travel writer ireland

Nicola Brady .

• Travel Writing
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Nicola Brady

Travel writer.

I'm an experienced and award-winning travel writer, contributing to the Irish Independent, CNN Travel, Condé Nast Traveler, The Independent UK and more.

Areas of expertise.

TRAVEL JOURNALISM

A regular contributor to the Irish Independent, I produce travel content across a range of mediums, from long-form features to round-ups.

CONTENT CREATION

With a great deal of experience creating content over an array of mediums, I'm adept at producing travel and destination-based copy. Working with international companies, I have produced magazines, brochures and websites covering a broad range of themes.

An expert in the field of travel

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Pól Ó Conghaile

Ireland's travel expert, travel writer & editor.

Pól Ó Conghaile is an award-winning travel writer and expert. He is travel editor for INM’s Independent.ie and Weekend Magazine, writes and shoots for National Geographic Traveller, and is a highly respected speaker and influencer.

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Travel Writing

Pól is Travel Editor at INM, writes for titles including National Geographic Traveller (UK & US), Cara Magazine and Silverkris, and was the British Guild of Travel Writers' Travel Writer of the Year 2016.

Talks & Events

Pól is a regular speaker at travel conferences and events in Europe, with topics ranging from Travel in the Digital Age to Food Tourism. He has also consulted with and advised destinations and companies on the best way to tell their stories.

Books & Media

Pól is the author of several books, including Secret Dublin: An Unusual Guide - the latest edition of which was published in 2017. He has also produced a range of award-winning film and radio work.

Pól is the travel expert on Newstalk FM’s Pat Kenny Show, and a regular contributor to TV & Radio on RTE, the BBC, Today FM, 2FM and more. Looking for a travel expert? Get in touch!

The #IndoFab50 – 50 Best Places to Stay in Ireland 2018

From the hottest hotels to coolest campsites, the first annual #IndoFab50...

Greek Cyclades Cover Story, Nat Geo Traveller (April 2018)

A profile of five Greek Cycladic Island for Nat Geo Traveller. I wish all assignments were like this!...

Reader Travel Awards 2018: Weekend & independent.ie

Results of Weekend Magazine and Independent.ie's Reader Travel Awards are in! Click here for all the wins, trends and insights....

12 Top Travel Writing Tips…

Here’s sicily’s best kept secret – and it’s not taormina, five tips for taking better food photos…, review: arzak, san sebastian.

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Copywriter • Editor • Journalist 

Copywriter. Editor. Journalist.

With over 20 years' media experience, Jillian Bolger is one of Ireland's most established storytellers. An award-winning magazine editor, travel writer and copywriter, she has a deep knowledge and understanding

of the luxury lifestyle sector.

She has edited magazines on travel, food, interiors, parenting and weddings, and writes for Ireland’s most influential newspapers and glossies. Jillian connects readers to experiences through perfectly chosen words.

Editors commission her lively and compelling stories. Luxury brands hire her to sell dreams. Agencies recommend her to their prestigious clients. Jillian understands their demographic because she is their demographic.

With strong commercial acumen and a wealth of interdisciplinary experience, Jillian's voice is trusted by industry leaders.

Let her find the right words for you too: to connect, influence and inspire your target audience.

LUXURY COPYWRITING

Great copywriting is about more than words: it’s about establishing credibility, standing out from the competition, and connecting you to the people that matter.

Your website is often a client’s first engagement with your brand. If it's dull, outdated or poorly written, it's undermining your business. Sharp, persuasive copywriting can be the difference between a new customer and lost revenue.

Of course, your brand is so much more than your website, which is why Jillian works across a full suite of marketing collateral. She can deliver stylish copy for your client communications, social media posts, brochures, ad campaigns, blogs, newsletters and special projects. She can write your brand story, product names and web headlines. Her diverse client base includes luxury hotels, retail, tourism, the arts and financial services.

If you're lost for words, Jillian can help you find them. Beautifully. 

TRAVEL WRITING

Years of intrepid, independent travel have lead Jillian to a career as one of Ireland's most prolific travel writers. She's traversed South America, driven the circumference of Australia, spent a year exploring Asia, stayed in the world's leading hotels and lived on four continents. You'll find her travel features on the pages of Ireland's best-selling publications, including the Irish Independent, IMAGE magazine, Business Post and The Irish Times. 

A 20-year career has seen Jillian forge trusted relationships with hotels, tourist boards, airlines, travel agencies and leading PR firms. She always delivers fresh and thoughtful stories to influential and high profile publications. 

Jillian writes about Ireland too, for the national press and international inflight magazines. A member of the Irish Food Writers' Guild, she is also Dublin editor for Georgina Campbell Guides and an author for Fodor's Essential Ireland 2021 guidebook.

MAGAZINE EDITING

A 20-year career in magazines has seen Jillian oversee countless newsstand successes and contract titles. She's edited glossy magazines on travel, food, interiors, parenting and weddings, including Food & Wine Magazine, Irish Brides and Irish Interiors. She's won awards for her editing, both at consumer and contract level, and worked on the editorial teams at IMAGE, Irish Tatler and Image Interiors & Living.

Jillian has launched new magazines, increased circulation and collaborated on many luxurious publications for private sector clients in hospitality and retail. Creative, organised and well-connected, she can bring any idea to life and produce beautiful publications for any field, industry or occasion.

FEATURE WRITING

With an eye for the unusual and an ear for the curious, Jillian is trusted by Ireland's leading editors. You'll find her work across most broadsheets and glossies, including the Irish Independent, The Irish Times, The Sunday Times, Business Post, IMAGE and Irish Tatler. 

