Ireland Is Steeped In Culture, So What Are You Waiting For? It's Time To Explore

The place is hopping. There's a fully blown céilí going on in the bar with set dancers knocking sparks out of the floor as the musicians in the corner are playing some mighty tunes. This is what you've come to Ireland for and now you're here you can't get enough.

Don''t worry then because there's scarcely a corner of Ireland where you won't find a session of traditional music.

That's not all you'll find as Ireland's culture is so rich and diverse with the best of ingredients that you will conclude you are in the artistic equivalent of a world class restaurant.

The 'menu' features a poetic language, a fabulous history, a literature which features some of the world's greatest writers and an exquisite body of visual arts and crafts stretching back to ancient times.

From sacred artefacts like the priceless Derrynaflan Chalice or the world famous Book of Kells to the profane Sheela na Gig (not a fanatical supporter of live music by the way) statues dotted around the countryside, the artistic heritage of Ireland has its roots in the country's prehistory.

As a consequence, the modern generation of Ireland's artists and sculptors have plenty of inspiration as they represent us at home and abroad at international festivals and global events.

The Joy of Sets in a dramatic landscape

Culture at its best in Ireland is alive and kicking, and can be found in the most unlikely locations around the country. That's partly what makes a holiday in Ireland akin to a voyage of discovery.

The Burren in Co. Clare is a spectacular landscape unlike any vist you will find anywhere in the world, a vast cracked pavement of glacial-era limestone, with cliffs and caves, fossils, rock formations and archaeological sites. Ideal walking country, you get the sense you are walking through an environment hewn from the ancient.

The drama of the landscape is captured by local author Ré ̦Ó Laighleis in his Burren trilogy where he tells a recurring story of murder and resistance stretching back to the time of Ireland's first inhabitants. Vestiges of these settlements can still be seen on the landscape and one of Ireland's most famous and iconic dolmens is located in the Burren, Poulnabrone/Hole of Sorrows. Dolmens, of course, were ancient tombs in which the Gaelic chieftains were buried. While Hyland's Burren Hotel in Ballyvaughan is an ideal location from which you can explore this historic landscape, you will also get a taste here of Clare's world wide reputation for fantastic traditional music, the kind that gets even the most reluctant hoofer to take the floor for a Clare set.

Once you've discovered the joy of sets, you will never tire of it and, in fact, it's a great way to keep fit! Take note, also, that there are different sets in parishes all over the country - the trick is to learn the steps and then follow your better practiced partners.

There are many opportunities to hear the best of traditional music in Co. Clare - a trip from Ballyvaughan along the Coastal route will bring you to villages like Miltown Malbay, home of the annual Willie Clancy Summer School and to several dozen pubs, and Doolin where world class musicians have been known to drop in for the 'session'. Along the way you will be able to visit the sensational Cliffs of Moher, a view that takes the breath away.

The cradle of Irish literature

The Kingdom of Kerry is a place apart, on the opposite site of the Shannon estuary, and is reachable by road or, preferably, by the Killimer/Tarbert car ferry, an opportunity to get out in the open air and experience crossing Ireland's most famous river, the broad and majestic Shannon.

You land in North Kerry, the cradle of some of Kerry's and Ireland's most illustrious writers, the likes of Brendan Kennelly, Maurice Walsh, Bryan MacMahon and playwright John B. Keane, whose pub is still open in Listowel and managed by his son Billy. The writer of dramas such as The Field and Sive left a significant literary legacy to his hometown and a visit to the local Writers Centre is a must.

A long bygone era of aristocracy

Kerry is a county of festivals - the Writers Week in Listowel, the Rose of Tralee Festival and, in Killarney, hardly a weekend passes without a cultural extravaganza of one form or another. Once Queen Victoria visited the town more than 150 years ago and described it as 'Heaven's Reflex', it has grown to become Ireland's unofficial tourism capital.

Tourism is Killarney's lifeblood and there's plenty to see and experience here - a trip on the Lakes of Killarney from Ross Castle is highly recommended. You will see the gracious Muckross House, one of Ireland's finest mansions, and Lord Kenmare's Cottage, a reminder of a long ago era of Anglo Irish ascendancy in the country's history. To get the most out of your visit to Kerry, you will find that the staff at Killarney's Arbutus Hotel are an oracle of knowledge about the town and the rest of the Kingdom. In this town centre hotel, you will be supremely comfortable with access to all the high class restaurants and pubs nearby. The Arbutus is itself has its own pub renowned for its music sessions.

Sean nós singing - the old style

A short distance out the road towards Cork is the Múscraí Gaeltacht where you will meet the Irish speaking locals, perhaps take in a sean nós singing session in Ireland's highest pub, the Top of Coom, and visit the shrine of St Gobnait, a legendary Irish female saint who still sparks devotion among parishioners more than 1500 years since she lived in the area.

In terms of the Gaeltacht, Carna in Conamara is the real thing. The next parish west of here is in the USA, where a great many Irish people emigrated to flee what was a wasteland ravaged by famine and deprivation.

It's in places like Carna where sean nós (old style) singing is at its strongest and which produced and still produces singers who tell stories in song of parting and poverty with poignancy and a raw emotional power you will not encounter anywhere else on your travels. Don't worry though – not all of the songs are sad as there are as many songs about drink and courting that will keep you entertained until first light. In the Carna Bay Hotel you will find one of the hidden gems of guaranteed Irish hospitality. A warm 'céad míle fáilte' awaits here from the Irish speaking staff of this family run hostelry. From here you can take walks along windswept white beaches or explore the rest of Conamara, north to Kylemore Abbey or east towards An Cheathrú Rua and Casla and Baile na hAbhann, the headquarters of the Irish language TV station, TG4.

From City of Empire to European metropolis

When Ireland was under British rule, Dublin on the east coast was the second city of the Empire. Now it is a bustling and ever growing cosmopolitan metropolis of well over one million people and, for all the modernity, it maintains its links to aristocratic past through its Georgian architecture and magnificent museums, art galleries and possibly the best theatres in Europe, the Abbey Theatre and the Gate.

There's almost too much to see and experience in the Irish capital so highly recommended for an afternoon of discovery is the Little Museum of Dublin, a fascinating repository of this great city's history and culture. Also worth including on your itinerary is the Epic Iris Emigration Museum, a centre which celebrates Ireland's diaspora all over the world.

Another way to enjoy Ireland's connection with the rest of the world is to take in the delights of the Jasmine Bar in the city-centre-based Brooks Hotel. This pub is one of the world's finest whiskey bars and a respite from the thronged city pavements.

From these comfortable surroundings, you can set out on daily missions to take in sights such as the Guinness Storehouse, where you will be served the city's highest point not too far from where it was brewed, Christchurch Cathedral, the nation's oldest church, or the heart of the nation's government on Kildare Street.

There is so much to explore and enjoy about Ireland's culture that it would take several lifetimes. But you've got to start somewhere and sometime! It better be soon!

About Original Irish Hotels

Original Irish Hotels are a collection of unique, owner-run hotels, located in Ireland’s most outstanding destinations. Open the door to the magic of unmissable moments with Ireland’s leading collection of independent hotels.

Our 60 hotels are dotted around the entire island of Ireland in must-see locations, from the Wild Atlantic Way, to Ireland’s Ancient East, the Causeway Coast, Dublin and the treasured heartland of Ireland’s midlands and lakelands.

Irrespective of where our hotels are, Original Irish Hotels pride themselves in hosting a unique and truly memorable experience for our guests, and soon to be friends. The collection is made up of a range of traditional and boutique hotels, castles, manor and country houses, all run by locals, ensuring a unique experience every time.