In this episode, we sit down to talk with Marie McKown of Tourism Ireland to discuss current issues affecting Ireland tourism, such as how the recession has affected travel to and within Ireland and how the tourism industry in the country has reacted.

Links to some of the sites mentioned in the podcast:

Tourism Ireland http://www.discoverireland.com/

The Characters of Ireland videos page on Discover Ireland (page was down when we posted the podcast)

Blog for Discover Ireland http://blog.discoverireland.com/

About Walking in Ireland http://www.discoverireland.ie/Walking.aspx

Tourism site for Northern Ireland http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/

Irish Hotel Federation http://www.irelandhotels.com/

Irish Rail (the Republic) http://www.irishrail.ie/home/
Translink (Northern Ireland rail service) http://www.translink.co.uk/

Bus Eireann (the Republic) http://www.buseireann.ie/

Londonderry (a.k.a. Derry) http://www.derryvisitor.com/

The following links are not necessarily endorsements for use of the product or service. They are merely mentioned in the podcast.

Dan Dooley car rental http://www.dandooley.com/

Aer Lingus http://www.aerlingus.com/

The Updated Podcast Studio

On this short episode we discuss changes to our recording capabilities and our website. And we briefly review our plans to attend the 30^th anniversary of Milwaukee Irish Fest.

As promised in the podcast, below is a list of a few Ireland Discussion Forums (in no particular order):

Ireland Yes – Michelle Erdvig

http://ireland.activeboard.com/forum.spark?aBID=65127

Ireland Expert – Pat Preston

http://www.irelandexpertpatpreston.activeboard.com/forum.spark?forumID=104667

Trip Advisor Ireland Forum

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g186591-i88-Ireland.html

Irish Abroad Discussion Forum – Travel

http://www.irelandabroad.com/Discussions/Topics.aspx?CategoryID=3

Outer wall at Kells

In the next few episodes, we will be taking a look at our Top 10 lists for Ireland. Seems like everyone is putting together a “Top 10” list these days, so we thought we would share some of our top choices for Ireland. We have chosen our favorites from several categories; for example, we’ll list our top ten favorite towns/cities, our top ten. Why didn’t we limit ourselves to just one list of Top 10 Favorites? It’s too hard! And, while we admit we haven’t seen everything there is to see yet, these are our favorites thus far.

We begin the podcast series with our Top 10 Monastic/Spiritual Sites. Ireland is virtually littered with sites dating back thousands of years. These are the sites we are most drawn to again and again. For more information on any of the sites we mention, please click on the links below. NOTE: Many of the sites are part of Heritage Ireland (www.heritageireland.ie). If you purchase an OPW Heritage Card, you can enter these sites for no cost or reduced cost.

Skellig Michael

http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=757
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/South-West/SkelligMichael/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skellig_Michael

Interesting web book entitled “The Forgotten Hermitage of Skellig Michael” by Walter Horn, Jenny White Marshall, and Grellan D. Rourke:

http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft1d5nb0gb;brand=ucpress

Boat operators to Skellig Michael:

http://iguide.travel/Skellig_Michael/Overview/Boat_Operators

Loughcrew

http://www.knowth.com/loughcrew.htm
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/MidlandsEastCoast/Loughcrew/
http://www.sacredsites.com/europe/ireland/loughcrew.html (Great Photos)

Loughcrew House, Gardens, and Adventure Course
http://www.loughcrew.com/

Rock of Cashel/Hore Abbey

http://www.cashel.ie/
http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/South-East/RockofCashel/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hore_Abbey
Clonmacnoise

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/MidlandsEastCoast/Clonmacnoise/
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/clonmacnoise

Kells (Co. Kilkenny)

Site with comprehensive information about Kells Priory
http://kells.frantzen.de/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kells_Priory

Kilree Round Tower and High Cross (just up the road from Kells)
http://www.roundtowers.org/kilree/index.htm

Glendalough

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/midlandseastcoast/GlendaloughVisitorCentre/
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/glendalough

Dublin

St. Patrick’s Cathedral
http://www.stpatrickscathedral.ie/index.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patrick%27s_Cathedral,_Dublin

Christ Church Cathedral
http://cccdub.ie/
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ireland/dublin-christ-church-cathedral.htm