An expert in food, hotel and travel trends, she enjoys breaking exclusives, conducting interviews, sparking debate and finding an original hook that will grip a reader and make an editor look good. In short, she tells a good story, and loves nothing more than a challenging commission.

Contact Jillian

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If you're lost for words, Jillian can help you find them. Beautifully.  To find out more about Jillian's capabilities in luxury branding, please fill in this form. She would be delighted to start a conversation about working together. 

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Isabel Conway

A fluent Dutch speaker, Isabel worked as a news and features writer for Irish and European print and broadcast media whilst based in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Belgium. Her Ireland outlets include the travel pages of The Business Post, Sunday Independent, Sunday Times, Irish Daily Mail, and Irish Examiner. She also contributes regularly to RTE One Radio World Report.

Isabel Conway’s talk: Some insights into the life and times of Ireland’s most celebrated travel writer, Lismore Co Waterford native the late Dervla Murphy, who pioneered a fearless and intrepid go-it-alone attitude to travel.

True to her convictions, with an almost resolute disregard for danger, her innate curiosity propelled Dervla Murphy to seek out the new and unknown, setting out from her home here in Lismore to undertake extraordinary journeys for more than half a century.

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The 10 Most Popular Travel Bloggers From Ireland

Spring has officially sprung in the Northern Hemisphere, and we’re already thinking ahead to our summer holidays. Whether you’re searching for insider tips on the highlights of the Emerald Isle or an Irish insight into places further afield, we’ve put together a list of the travel bloggers from Ireland that you need to start following now.

Johnny ward.

Johnny Ward has dedicated his life to travel since 2006 when he left Irish shores to begin teaching English in Asia. Since then, Ward has crossed the entire planet and become the ultimate blogging success story, making over $1 million with his site One Step 4Ward . Currently semi-based in Thailand, he completed his life goal of visiting all 197 countries in the world earlier this month, aged just 33. Though his blog mainly focuses on his travels abroad, he also posts about things to do in Ireland and about flying his Irish mother to meet him in places like Afghanistan.

Listed as one of the Huffington Post’s Top Irish Travel Bloggers of 2016, New Zealand-born Tara Povey was brought up in Ireland – a situation she says makes her ‘basically a hobbit raised by leprechauns’. Her humour is just one of many draws to the former pharmacist’s blog Where is Tara? , where you can expect to find posts about things like little-known Irish Game of Thrones locations and how best to spend your first-ever weekend in Dublin . Her site, which focuses more on the quality of experience than the quantity of destinations in her travels, offers practical guides to discovering the absolute best of Ireland, as well as places like Finnish Lapland, Aruba and Slovenia.

Brian Barry and Noelle Kelly

Couple Brian Barry and Noelle Kelly have been exploring all corners of the globe together since 2009, visiting everywhere from Bulgaria to Japan and sharing their incredible adventures through their blog, Wandering On . Winner of Best Personal Travel Blog at the Littlewoods Ireland Blog Awards 2016, their site is full of smart travel tips, photography entries from almost every continent, and an enviable dedication to ‘living life on their own terms’. The ultimate inspiration for anyone with itchy feet, it lists their current location as ‘On a Motorbike Somewhere in Vietnam, Laos or Cambodia’.

Anouska Proetta Brandon

Photographer Anouska Proetta Brandon’s self-titled travel, lifestyle and style blog features travel diaries from amazing places across the world – she recently fulfilled a longtime dream of being in Tokyo for cherry blossom blooming season and shot some jaw-dropping photos of Dublin from a helicopter. Regularly jetting to fabulous places like Lake Maggiore and Montego Bay to shoot for clients like The Ritz-Carlton and the Jamaican Tourist Board, Proetta Brandon has the kind of life most of us dream of, and it’s a pleasure to follow along. She also posts regular vlogs on anouska.net .

Daniella Moyles and Martin Gaughan

DJ and model Daniella Moyles launched The Travel Two in 2016 with her friend Martin Gaughan, who has a background producing travel TV series. Together, the pair writes about their favourite locations, sharing their ultimate travel experiences and offering tips on touring at home and abroad. In terms of Ireland, recent posts have included a how-to guide to taking a road trip along the Wild Atlantic Way , a breakdown of the country’s most dog-friendly spots and a celebration of the lush Irish destination spa the Monart .

Nadia El Ferdaoussi

Nadia El Ferdaoussi combines her two major passions – beauty and travel – in her blog The Daily S’elf . The in-demand makeup artist posts about road tripping around Ireland and visiting far-flung places like Symi island, Barbados and Berlin, giving insights on issues like preparing for your first scuba dive and packing for Irish music festivals. As well as being featured on the Huffington Post list of Ireland’s top travel bloggers, El Ferdaoussi was listed as a Rising Social and Digital Star by the global communications network Sermo in 2016.

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Elaine McArdle and David Murray

Another blogging power couple, Elaine McArdle and David Murray, who work as an analytics consultant and an actuary respectively, aren’t your stereotypical wanderers. The travel-worshipping couple began The Whole World is a Playground to document their addiction, with the aim of visiting at least 15 countries every single year. Silver winners at the Littlewoods Ireland Blog Awards 2016, they have built up a loyal band of followers who trace their paths across the world through their blog and social media feeds.

