The Emerald Isle

Settle in, relax and get ready to discover a fascinating city, the hometown of many distinguished writers such as William Butler Yeats, Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker (author of Dracula), and Samuel Beckett.

Consider a visit to a museum such as the National Museum (whose precious Celtic artifacts include St. Patrick's Bell and the Tara Brooch), the Dublin Writers' Museum, or the National Gallery (with a collection of paintings featuring works by Jack Yeats).

Save time for a stroll along Grafton Street, a pedestrian-only shopping street that meanders between grand townhouses from College Green, near Trinity College, to Stephen's Green. According to a popular song " Grafton Street is a wonderland." Check it out!

Visit St. Patrick's Rock, an outcrop rising from the Tipperary plain which once was the seat of the kings of Munster. St. Patrick is believed to have come here in AD 450 to christen King Aenghus. The rock is topped by the most interesting monastic ruins in Ireland, which include a cathedral begun in 1235, a superb round tower, and Cormac's Chapel, a Romanesque sanctuary consecrated in 1134. A short film titled Strongholds of Faith takes visitors back to the times when sites like Cashel were built throughout Ireland.

Enter the museum located in the undercroft of the Hall of the Vicars Choral, a 15th-century building which now serves as the visitors' entrance. See artifacts found on the site that illustrate how, for more than a millennium, Cashel served as a symbol of royal and priestly power in Ireland.

Proceed to Blarney, a village in the south of Ireland.

Not to be missed, of course, is Caisleán na Blarnan, a medieval fortress with an impressive keep. According to tradition, or a tad of blarney, the gift of eloquence is granted there by kissing the Blarney Stone.

Pay a visit to the Blarney Woollen Mills, a restored factory complex built in 1823 for spinning and weaving wool. It's now the world's largest store with an inventory of Irish-made goods. If it's made in Ireland, food or fashion, it's there!

Proceed westward through Killarney National Park and its many lakes to the cheerful town of Killarney. The 3,414-foot peak of Carrauntoohil dominates the view to the west, surrounded by heather-covered hills.

A visit is included to Bog Village, a replica of an early 18th-century community typical of southwestern Ireland with its small thatched houses. Learn how peat harvested from bogs was used as domestic fuel.

Enjoy a visit to Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. This formidable castle has been restored to its original 16th-century beauty, Tudor furnishings and all. Bunratty Folk Park is a meticulous re-creation of rural life in Ireland at the turn of the century. Taste butter being churned or purchase some woven handicraft.

Your journey continues to Limerick, the setting for Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt's 1996 memoir. This is also the country's fourth-largest city, with an eventful history that mirrors the country's tumultuous past.

View some of the most spectacular cliffs in all of Europe, with sheer drops of over 600 feet.

Discover the vast limestone landscape of the Burren, which has been established as a national park because of its unusual combination of Alpine and Mediterranean flora. Ulster Catholics chased from their land by Cromwell were forced to resettle here. Pass by Corcomroe Abbey, whose ruins, almost indistinguishable from the stones of the surrounding Burren plateau, inspired W. B. Yeats to write his verse play The Dreaming of the Bones.

Proceed to a lively university city which got its name, Dún Bhun na Gaillimhe, when it was but a "Fort at the mouth of the Gaillimh."

Windswept, yet never touched by frost, Inishmore, like the other Aran Islands, is a paradise for wildflowers, with hundreds of varieties. These islands are also renowned for their crafts, in particular the famous Aran knitwear. You may want to begin your explorations at the Aran Heritage Centre, Ionad Arann, located near the port of Kilronan. A tour of the center will present two millennia of this Celtic island's history, language and traditions.

View Dún Aonghasa, the island's finest prehistoric monument, located nearly four miles from the village of Kilronan. This semi-circular stone fort is located in a spectacular setting at the edge of a cliff, some sixty feet above sea level.

Archaeological research has found evidence of human settlements dating back to 1500 BC. Bronze Age artifacts found on the site are exhibited in Dublin's National Museum of Ireland.

Images of the Irish countryside are still vivid as you race the sun home aboard your jet airplane. Arrive home later today, eager to share your discoveries with family and friends.