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HOME AT
FIRST's
Ireland
TRAVEL TO DREAM
DESTINATIONS WITH ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME |
DISCOVER IRELAND'S
• GLENS • HILLS
•
LOUGHS • COASTS • ISLANDS
• RIVERS • VILLAGES
• TOWNS • CITIES
• GOLF COURSES • CASTLES
• MONASTIC RUINS
• PREHISTORIC MONUMENTS •
DISTILLERIES & BREWERIES
• UNIQUE LANDSCAPES
• NATIONAL PARKS • PUBS
• RESTAURANTS •
TRADITIONAL MUSIC & ITS
• FASCINATING, WELCOMING PEOPLE |
ireland is much more
than an emerald isle suspended FROM THE ARCHES OF RAINBOWS. ireland
is a joyous state of mind encouraged by a slower pace and an
appreciation
of the moment at hand. home at first lets you discover the ireland
of your dreams.
pictured is afternoon tea taken at the blue door in adare, central
ireland. |
INTRODUCTION: WHY WE GO TO
IRELAND —
Contradictions,
Contributions, Conversations |
Green as emeralds? White as potatoes? Golden at the rainbow’s end?
Orange in the northeast? Home both to the wee people and the Giants’
Causeway. Ireland is 1/6 part of Britain and 5/6 part of the New Europe.
The Irish economy, still tied to thatched cottage farmsteads, now also
has a hi-tech cottage industry.
Gaelic traditions, British
dominations, and American relations all continue to work their
considerable influence. Social life here revolves at least as much
around the congregation at the pub as around the mob at the church.
Irish sport is best known for racehorses and hurling, but visitors will
remember its excellent fishing, fine walking, and world-class golf.
The contradictions and variety that
make up
the unique Irish temperament are to be seen
everywhere in the Irish culture. Wonderfully, this
special character is best enjoyed in Ireland where the
landscape is as varied and
different and grand as its people.
(For more on this theme, see: ST. PATRICK.) |

ANTIQUES SHOP
CENTRAL IRELAND
Photo ©
Home At
First |
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In our customers' own words—
"We had a wonderful week in Ireland. Out every day
early and back late each night. Our travels to us to the
Cliffs of Moher, The Burren, Kilkenny town, the priory at
Kells, Gowran Park race track, the Silvermine Mountains, and
Dublin. I was in more churches in eight days than I've been
in the last 40 years, and I consumed more Guinness than I
usually drink in 6 months."
— M. Scanlon, Pennsylvania
"Thank
you for the trip of a lifetime!"
— P.
Fitzgerald, Maryland
"Thank you for all your arrangements. We especially
appreciated all the
information you gave us about the area and Irish life. We
have many lovely
memories of the people, who were pleasant and friendly, and
the scenery."
— D.
Sullivan, Colorado |
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HOME AT FIRST
has lodging locations in 4 scenic rural regions of Ireland plus in
apartments in central Dublin:
(CLICK
ON EACH DESTINATION TITLE TO GET FULL TRAVEL PROGRAM DETAILS & PRICES) |
CENTRAL IRELAND
— COUNTIES
TIPPERARY & CLARE —
This is Ireland's heartland, home of our most popular Irish program, in
Counties Tipperary and Clare, the geographic center of the Republic of
Ireland. This central location is ideal for exploring throughout most of
Ireland in a series of day trips from your lodging. Discover a nearly
endless variety of scenery, enjoy a mix of traditional rural and modern
urban cultures,
and experience a wealth of activities and touring adventures here in the
Irish heartland and beyond to three seacoasts and to the border with the
North.
CLICK HERE TO SEE CENTRAL IRELAND PROGRAM
DETAILS
NOTE: For those not wishing to drive
themselves in Ireland, we offer drivers and driver/guides available for
hire at most times of year.
DRIVER/GUIDES AVAILABLE IN IRELAND |
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—
DUNGUAIRE CASTLE
—
One of many castles
within a day-trip
of our cottages in Central Ireland.
Photo ©
Home At
First |
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— O'Neill's Bar & Restaurant
—
Allihies, Co. Cork. Proof that every-
thing in Ireland isn't emerald green,
but every place is always welcoming.
Photo ©
Home At
First |
SOUTHWESTERN IRELAND
— COUNTIES CORK & KERRY — |
Along Ireland's rugged southwestern coastline you find some of the
country's most
varied and dramatic scenery, from the placid bay at Bantry to the
rugged mountains and headlands of the Beara and
Iveragh Peninsulas. Opportunities for golf, hiking, fishing,
touring, and fine eating abound in the southern quarter of the Emerald
Isle. Our County Cork and County Kerry locations are picturesque,
convenient bases for exploring Ireland's south from Blarney Castle to Killarney National Park and the famed touring rings of Kerry and Dingle.
CLICK HERE TO SEE SOUTHERN IRELAND
PROGRAM DETAILS |
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NORTHWESTERN IRELAND
— COUNTIES DONEGAL & SLIGO — |