Janet Newenham

Janet Newenham describes her blog, Journalist on the Run , as a way of keeping track of her journey through her own personal bucket list for life, inspired by a story she once read in Chicken Soup for the Soul . Originally aiming to visit 50 countries before turning 30, she has now revised her dream to living and working on all seven continents.Her site has sections dedicated to both short-term trips and living overseas and will be equally useful to any adventurer. It’s also full of ideas for travelling in Ireland’s finest locales, such as Antrim’s Coastal Causeway Route.

Siobhan McAuley

They Wanderlust is a family affair – a luxury travel and lifestyle blog by Irish woman Siobhan McAuley and her ‘family of travel photographers and filmmakers’. Siobhan, her photographer husband Byron Kumbula and their young son Mason venture to the world’s most exclusive locations – recent trips include a stay at Zanzibar’s Tulia Unique Beach Resort and Spa and a Valentine’s Day jaunt to the Maldives – creating content for high-end hotels and brands. Be warned, though, as their blog will make you green with envy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DDokoWgMiY

Sarah Slattery

Having worked as a travel agent for over 20 years, Sarah Slattery deserves the title she has given herself: The Travel Expert . She has visited more than 50 countries, and on the blog, she shares helpful information and advice about the best family holidays, city breaks and staycations she has taken – plus much more. A regular contributor to Irish TV and radio on the subject of travel, Slattery has the inside scoop on tons of travel hacks – for example, how to find cheap deals and how to change a Ryanair ticket without incurring a penalty.

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Travelling life: Dervla Murphy, the outspoken and adventurous Irish travel writer

The irish travel writer who never goes on holiday, rues the effects that politics and modernisation can have on a place, and whose latest book is about the gaza strip, tells rosemary behan what keeps her on the road.

September 30, 2013

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One of Ireland's most famous travel writers, now 82, Dervla Murphy published her first book, Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle in 1965. Since then, she has published a further 22 travel books and an autobiography, Wheels Within Wheels: The Makings of a Traveller. Principled, uncompromising and honest, and an opponent of mass tourism, Murphy's books often reflect hard journeys taken alone or with her daughter, Rachel. The result is a characteristically intimate portrait of a place and its people, and of the writer herself in situations that most of us would avoid for reasons of time and comfort but nevertheless find fascinating. Other titles include In Ethiopia with a Mule, The Island that Dared: Journeys in Cuba, Through Siberia by Accident, The Ukimwi Road: From Kenya to Zimbabwe, Eight Feet in the Andes and Muddling through in Madagascar. Murphy's latest book, A Month by the Sea: Encounters in Gaza, is published by Eland and follows a trip that she made in 2011 in which she met liberals and Islamists, supporters of Fatah and Hamas, rich and poor. Still living in her hometown of Lismore in County Waterford, Murphy has become a fierce supporter of the Palestinian cause; her next book is about her visits to the West Bank. How often do you travel? There's absolutely no regularity to it. It depends what books I'm writing, what family commitments I have (my daughter and grandchildren live in Italy) and my health - I've recently had my shoulder replaced, had a hip replacement three years ago, and before that I suffered a fractured spine and three broken ribs on my travels. Where do you go for inspiration? I'm rooted to the home I grew up in, in Lismore in Ireland, and I do my writing here, but one doesn't really go anywhere for inspiration, it comes from the travelling. How many countries have you been to? I have no idea. Not that many, as I like to spend time in a place and not rush through it. Do you prefer the travelling or the writing? I enjoy them equally in completely different ways. When my daughter was born, I decided that for her first five years I wouldn't leave Europe, so that she would grow up in a stable, secure routine, and I was perfectly happy with that - so I was able to give up travelling for five years, but I couldn't have given up writing for five years. What is your daily routine? From early May until late September, I will get up at 5am and go straight down to the river for a swim. In the winter, I'll take the dogs for a walk. I'll have a very big breakfast, then the rest of the day is work. Do you still not take notes on your travels? This was something that developed in these extremely tense situations when I was doing the Northern Ireland book [A Place Apart] - you couldn't possibly have brought out a Dictaphone or notebook. So I just developed the sort of memory control so that if I went out immediately after a conversation I could write it all down - but it had to be immediately - so I would just go round the corner and sit on the street and do it. When I kept my journals on long journeys, I would just take down a sort of shorthand of my impressions every evening, but the real writing came later. I didn't think about anything else at the time except getting down my impressions of that day and the information that I might have gathered. During the day, to remind me of something particular, I would just jot down two or three words in my own shorthand and then expand on it later that night in the journal. Because on really enjoyable, exciting journeys, in just one day's travelling, there can be so many different enjoyable and exciting experiences. Do you ever go on holiday? No. My holidays are being here between books, and having friends and family to stay. How do you pack for your travels? With each trip I pack less and less, as the more you travel, the more you realise how little you actually need. I can pack for any trip in about an hour. I always take a map, a change of underwear, a compass, sunscreen and a coat if it's really cold. On long trips, one needs a lightweight tent, sleeping bag and stove. What do you love about travelling? The unexpectedness of every day and, especially, never knowing where you're going to be that night. Generally, the unpredictability of it. What do you hate about travelling? I don't hate anything about the way that I normally travel, but I would hate to stay in a hotel, to go everywhere by motorised transport and to go anywhere too hot. I love the cold, and could take any amount of freezing weather, but in severe heat I think I would just fade away. I couldn't live in the UAE because I don't like the heat and I don't like air con. Travel is clearly your one passion, but did you ever have any other desire to start a business, invest in property or do anything else? No! Never. What are your favourite cities? I'm not really a city person, and I don't like to stay in them any longer than necessary, but if I had to choose I'd say Paris and San Francisco. They both have a great buzz in completely different ways. I still haven't been to many of the world's great cities, like Rome, Athens or New York. What is your favourite country? It would be Afghanistan, 50 years ago. It appealed on so many different levels, but I couldn't bear to revisit it now with everything that has happened. It wasn't impoverished in the same way that India and Pakistan were, and I met a lot of interesting and intelligent people there. In Ireland, my favourite places are Lismore, County Leitrim and the Aran Islands as they used to be. I wouldn't want to go back to the Aran Islands now, as they would be completely different - horribly developed. But, really, all of Ireland is beautiful when you get off the main roads and onto the little ones. Do you think people are often more hospitable because you're Irish? I think that's often the case, yes. I think it's a big advantage in many countries. What do you think of the Middle East? What's going on today is too awful for words, and one can't honestly say what should be done about it, but I think the best thing could simply be to try to understand what's going on. Politics is failing, and so many innocent, straightforward people are suffering. Where will you go next? I don't want to think about this until my Palestine book is finished. I love Tibetans but I'm not sure I'd want to see their country under Chinese rule. [email protected]

