Your Host
Fr. John Grace
Catholic Priest
Fr. John Grace is accompanying this pilgrimage to help lead the group in prayer, fellowship, and thoughtful engagement with each traveler.
★ Hosted by Fr. John Grace
Catholic Pilgrimage · 11 Days · Ireland
The Celtic Way: A Journey of Faith with Fr. John Grace
Join Fr. John Grace on a pilgrimage to Ireland. This trip will visit Dublin, Our Lady of Knock, Galway, Cork, the Rock of Cashel and more!
The Pilgrimage
Walk in the Footsteps of Faith
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Know Before You Go
What's included
✓ Included
- ✓Round-trip coach-class group airfare from Norfolk to Dublin
- ✓Airport taxes and fuel surcharges (subject to change until ticketing)
- ✓First-class hotel accommodations for 9 nights
- ✓Daily buffet breakfast at the hotel
- ✓4 hotel dinners (beverages not included; available for purchase)
- ✓Farewell dinner at a local restaurant, including half a bottle of wine per person
- ✓Tea and Scones
- ✓Medieval Dinner with drinks
- ✓English-speaking Irish Driver/Guide Tour Manager
- ✓Select’s Unique Feature: Meet the Irish in the Burren and Cobh
- ✓All transfers via private, air-conditioned motor coach as per itinerary
- ✓All visits and entrance fees as per the itinerary
- ✓Baggage handling at hotels
- ✓Daily private Mass and spiritual program (confirmed)
- ✓Stella Pelegrina Pilgrim Formation Course
- ✓Whisper sets
- ✓Select International Tours travel portfolio
× Not included
- ×Personal expenses incurred during the trip
- ×Trip Protection & Medical Insurance (strongly recommended; see Travel Protection section)
- ×Tipping/gratuities for guides, drivers, and wait staff (suggested amounts provided with final documents)
- ×Beverages at meals (unless noted above)
- ×Church donations: approximately $3–$5 per person, per Mass
- ×Airport transfers for land-only passengers (unless arriving before or with the group)
- ×Airline seat assignments and flight precheck-in fees
- ×Government-imposed destination charges
- ×Country-specific visa fees (unless noted in inclusions)
- ×Electronic Travel Authorization fees (ETIAS) if applicable
- ×Airline baggage charges
- ×Baggage handling at the airports and hotels is limited to one suitcase per person.
- ×Any charges incurred due to excessive luggage, including the cost of an additional baggage vehicle or porterage charges.
See the official trip information for gratuities, shipping and handling, payment fees, and any optional-extension charges.
Day by Day
Your pilgrimage, mapped out
Tap any day to explore. Meals: B breakfast · L lunch · D dinner.
Day 1May 11, 2027
DEPART NORFOLK FOR IRELAND
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Our pilgrimage to the Emerald Isle begins today as we depart Norfolk on an overnight flight to Dublin. We gather with anticipation and open hearts, knowing that Ireland has nurtured the faith of countless saints and kept the light of Christianity burning through centuries of trial. Dinner and breakfast will be served on the flight. Add-on flights, premium economy, and business class fares are available upon request and are quoted once we are within 120 days of departure. As we work with group rates, we are unable to request specific seats or seat locations on the flight. If this is an important feature of your trip, please book your own airfare and reserve the land-only option with us. Your account manager, Jane Allison, will be happy to assist.
