the-way places.
A popular trip is from Dublin in the east to Galway in the west. Dublin is all about fun and is one of Europe's most compelling cities. It's not about museums and monuments and galleries — it's where people live life to the full.
First stop is the small town of Kilbeggan in County Westmeath, an area characterised by lakes and rich pastureland. Here you take a tour of Locke's whiskey distillery — the world's oldest continuously licensed distillery. It began operation in 1757! The Irish word for whiskey is uiscebherthr, which means the "water of life".
Next stop is Clonmacnoise Abbey in County Offaly, an area which is typically flat and boggy. The abbey is Ireland's most important monastic site. It has numerous ruins, towers, graves and Celtic high crosses. It has views of the River Shannon and is thought to have been founded in 548 as hub of worship for monks from all over Europe between the 7th and 12th centuries.
Then it's on to the Burren in County Clare. The rocky, limestone landscape is a stark contrast to the rolling, green hills associated with Ireland and contains countless monuments, castles and rare flowers.
Poulnabrone Dolmen is a three-legged, 5000-year-old tomb sitting on the Burran. The ancient burial chamber is Ireland's most famous. During excavation in 1989 the remains of 25 people were unearthed there, along with pottery and jewellery. Carbon dating suggests they were buried between 3800 and 3200 BC.
Lisdoonvarna's mineral springs have been attracting people for centuries. Its other claim to fame is that it was the centre for basadóri, or matchmakers, who, for a fee, helped find perfect partners for those looking for love. Each year the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival is held and is a great excuse for drinking, merrymaking and music in the local pubs.
Doolin is a beautiful fishing village in County Clare and people head there for traditional music, beautiful walks over the Burren and as a base for trips to the Aran Islands. Spelunkers go there and spend their days crawling through dark caves and their nights in dark pubs.
Ballyvaughan is another small, pretty fishing village and is on a quiet corner of Galway Bay. It has great pubs, restaurants and good accommodation. A kilometre away is the Rath, an ancient earthen ring fort. The countryside is dotted with circular stone and earthen banks which were the basic family and tribal enclosures in Ireland for thousands of years.
Leamanegh Castle is a castle-cum-fortified-house with a solid five-storey tower house built by the O'Briens in 1480. Just over the tower-house entrance is a vertical shaft, or "murder hole", from which a variety of things, such as boiling oil, was dropped on unwelcome visitors! That practice has, thankfully, since ceased.
In a country of such beauty, the Cliffs of Moher are spectacular. On the Atlantic coast on a clear day you can see the Aran Islands and the hills of Connemara in western Galway.
Majestically dominating the shore of Galway Bay is the 7th century stronghold of Guaire, Dunguaire Castle. It bridges 13 centuries of Irish history. Between May and September you can visit the castle and enjoy entertainment based on the songs, poems and extracts of great Irish writers.
County Galway is a highlight of a visit to Ireland. It's the second largest county after Cork and its landscape is extremely varied. Galway City is a delightful place with narrow streets, old stone and wooden shopfronts and good restaurants and pubs. It is one of Europe's fastest growing cities and has large factories, bustling energy and a bohemian crowd of musicians, artists, intellectuals and young people, mainly due to the university.