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The flights   Fly Dubai , Air Arabia , Emirates , Etihad , and Royal Jordanian all offer direct, three-and-a-half-hour flights from the UAE to the Jordanian capital Amman. Alternatively, from June Fly Dubai will offer a new direct service from Dubai to Aqaba in the south of the country. See the airlines’ respective sites for varying prices or search on reliable price-comparison site Skyscanner .

Jamie Lafferty was a guest of the Jordan Tourist Board . For more information on adventure tourism in Jordan see Visit Jordan . A number of new and established tour companies offer the chance to go caving, rock-climbing, canyoning, and mountaineering in Jordan. Prices vary depending on how many activities you want to do and how many days you plan to stay in the country. Among the leaders are Terhaal , who offer a two-day canyoning trip from Dh845 per person. If you really want to push your limits, contact the Stronger Team . For a more trek-focused trip,  KE Adventure offers an eight-day trip from Dh5,300 per person.

On Instagram: @WithHopeUAE

Although social media can be harmful to our mental health, paradoxically, one of the antidotes comes with the many social-media accounts devoted to normalising mental-health struggles. With Hope UAE is one of them. The group, which has about 3,600 followers, was started three years ago by five Emirati women to address the stigma surrounding the subject. Via Instagram, the group recently began featuring personal accounts by Emiratis. The posts are written under the hashtag #mymindmatters, along with a black-and-white photo of the subject holding the group’s signature red balloon. “Depression is ugly,” says one of the users, Amani. “It paints everything around me and everything in me.” Saaed, meanwhile, faces the daunting task of caring for four family members with psychological disorders. “I’ve had no support and no resources here to help me,” he says. “It has been, and still is, a one-man battle against the demons of fractured minds.” In addition to With Hope UAE’s frank social-media presence, the group holds talks and workshops in Dubai. “Change takes time,” Reem Al Ali, vice chairman and a founding member of With Hope UAE, told The National earlier this year. “It won’t happen overnight, and it will take persistent and passionate people to bring about this change.”

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The Perfect Couple

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor

Creator: Jenna Lamia

Rating: 3/5

Springtime in a Broken Mirror, Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics

Novel Ireland - Travel Magazine

Michelle walsh jackson: the novel traveller. travel writer and broadcaster.

• [ April 14, 2019 ] Derry Maritime Festival Northern Ireland
• [ September 7, 2021 ] Enniscrone, A Diamond in Sligo Wild Atlantic Way
• [ July 21, 2020 ] Cruising Lower Lough Erne Northern Ireland
• [ April 15, 2019 ] My Top Three Luxury Hotels in Ireland 2018 Ireland’s Ancient East
• [ April 15, 2019 ] Digging My Way Through Heaney Country Northern Ireland
• [ April 14, 2019 ] Galway Gaeltacht Visit Wild Atlantic Way

Derry Maritime Festival

Foyle Maritime Festival Derry and a tour of The Walled City Destinations, Ireland, Novel travel Completed in 1618, the four-hundred-year-old Walls of Derry hold centuries of tales and sagas within and today is the only intact walled […]

Enniscrone, A Diamond in Sligo

The breathtaking five kilometres of coastline at Enniscrone Beach make it a haven for a three generation holiday with a plethora of activities to suit every taste. With Grandad Jim and my seventeen-year-old daughter Nicole […]

Cruising Lower Lough Erne

I’ve recently returned from a smashing few days on lough Erne where I was a guest of discover northern Ireland. We enjoyed the pleasures of cruising in Ireland with Carrick Craft who have a base in […]

My Top Three Luxury Hotels in Ireland 2018

I’m always boasting about the marvellous hotels that we have in this country, offering luxurious spas, great sports, wonderful ambience and fine-dining. It’s difficult to chose from the selection but I’ve managed to choose my […]

Digging My Way Through Heaney Country

As the season of mists and yellow fruitfulness fades to a distant memory and the bleak-mid winter beckons, there’s something comforting about being carried away into the cosy world of words. However, instead of Novel […]

Galway Gaeltacht Visit

Irish Daily Mail  Gaeltacht Visit June 2018 It’s that time of year when teenagers make their annual pilgrimage to the far flung corners of Ireland to the Gaeltacht. My daughter is no exception and will be immersed in the Irish language, culture and most importantly be making new friends. The three […]

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This Hotel In Ireland Makes Kids Feel Like Royalty

At Ashford Castle in Ireland, kids are treated like royalty with crowns, Lego butlers, custom adventures, personalized touches, and even their own private movie theater.

