IRELAND

There’s a sense of drama about Ireland – you’ll feel it in the wild coastlines of Moher and the peninsulas of Dingle and Kerry; the heather covered Wicklow Mountains and the silent witnesses to Celtic and monastic history at Glendalough and Cashel. It’s also a place of deep-seated culture: Joyce brought the streets of Bloom’s Dublin epically to life whilst Yeats spoke of Irish legends and Becket’s creations, Vladimir and Estragon, waited on stage. Irish music has travelled as far as the Irish themselves, and is celebrated most evenings, usually spontaneously in the bars that are frequented with warmth and enthusiasm. Guests are greeted with ‘cead mile failte’ – a hundred thousand welcomes – and it’s meant from the heart.