Day 2May 12, 2027
ARRIVAL IN DUBLIN – ATHLONE – KNOCK
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We arrive in Dublin this morning and are warmly greeted at the airport by our Irish Driver/Guide, who will accompany us throughout the entire journey. After clearing customs, we board our motorcoach and make our way west into the heart of Ireland. Our first stop is the lovely town of Athlone, where we have lunch and time to walk around and stretch our legs. We celebrate Mass this afternoon, giving thanks for our safe arrival and entrusting our pilgrimage to the Lord. We then continue to our hotel in Knock. Dinner and overnight in Knock. Meals: D
D
Day 3May 13, 2027
OUR LADY OF KNOCK – GALWAY
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After a hearty Irish breakfast, we depart for one of the most sacred destinations on our pilgrimage, the Shrine of Our Lady of Knock. On the evening of August 21, 1879, Our Lady appeared at the south gable of the parish church along with St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, and the Lamb of God upon an altar, witnessed by fifteen townspeople of all ages. We celebrate Mass at this beloved Marian shrine, pray a decade of the Rosary together, and have time for quiet reflection and veneration. Leaving Knock, we drive through the breathtaking scenery of Connemara (wild bogs, shimmering lakes, and the ancient Twelve Bens mountains), arriving in Galway in the afternoon. We settle into our hotel, which will be our home for the next two nights. After dinner at the hotel, we invite you to explore Galway’s famous pubs and listen to the lilting traditional Irish music that fills the city’s lanes after dark. Overnight in Galway. Meals: B, D
BD
Day 4May 14, 2027
GALWAY – KYLEMORE ABBEY – DAY OF REST AND DISCOVERY
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We begin this morning with Mass at Kylemore Abbey, gathering in prayer as a community before a day of gentle discovery. Today is intentionally unhurried, a gift of time in one of Ireland’s most beloved cities. Explore the ancient Abbey, stroll through the gardens, and enjoy tea with scones in the restaurant. In the afternoon, we return to Galway. Stroll the medieval lanes of the Latin Quarter, browse the artisan shops along Shop Street, or simply sit by the River Corrib and watch the city breathe. This evening, dinner is at leisure among Galway’s many fine restaurants and many pubs that offer traditional Irish food and music. Overnight in Galway. Meals: B, Tea and scones
B
Day 5May 15, 2027
THE BURREN – MEET THE IRISH – CLIFFS OF MOHER – LIMERICK
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We celebrate Mass in Galway this morning before heading south along the Atlantic coastline toward one of Ireland’s most dramatic landscapes. Our first stop is the Burren, a vast limestone plateau that has sheltered Neolithic burial chambers, early Christian oratories, and rare wildflowers. A place where deep time and faith intersect beneath an open sky. We meet an Irish storyteller at his house, one of the highlights of our trip as he regails us with stories and music. We continue to the majestic Cliffs of Moher, rising over 700 feet above the churning Atlantic. From the Cliffs, we make our way to Limerick and check into our hotel for one night. After a brief rest and an opportunity to freshen up, we conclude our day with a thoroughly entertaining medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle consisting of costumed hosts, a four-course feast, and the music and merriment of a 15th-century Irish court. Following the show, the legendary Durty Nelly’s pub next door awaits those who wish to raise a glass in the oldest pub in Ireland. Overnight in Limerick. Meals: B, Special Medieval Dinner
BD
Day 6May 16, 2027
LIMERICK – CORK – JAMESON DISTILLERY
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This morning we depart Limerick and drive south to the lively city of Cork, where we join the local congregation to celebrate Sunday Mass together. Cork, set on an island between two channels of the River Lee, has been a center of faith and commerce since St. Finbarr founded his monastery here in the 7th century. After Mass, we make our way to Jameson Distillery Midleton, where we enjoy both an indoor and outdoor guided experience through the vast distillery complex, home to the largest pot still in the world. We learn how Irish and Scottish whiskeys differ, admire the maturing barrels laid in the ancient warehouses, and enjoy a well-earned tasting. This evening, dinner is at leisure in Cork, giving an opportunity to explore the local restaurant scene in this warm and welcoming city. Overnight in Cork, our home for the next two nights. Meals: B
B
Day 7May 17, 2027
COBH – MEET THE IRISH: ST. COLMAN’S CATHEDRAL