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Ashford Castle makes both adults and kids feel like royalty.

Picture this: your child, decked out in a crown, wandering the halls of a 13th-century castle. Not just any castle—this is Ashford Castle, the iconic Irish estate that once belonged to the Guinness family. Here, kids are treated like actual royalty. And by that, I mean they’re handed crowns (yes, real crowns), given special "prince" or "princess" reserved seating at dinner, and assigned their very own Lego butler. Yes, you read that correctly. It's an experience that makes the average family vacation feel like stepping into a royal fairytale.

Upon arriving at Ashford Castle, it’s clear that this isn’t just another luxury hotel with a fancy history. Sure, it’s beautiful, dripping with antiques, and set on 350 acres of pristine Irish countryside, but what really sets it apart is how much fun the staff has making sure your little ones feel like the most important people in the room. And by room, I mean castle. As soon as you walk in, you’ll find a crown waiting for your child on the bed—no royal coronation required. It's theirs to wear whenever they like, whether for a walk around the expansive gardens or a formal dinner in the grand dining room.

Now, let’s talk about the Lego butler. Forget stuffy formalities; this is a next-level service tailored to your child’s imagination. The Lego butler is exactly what it sounds like: a dedicated helper providing all the Lego bricks your child could ever dream of, helping them build their own mini-kingdom within the castle walls. While the adults sip on Irish whiskey by the fireplace, the kids are busy constructing their own version of Ashford Castle (with turrets, of course).

Kids can partake in a number of royal activities.

But it doesn’t stop there. Ashford Castle has a reputation for going above and beyond when it comes to personalizing the experience for its younger guests. Take, for example, the time a staff member overheard a child’s love for word searches. The next day, a custom-made word search, complete with all their favorite words, appeared in the room. Or how the restaurant sets up specially reserved seating for kids, with their names proudly displayed under a sign that says "Prince" or "Princess." It's those little touches that make the magic of Ashford Castle feel so genuine.

The activities here are straight out of a royal playbook. After getting fitted with a sword and shield, kids can embark on adventures throughout the estate. They’ll even feel like knights in training as they explore the castle’s gardens or take partin the on-site falconry experience, where they can walk through the woods with a hawk flying alongside them. It’s like stepping into a storybook, minus the dragons—though with all the imagination bouncing around, they’ll probably conjure up a few in their minds.

After a day of royal adventures, there’s no better way to wind down than in the castle’s private movie theater. Yes, private movie theater. With plush seating and classic films on rotation, the whole family can settle in for a cozy movie night. Whether it's an old-school Disney flick or a kid-friendly adventure film, the experience feels intimate, like you’re the only ones in on the secret screening. And the popcorn? Absolutely provided.

What kid wouldn't love a private movie theater?

As a parent, it’s hard not to be impressed by how Ashford Castle manages to make everyone feel special. Sure, the kids are pampered like little royals, but adults are hardly left out. With one staff member for every three guests, service is impeccable. Case in point: if you mention casually how much you loved a particular dessert at dinner, don’t be surprised if the recipe mysteriously appears in your room the next day. It’s those small, thoughtful gestures that elevate the entire stay.

Speaking of elevation, the rooms at Ashford Castle are as grand as you’d expect. Take the Reagan Presidential Suite, for instance. It’s where President Ronald Reagan stayed during his 1984 visit to Ireland and lives up to its name. Antique furniture, a grand four-poster bed, and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the serene Lough Corrib make it a room you may never want to leave. But if Reagan’s not your style, the Kennedy Suite offers a similar level of luxury, with nods to Senator Ted Kennedy’s stay at the castle.

Dining at Ashford Castle is nothing short of a royal feast. With ingredients sourced from the estate’s gardens and locally produced goods, the food here is nothing less than extraordinary. Whether enjoying a formal meal in the George V Dining Room or indulging in the afternoon tea service (don’t skip the scones), you’ll feel like you’re dining in a historical drama—minus the stiff formality.

This place just oozes fairy tale vibes.

For a casual experience, you can head to the Dungeon, where BBQ-themed dishes are served in a cozy underground setting. But trust me, you’ll want to make time for afternoon tea in the Connaught Room, where a menu of specialty teas and handmade pastries feels like something straight out of Downton Abbey.

At the end of the day, Ashford Castle is more than just a place to sleep—it’s a full-on royal experience, especially for kids. Whether it’s the thoughtful personal touches, the magical activities, or just the fact that they can say they stayed in an actual castle, your kids will leave with memories (and maybe a sword or two) that they’ll treasure forever.

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Writers' Workshop & Craft

Explore the Emerald Isle during your student travel in Ireland as you expand and refine your writing skills with a select group of passionate, like-minded peers. Under the guidance of published and acclaimed writers, write in historic taverns, medieval ruins, and overlooking the low-lying beaches of the mythical Irish Sea. Participate in Ireland’s lively storytelling tradition at readings, concerts, plays, city parks, and village taverns.

This itinerary represents our best projection of the group’s schedule. However, we may implement changes designed to improve the quality of the program.

Meet your fellow high school student travelers and one or more of your leaders in New York, and fly together to Dublin, Ireland. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.