— NEAR SLIGO,
NW
IRELAND
—
At the end of
a busy day,
there's no place like home.
Photo ©
Home At
First |
The northwest coast offers some of Ireland's most spectacular scenery:
the mountainous coastal peninsulas jutting into the Atlantic. Links
golf, fine fishing, top-notch touring, and excellent eating make this
least visited corner of the Irish Republic an undiscovered treasure. Our
cottages are located near the county towns of Donegal and Sligo,
convenient touring centers for exploring the rugged and rural counties
of Ireland's northwestern quarter — from Galway and Mayo through Sligo to
Donegal and across the border into western Northern Ireland.
CLICK HERE TO SEE
NORTHWESTERN IRELAND PROGRAM DETAILS |
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— THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY —
Northern Ireland's world-class
scenery just down the road from
Home At First's cottages.
Photo ©
Home At
First |
NORTHERN IRELAND
— COUNTIES
ANTRIM & LONDONDERRY — |
There's more remarkable scenery here on the Antrim coast of Northern
Ireland: the rugged shoreline of the Giant's Causeway looking northeast
toward Scotland. As always, challenging links golf, fresh- and saltwater
fishing, touring, and excellent eating are main attractions in this
corner of the Emerald Isle which is part of the United Kingdom. Our
County Antrim & County Londonderry villages
are pretty coastal towns convenient for exploring the far north of
Ireland.
CLICK HERE TO SEE NORTHERN IRELAND
PROGRAM DETAIL |
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DUBLIN CITY
— COUNTY DUBLIN —
Ireland's cultural, political, and population center. Located on the
River Liffey near its mouth with the Irish Sea in east central Ireland,
Dublin is an important port with close proximity and passenger ferries
to Britain. Dublin's airport is the nation's busiest. But then,
everything about Dublin is Ireland's busiest. In a largely rural
country, Dublin houses approximately one-quarter of Ireland's residents.
Chaotic is Dublin's activity; youthful is its age; hip is its attitude.
Nightlife is important, but the bars and pubs are busy during daylight,
too. Literature and theatre are its traditional cultural calling cards,
but music, dance, and higher education draw more popular attention.
Alcohol — particularly Guinness, brewed just south of the Liffey — is as
important as food as a reason for social gathering.
Home At First lodgings in Dublin are
convenient central city apartments on both sides of the Liffey. A car is
a nuisance here. Walking is easy and easily augmented by buses and
trams. |

—
DUBLIN'S
TEMPLE BAR
—
Once Dublin's
edgy center of art, culture, and fashion,
Temple Bar has become a commercial tourist center
built on its former reputation full of expensive
shops, pricey restaurants, and pubs where
visitors go to people watch and to be seen.
Photo © Home At
First |
Our apartments maybe
rented for as few as |
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three days, although a visit to
Dublin may deserve more time. As such, adding a visit to Dublin to a
stay of a week or more at any of the four rural Ireland locations Home
At First offers may be an ideal way to experience both the heartland and
the heartbeat of Ireland.
NOTE:
Contact us to find out more about Dublin lodging locations,
availability, and prices. |
Dare
to
Compare Home At First's
Advantages
in
Ireland! |
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