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1015UA5 - Saints and Scholars Foundation Ireland Pilgrimage 10 days from Washington, DC


Trip Flyer
Airline Name Baggage Information
United Airlines http://bit.ly/yoafSS

$50 Early Booking Discount if Reserved by April 15, 2025

Special Package with this Trip :
International departure taxes of $99 plus current fuel surcharges of $410 are included (subject to change).

Tour Code Departure Date Cost per person
UAD1015GS 10/15/2025 $5099.00
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Trip Details

We depart Washington, Dulles International Airport (IAD) for our overnight flight to the Emerald Isle. In-flight movies, dinner, and breakfast aloft.
Following customs and immigration formalities at Dublin Airport, our Tour Manager welcomes us to Ireland as we board our motorcoach. We stop for lunch on our own along the way, and continue to the medieval town of Drogheda, where Oliver Cromwell began his conquest of Ireland by slaughtering 3,000 people, including 800 civilians and several priests. We will visit St. Peter’s Church, which Cromwell set afire to kill those sheltering within its walls, and the National Shrine of St. Oliver Plunkett, where we will venerate his relic. Following Drogheda, we travel to nearby Mellifont Abbey, which was built by Cistercian Monks in 1152AD but disbanded by William of Orange to be used a manor house. We view the ruins of the Abbey. Our next stop is Monasterboice, the ruined fifth century monastery, where we will stand in awe before the magnificent Celtic Crosses in the monastery graveyard. We celebrate Mass at Monasterboice Parish Church before continuing to Armagh, in Northern Ireland (the euro is not accepted here) for our “Fáilte” (welcome) dinner and overnight.
We begin the day with Mass at Armagh Cathedral. Fr. Barry Matthews will give us a tour of the Cathedral and its relics afterwards. After Mass, we visit the ancient Struell Holy Wells, believed to have miraculous curing capabilities. We stop for lunch on our own as we travel west to Benburb Priory. Benburb was originally built by Shane O’Neill in 1591, but in 1610 the land was given to English settlers. After the Priory, we conclude our day at our hotel in Donegal, back in the Republic of Ireland, for dinner and overnight.
Mass at the Church of the Four Masters in Donegal Today we visit the ruined Donegal Friary (Franciscan Abbey) in Donegal. It was a center for classical education from the time it was built in the 15th century by the O’Donnell dynasty. In the Nine Years’ War, the Irish rebels met the envoys from King Philip II of Spain here. The castle was destroyed in 1601, when a gunpowder store was ignited in the heat of battle. After our visit to the Monastery and free time to enjoy a walk around the charming town of Donegal, we stop at The Sands Hotel at Rossnowlagh Beach for a spectacular lunch on our own. Following our break, we make our way to Knock, where we will share dinner at 7 p.m. and enjoy a talk by the delightful and inimitable Fr. Brendan Kilcoyne, of The Brendan Option podcast. Overnight at our hotel.
This morning, we start our day with an early Mass at the famous Marian apparition site of Our Lady of Knock. The Blessed Virgin appeared to fifteen people here on August 21, 1879. After Mass we drive through breathtakingly beautiful Connemara, with a stop at historic Ballintubber Abbey. The Abbey was founded in 1216 and was suppressed during the Reformation. But Mass continued -- in an unroofed building! Ballintubber is the starting point of the ancient pilgrimage path to Croagh Patrick, but we’ll have to do that another year! We’ll get lunch along the way on our own, perhaps in the beautiful town of Clifden. We will be going through the Gaeltacht, the Irish-speaking part of the country. In Galway we will have dinner with Fr. Conor McDonough, OP, host of the YouTube series Treasure Ireland, and hear his thoughts on the state of the Faith in modern Ireland. Overnight at our hotel.
Today, we join Fr. Conor for his 7:30 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Galway in The Claddagh, about ten minutes from our hotel. Then we get on the bus to arrive at Gougane Barra, County Cork, for a leisurely drive through County Cork. St. Finbarr built his oratory at Gougane Barra in the 5th Century, and it is where Michael Collins was killed in the 20th. Taking the road from Macroom, we stop at Carrigadrohid Castle on the River Lee, where the Bishop of Ross was hanged by Cromwell’s men. Then we visit Blarney Castle, which was built in 1446 and is famous for its Stone of Eloquence, which bestows the gift of gab on all those who kiss it! We might visit the Castle gardens, which cover sixty acres with a water garden, fern garden and poison garden. We might do some shopping in Blarney: clothing, crystal, linen, pottery, jewelry and more are all available! Our day concludes as we arrive in Cork at The Maldron-Shandon Hotel in the heart of Cork City in time for dinner with overnight at our hotel.
We attend 10 am Mass at the Cathedral of St Mary and St. Anne and enjoy breakfast on our own. Pádraig Cantillon-Murphy will walk with us to Mater Dei Academy, the pioneer independent parent-run classical academy in Ireland. We can sit in on classes and have lunch with students. After lunch we have the choice of free time or sitting in on more classes. Students sing the Office in the Cathedral, and we will join them. After that, we have a choice of walking tours of Cork, seeing the spectacular Homan Chapel at University College Cork. It’s an early dinner in the hotel with a special talk at 6:30 by Dr. Damian Bracken, Senior Lecturer in History at University College Cork, on “Saints, Scholars, and Building Irish Identity.” Dinner will follow, and overnight at our hotel.
After breakfast on our own, we visit the Rock of Cashel, otherwise known as St. Patrick’s Rock. It was the seat of the Kings of Munster, where St. Patrick baptized King Aengus, the first Christian king in Munster. We continue to Maynooth, County Kildare, and see the magnificent College Chapel. If schedules allow, Fr. Neil Xavier O’Donoghue, Director of Liturgical Programs, will celebrate Mass for us and tell us about the history of Ireland’s first post-Reformation seminary. We conclude our day in Dublin at our hotel for dinner and overnight.
Today we are footloose and fancy free in Dublin! We can take a guided tour through Trinity College, the National Museum, and other historic and cultural sites, or we can plot our own course. Municipal Tourbooks will be on offered! This evening, we enjoy a farewell dinner and relax at our hotel and then pack at a leisurely pace.
Our luggage is brought with us to the airport for our flight home.
City History