Begin in the historic and vibrant city of Dublin. Explore with your workshop group and leaders, drawing inspiration from the city and culture for your own original poetry, fiction, nonfiction, writing for stage and screen, and various hybrid forms as you participate in field-based writing exercises. Incorporate the five senses in a busy covered marketplace, then reunite with your group in an outdoor café to read and comment. Read Yeats in Dublin’s Municipal Gallery, and then set off to record your own intuitions and observations. Get constructive feedback while sitting on the expansive emerald lawns of Saint Stephen’s Green or University College of Dublin. Take in Ireland’s amazing lyric and storytelling traditions at literary readings, traditional music concerts, parks, award-winning theatres, and storied public houses. Evening activities include readings, enrichment seminars, concerts, movies and student-organized events. Throughout the program, receive one-on-one feedback from your fellow writers and leaders, meet with working writers and publishers, and discuss issues of craft. For a change of pace, travel with your workshop group on day trips to the surrounding areas of Dublin. Hike winding paths over starkly green hills, explore grand Anglo-Irish estates, or stroll the cobbled alleyways and 19th-century oceanfront promenades of nearby fishing villages.

Travel over boglands and verdant countryside to Ireland’s west coast for an intensive Writers’ Retreat, designed to give you the chance to revise and workshop your writing in a relaxed environment. Your home base during this time is Inishbofin, a small island off the coast of Connemara in the Gaeltacht, Ireland’s traditional Irish-speaking region. Spend your days hiking, swimming, and exploring this mystical, sparse island landscape. In the late afternoons and evenings, gather with your fellow students and instructors for workshops, craft talks, readings, and the occasional sunset hike. A special invited guest writer joins you to lend their expertise and insight and remains with the group until the end of the program.

Return to Dublin for a student-organized Final Reading on the last night of the program. Publicize and stage a reading of your original poetry and prose completed throughout the course of the program in one of the city’s many hip cafés, bookstores, or collaborative art spaces.

Fly from Dublin to New York with your group and a leader, then continue on to your final destination. To learn more about how we organize travel, click here.

Meet some of our featured leaders. Please note that these may not be your leaders for the program. 

Ireland’s poetic storytelling and music are famous throughout the world. Dublin is a bustling port city on the Irish Sea and is home to many historical, literary, and cultural sites, as well as a lively modern food, arts, and entertainment scene that you’ll have ample opportunity to explore. The rugged west coast boasts hundreds of beautiful islands where the Irish language and traditions remain strong; one of these, Inishbofin, is the site of your writing retreat.

English and Irish (also called Irish Gaelic or Gaelic) are the official languages of Ireland. While Gaelic is not as widely spoken as English, it is more commonly practiced in some areas of rural Ireland (known as the Gaeltacht).

Daytime temperatures during Ireland’s summer months range from 60–70°F (15.5–21°C), while nighttime temperatures average 50–60°F (10–15.5°C). You can expect a fair number of overcast days, punctuated by rain showers and sunshine.

There is more to Irish cuisine than just corned beef and cabbage. The country boasts a diverse seafood cuisine, as well as “chipper” (fish and chips). You can also find international cuisine throughout Dublin, ranging from Thai to Indian. Vegetarian and vegan food is readily available, as are Irish classics such as lamb stew.

What to Expect

Review specific program expectations here. For more general information:

Writing Workshop: Whether your goal is to pursue a career in a writing-related field or simply to experiment with writing as a passion, this program provides dynamic, individualized exercises that allow students to engage with place through the lens of writing, gaining valuable skills and experience as they immerse themselves in a rich and vital culture. Time spent writing and workshopping is complemented by public readings and an array of enrichment seminars on such topics as Irish history, literature, music, food, theatre, and special mini-workshops in poetry, travel writing, photography, blogging, and more. In the final days of the program, students participate in an intensive, three-day Writers’ Retreat during which they can further workshop, revise, and polish their work. The program culminates with a student-organized reading of the group’s best work on the final night in Dublin. You are not expected to join the program as an expert writer. However, you should bring a passion for writing, a willingness to try new things, and a desire to be an active part of a supportive group of open-minded and creative young artists.

Among Putney’s leaders, instructors, and guest writers are some of America’s most acclaimed young writers, including Tessa Fontaine (The Electric Woman); Salvatore Scibona (The End, 2008 National Book Award Finalist); Brian Staveley (The Emperor’s Blades, The Providence of Fire, The Last Mortal Bond); Karen Russell (Saint Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Swamplandia!, a 2012 Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Vampires in the Lemon Grove); Alan Huffman (Here I Am: The Story of Tim Hetherington, War Photographer; Mississippi in Africa; Sultana: Surviving the Civil War, Prison and the Worst Maritime Disaster in American History; and We’re With Nobody: Two Insiders Reveal the Dark Side of American Politics); B.J. Hollars (From the Mouths of Dogs: What Our Pets Teach Us About Life, Death, and Being Human; Thirteen Loops: Race, Violence and the Last Lynching in America; Flock Together: A Love Affair With Extinct Birds); Jessica Lee Richardson (It Had Been Planned and There Were Guides); Rosecrans Baldwin (Paris, I Love You, But You’re Bringing Me Down); and Tim Weed (Will Poole’s Island and A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing).

Whatever your chosen genre, you are likely to find an Irish author who has distinguished themselves its practitioner: Jonathan Swift, Maria Edgeworth, William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Bram Stoker, Seamus Heaney, Edna O’Brien, Maeve Binchy, Eavan Boland, Elizabeth Bowen, Seamus Deane, Paul Muldoon—the list goes on. Related to its world-class literary reputation, Ireland is full of native-born storytellers, as you are likely to discover when you strike up conversations on park benches, in cafés, or just walking down the street. Explore and draw inspiration from the people, literary legacy, history of struggle, and rich and diverse cultural and physical landscape of this evocative country.