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After breakfast, we drive to the coastal town of Cobh, once the last port of call for many ships carrying Irish emigrants to America, including the ill-fated RMS Titanic and the torpedoed RMS Lusitania. We meet a local historian who takes us to the Cobh Heritage Center for a moving ‘Walk in the Footsteps of Our Irish Ancestors’ tour, where the personal stories of millions who left this harbor for a new life bring history to life in a profoundly human way. We celebrate Mass in the magnificent St. Colman’s Cathedral, whose neo-Gothic spire soars over the harbor and whose carillon of 49 bells is the largest in Ireland, a fitting place to pray for all those who carried their faith across the sea. We return to Cork for dinner at the hotel and our second overnight. Meals: B, D
BD
Day 8May 18, 2027
BLARNEY – ROCK OF CASHEL – KILDARE
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This morning we bid farewell to Cork and set out on a rich day’s journey northward. Our first stop is the legendary Blarney Castle, where the brave among us may lean back over the castle’s battlements to kiss the famous Blarney Stone and acquire, so the legend promises, the gift of eloquent speech. The Woolen Mills beside the castle offer wonderful shopping for traditional Irish gifts, tweeds, and crystal. We then continue to the Rock of Cashel, one of Ireland’s most spectacular and romantic medieval sites. This dramatic limestone outcrop, rising from the Tipperary plain, bears the ruins of a 12th-century cathedral, a round tower, and Cormac’s Chapel, and was the seat of the Kings of Munster for centuries. We celebrate Mass before arriving in Kildare, where we visit both St. Brigid’s Cathedral, built on the site of the double monastery founded by Ireland’s beloved patroness in the 5th century, and the elegant Round Tower beside it. We have time to explore this charming cathedral town before settling into our hotel. Dinner and overnight in Kildare. Meals: B, D
BD
Day 9May 19, 2027
GLENDALOUGH – DUBLIN
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After breakfast, we drive into the Wicklow Mountains to visit the ancient monastic city of Glendalough, known as “the Valley of the Two Lakes.” Here in the 6th century, St. Kevin withdrew in search of solitude only to find, as so many desert fathers discovered, that his holiness drew others to him. From this quiet valley, he built a community of prayer that grew into one of the great centers of learning in medieval Europe, earning the title ‘Rome of the West.’ Our guide leads us through the site, where we marvel at the soaring Round Tower, the ruins of the Cathedral, and St. Kevin’s Kitchen, a small stone oratory surrounded by mossy graves that has stood for over a thousand years. We pray together at St. Joseph’s Church, giving thanks for the extraordinary inheritance of Irish monastic faith that shaped the Western Church. From Glendalough, we drive to Dublin, checking into our hotel for the final two nights. The afternoon and evening are at leisure. We suggest a stroll through the Temple Bar district or along the banks of the Liffey. Overnight in Dublin. Meals: B
B
Day 10May 20, 2027
DUBLIN – CITY DAY AND FAREWELL DINNER
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Our last full day begins with a beautiful morning Mass at St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral on Marlborough Street, the principal Catholic church of the Archdiocese of Dublin and the seat of the Archbishop. After Mass, we board our motorcoach for a panoramic tour of Dublin, passing Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Four Courts, Phoenix Park, and the grand Georgian squares that give the ‘Fair City’ its distinctive character. We visit Trinity College and the iconic Guinness Storehouse at the St. James’s Gate Brewery, learning the remarkable story of Arthur Guinness and Ireland’s most famous export before toasting with a pint in the Gravity Bar with its panoramic view over the city skyline. This evening we gather for a festive farewell dinner with live Irish music and dancing, raising a glass of gratitude for ten unforgettable days on this sacred and storied island. Overnight in Dublin. Meals: B, Special Farewell Dinner
BD
Day 11May 21, 2027
DEPART DUBLIN FOR HOME
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After a final Irish breakfast, we transfer to Dublin Airport for our return flight to Norfolk. We carry home the memories of ancient monasteries and soaring cathedrals, of miraculous shrines and rolling green hills, of the warmth of the Irish people and the deep faith that has sustained them for fifteen centuries. Today marks the close of our pilgrimage, not an ending, but a beginning, as we bring the graces of these holy days back to our families, our parishes, and our lives. Meals: B
B
Pricing
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Base Price
$4,195per person
Base Price. Main trip package.
Base Price and Group Air from Norfolk
$4,895per person
Base Price and Group Air from Norfolk. Main trip package.
Solo Room (Additional Charge)
$1,095additional
Solo Room (Additional Charge). Additional supplement.
ETA Required
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Deposit
A deposit of $500.00 per person should accompany your registration by January 31, 2027.Final Payment
Final payment is due by March 12, 2027.Passport Validity
Your passport must be valid through November 21, 2027.Pilgrimage Information
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