Hill of Tara/Hill of Slane

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/midlandseastcoast/HillofTara/
http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/tara/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Tara

http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/slane/index.html
http://www.slane.com/hillofslane.htm

Quin Abbey

http://www.nd.edu/~ikuijt/Ireland/Sites/mdonnel2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quin_Abbey

Brú na Bóinne
(Newgrange, Knowth, Howth)

http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/MidlandsEastCoast/BrunaBoinneVisitorCentreNewgrangeandKnowth/

http://www.knowth.com/bru-na-boinne.htm

Sheep at Kells

View from the top of Skellig Michael

In this episode we talk about our hands-down, bar none, favorite day out of all the things we’ve done and seen in Ireland: our visit to Skellig Michael.

The following links are mentioned in this episode of the podcast:

The B&B Network Ireland site: http://www.ireland-bnb.net/

Skellig Experience website: http://www.skelligexperience.com

Skellig Experience boat operators list: http://www.skelligexperience.com/boat.htm

BirdWatch Ireland: http://www.birdwatchireland.ie

Skelligs Rock Bird Information: http://www.skelligsrock.com/wildlife.htm

Skellig Info from the Dioces of Kerry: http://www.dioceseofkerry.ie/page/heritage/holy-places/skellig/

St. Patrick Window - Christchurch, Dublin

In anticipation of Saint Patrick’s Day, we briefly explore the life and legend of Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.

Liam, Corey, Kathy and Travis at Irish Fest

At the 2009 Milwaukee Irish Fest, we sat down for an interview with Liam Hughes and Corey Taratuta, the hosts of the popular Irish Fireside travel podcast.  They told us a bit about their podcast, Liam’s cottage in Ireland, their favorite places to see in Ireland, and gave us some tips for first time Irish travelers.  You can find their amazing podcast at http://irishfireside.com

You can find more information about the festival itself and our topics of conversation by checking out the following sites:

Irish Fireside – http://irishfireside.com

Milwaukee Irish Fest – http://www.irishfest.com

Liam’s Jazz CD – http://liamjazz.com

Lamplighter Studio – http://www.lamplighterstudio.com

Knockahopple Cottage – http://www.knockahopple.com

Saint Patrick Centre (Courtesy Lancastrian)

Dr. Campbell is the Director of the Saint Patrick Centre in Downpatrick, County Down. He was kind enough to sit down with us for a few moments during Milwaukee Irish Fest 2009, and he told us about the Centre and several of its programs, which include local outreach events and an international ambassador program.

The following information appears on the centre’s website (http://www.saintpatrickcentre.com/):

The Centre is an exciting interpretative exhibition which tells the fascinating story of Ireland’s Patron Saint. Through Patrick’s own words a light is shone on the arrival of Christianity in Ireland and its development through his mission. A series of interactive displays allow visitors to explore how Patrick’s legacy developed in early Christian times and reveal the fabulous artwork and metalwork which was produced during this Golden Age. The exhibition also examines the major impact of Irish missionaries in Dark Age Europe – a legacy which remains to this day.

The Saint Patrick Centre is the only permanent exhibition in the World dedicated to Ireland’s Patron Saint and one of the top tourist destinations in Ireland. Situated in the heart of Saint Patrick’s Country, beside Down Cathedral and Patrick’s Grave, we are just 2 hours north of Dublin and 40 mins south of Belfast. The Centre provides a cutting edge interactive exhibition about the life and legacy of Patrick and is a central hub on the new Saint Patrick’s Trail through Counties Armagh and Down. As a non-profit organisation we provide reconciliation†education programs to thousands of children in Northern Ireland every year as well as running cross border and international youth programs. The Friends of Saint Patrick is a support organisation which is growing around the World to make people aware of our work and the new Northern Ireland.

Bernd Biege’s article (and many others about travel to Ireland) on About.com can be found at http://goireland.about.com/od/countydown/gr/patrick_centre.htm.

Links to the nomination categories can be found here:

http://www.podcastawards.com

The nomination rules can be found at:

http://www.podcastawards.com/index.php?option=rules

This weekend, we plan to record a brief show to let everyone know about the new and improved site.  We hope that everyone can stop by and take a look and that you enjoy what you see!