This is a physically active summer travel program. Exploring the streets of Dublin and Galway on foot, hiking coastal trails, playing a pick-up game of frisbee, or taking an Irish step-dancing lesson are all activities in which you might participate during this program. You do not need to be at peak fitness to participate, but it is important that you have a desire to be physically active, and that you are excited about trying all activities.

In Dublin, we stay in multi-bedded, dormitory-style accommodations north of the River Liffey, in the quiet North Georgian Quarter close to the Dublin Writers’ Museum, the James Joyce house, and the lively arts quarter of Temple Bar. While on Inishbofin, we stay at a small, family-run hostel in multi-bedded rooms. Students have access to common space at our accommodations as well as ample outside space for community meetings, writing, pick-up games of frisbee, and socializing. Leaders reside in the same residences with students throughout the program.

We begin each day with a simple breakfast at our residence. For lunches and dinners, we find small restaurants and pubs, or hit the markets to purchase food for a picnic in the field.

A Day in the Life: Dublin​

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Famous Irish Authors: 12 Great Writers From Ireland

Categories Culture and Food

Ireland is a country of writers. The Emerald Isle may be small, with a small population, yet it has produced an astounding number of world-famous authors. The majority of well-known Irish writers are responsible for some of the most important works in English literature.

Things you'll find in this article

1. Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745)

2. w.b. yeats (1865 – 1939), 3. molly keane (1904 – 1996) pen name m.j. farrell, 4. oscar wilde (1845 – 1900), 5. samuel beckett (1906 – 1989), 6. bram stoker (1847 – 1912), 7. edna o’brien obe (1932 – present), 8. george bernard shaw (1856 – 1950), 9. james joyce (1882 – 1941), 10. seamus heaney (1939 – 2013), 11. c.s. lewis (1898 – 1963), 12. maeve binchy (1940 – 2012).

The following is a list of some of Ireland’s most famous authors from the last four centuries.

Birth Place: Dublin , Ireland

Notable Works : Gulliver’s Travels

Jonathan Swift was a satirical writer, poet, and, strangely enough, cleric who served as Dean of Dublin’s Saint Patrick’s Cathedral during his lifetime.

He was a prolific writer who completed several novels, essays, poems, and political papers. He was born in Dublin to a family with multiple literary connections.

His journey, like Oscar Wilde’s, ends in misery, as he lost his ability to talk and became mentally disturbed following a probable stroke at the age of 75.

Following his death, the vast fortune he left behind was used to establish a psychiatric institution.

Birth Place: Sandymount, Ireland

Notable Works : (poems) an ode to his favorite place in Sligo called ‘Lake Isle of Innisfree’ and the romantic ‘He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven’.

William Butler Yeats was a gifted poet and one of the most famous figures in the late-nineteenth-century Irish literary resurgence. He was also one of the founders of the Abbey, Ireland’s most prominent theatre, and the first Irishman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.

He became a Senator in the independent Irish government after becoming a regular commentator on Irish politics.

Most of his poetry was inspired by his public service job, his childhood travels to County Sligo , and his failed love life. He proposed to Maud Gonne, the love of his life, four times over several years, but she declined each time.

READ MORE:  12 Interesting Facts About William Butler Yeats

Birth Place: Newbridge, County Kildare , Ireland

Notable Works : Good Behaviour, The Rising Tide, Time After Time

Keane was a Jane Austen fan, and her talent, like Austen’s, resided in her ability to create characters.

This, combined with her wit and a keen awareness of what was going on beyond the surface of people’s behavior, allowed her to portray the world of Ireland’s huge mansions in the 1920s and 1930s.

Keane said she “caught her class in all its nasty snobbery and polite bigotry”.

For her subsequent works, she used her married name, and several of them (such as Good Behaviour and Time After Time) have been adapted for television.

Birth Place: Dublin, Ireland

Notable Works : The Importance of Being Ernest, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854, and his legacy is still felt throughout the city.

The house where he was born is now the academic center of Trinity College Dublin , where he studied. In Dublin, there are also various museums dedicated to Oscar Wilde.

While Wilde is most known for his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, he is also a fantastic playwright. The Importance of Being Earnest is one of his most well-known plays. Later, he moved to London, where his plays were well-received.

Because of the harsh rules of the time, Oscar Wilde was imprisoned and exiled. He was accused of being in a same-sex relationship, which was illegal at the time.

READ MORE: Interesting Facts About Oscar Wilde

Notable Works : (play) Waiting for Godot

Samuel Beckett appears frequently in lists of “most significant Irish writers”. He wrote a lot of plays since he was so active in theatre and theater, but he also wrote a lot of poems and a few novels.

He lived in Paris for the majority of his adult life and wrote in both English and French , even joining the French resistance in 1940 and obtaining two medals for his contributions .

His art is classified as modernist and is generally based on many aspects of human nature, with grim, black humor undertones.

Notable Works : Dracula

Bram Stoker was born in Clontarf, Dublin , and educated at Trinity College.

He worked as a theatre critic before committing his life to assist actor Sir Henry Irving, with whom he traveled the world. He also served as the business manager for Irving’s Lyceum Theatre.

In his spare time, Bram Stoker penned novels and short stories. His original manuscript for Dracula went misplaced during his travels with Irving, only to be discovered in a Pennsylvania barn in the 1980s!

Birth Place: Tuamgraney, County Clare , Ireland

Notable Works : The Girl with Green Eyes, August is a Wicked Month, Casualties of Peace

Josephine Edna O’Brien DBE is an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet, and short-story writer who was born on December 15, 1930.

Former Irish President Mary Robinson called her “one of the great creative writers of her generation,” while American novelist Philip Roth called her “the most gifted lady now writing in English.”

She writes in a variety of literary genres.

Notable Works : Pygmalion, Candida, Man  and Superman

George Bernard Shaw, the Nobel Laureate for Literature, was most known for his realism and support for women’s rights and socialism.

Shaw was one of London’s most powerful figures in the early twentieth century. He was a writer, political activist, and journalist. The word “Shavian” was used to describe his ideals.

He wrote the drama, Pygmalion, which inspired the musical My Fair Lady. Candida and Man and Superman are among his other significant works.

Notable Works : Dubliners, Ulysses

When people think of Irish literature, James Joyce is frequently the first name that comes to mind.

Thanks to his distinct modernist style, which revolutionized fiction writing in the early twentieth century, he is unquestionably the most important Irish writer, as well as one of the most important writers in the world. 

Joyce was born in 1882 in Rathgar, Dublin, and spent his childhood in various parts of the city. He spent his later years in Trieste, Zurich, and Paris , dying in Zurich at the age of 58 from complications related to a ruptured ulcer.

Every year on June 16th, the author and his most renowned work are remembered all around the world with a series of literary activities dubbed “Bloomsday”.

READ MORE:  Interesting Facts About James Joyce

Birth Place: Tamniaran, near Castledawson, Northern Ireland

Notable Works: Death of a Naturalist, North, Human Chain, Beowulf: A New Verse Translation (translation, 1999)

Seamus Justin Heaney, MRIA, was a poet, playwright, and translator, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995. Heaney was and continues to be regarded as one of Ireland’s most important poets during his lifetime.

Robert Lowell, an American poet, called him “the most important Irish poet after Yeats,” and many others, like professor John Sutherland, called him “the finest poet of our time”.  “With his extraordinary sense of eye and ear, Heaney possesses the gift of the storyteller,” says Robert Pinsky.

When he died in 2013, The Independent called him “perhaps the world’s best-known poet”.

Birth Place: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Notable Works : The Chronicles of Narnia (a series of 7 books), The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves

Clive Staples Lewis is frequently wrongly recognized as a British novelist.

However, he was born and raised in Belfast before going to England at the age of eleven to attend boarding school. He grew up surrounded by books and was a very imaginative boy, so it’s no surprise that he went on to write one of the best children’s books ever written.

When his childhood pet dog, Jacksie, died, he refused to go by any other name but Jack, a nickname he’d had since he was a boy.

He maintained a strong sense of his Irish identity throughout his life, frequently searching out Irish locals when he lived in Britain. He even spent his honeymoon in Crawfordsburn, Northern Ireland.

READ MORE:  Interesting Facts About C.S. Lewis

Notable Works: Circle of Friends, Deeply Regretted By…,  Scarlet Feather and Tara Road

Maeve Binchy is one of the most well-known modern Irish writers, both in Ireland and around the world. She died only a few years ago, but she had long been considered a national treasure.

Her many works are mostly set in rural or small-town Ireland, with vivid characters and typically a surprising plot twist in the end.

Binchy’s writing career began by chance while she was staying on a kibbutz in Israel when she wrote home to her parents, who forwarded her letters to the Irish Independent. Her 16 novels, four short story collections, and other works have been translated into 37 languages.

Read More: Interesting Facts About Maeve Binchy

Hi, I’m Christine – a full-time traveler and career woman. Although I’m from the Philippines, my location independent career took me to over 60 countries for the past 12 years. I also lived in 4 continents – from the Caribbean, South East Asia, Africa and now in Europe. But despite living in several countries, my love for Ireland remains the same. A country that had been a part of my life since I was 14 because of my love for Irish music and bands. Ireland Travel Guides was born because of this passion and hopefully, in some little ways, this website will be able to help you on your next trip to Ireland.

28 Famous Irish People That You Should Know - Ireland Travel Guides

Friday 26th of November 2021

[…] Birth Place: Belfast, Northern Ireland Notable Works: The Chronicles of Narnia (a series of 7 books), The Screwtape Letters, The Four Loves Clive Staples Lewis is frequently wrongly recognized as a British novelist. However, he was born and raised in Belfast before going to England at the age of eleven to attend boarding school. He grew up surrounded by books and was a very imaginative boy, so it’s no surprise that he went on to write one of the best children’s books ever written. When his childhood pet dog, Jacksie, died, he refused to go by any other name but Jack, a nickname he’d had since he was a boy. He maintained a strong sense of his Irish identity throughout his life, frequently searching out Irish locals when he lived in Britain. He even spent his honeymoon in Crawfordsburn, Northern Ireland. To know more about the famous irish authors, click here.  […]

Irish Culture And Traditions - Ireland Travel Guides

Wednesday 17th of November 2021

[…] Yeats, Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and Oscar Wilde are just a few of the world’s most famous authors from Ireland. Among the Irish musicians, Bono and Enya are two of the most universally loved and […]

10 Best Museums in Dublin, Ireland - Ireland Travel Guides

Tuesday 22nd of June 2021

[…] promotion of Irish literature and the lives and works of famous Irish authors, the Dublin Writers Museum was established. It is a definite must-stop for Irish literature fans. […]

35 Fun Things To Do In Belfast City - Ireland Travel Guides

[…] Belfast- just 20 minutes away from the city center. This tourist destination is dedicated to the popular author of The Chronicles of Narnia. A walk in the square will bring you to this fictional kingdom with the […]