USE THIS COMPANY. Little Gem Tours provided every service they promised, and more. Several hotel…read morestaff along the way commented Little Gem is one of only two tour companies they trust and with whom they will work. I asked why. In ease case it was explained to me some tour companies don't actually have rooms reserved. Some tour companies change drivers - if they have one - right in the middle of your ride. Some tours companies do not maintain vehicles. Etc. Little Gem tours is professional. All the details are perfectly set. Their employees are friendly, knowledgeable!! and helpful. Jimmy Mulrooney was our driver for the week. FANTASTIC. But, the star of the program is Rosie Doonie. Rosie is detail oriented and didn't miss a thing. Use Little Gem & enjoy.

My daughters and I just returned from a 12 day tour with Little Gem and the experience was…read moreabsolutely amazing. Dreams came true on this trip and memories that will last forever. Wonderful tour guides Robbie and Joe were a wealth of knowledge and humor. We had a list of things we wanted to see, but then they filled in the gaps with lots of other fantastic experiences. Loved all of our accommodations and the food was so delicious....especially the dairy products and ice cream. We traveled the back roads and saw scenery that you just have a hard time describing. Thanks to all of you who worked wonders to make our trip so special!! Kerry K., Nicole A, & Michelle S.

For our large family trip to Ireland, which included 22 people, ( 13 adults and 9 children) we…read morechose to use Butlers private bus tours. We started in Dublin made our way to Waterford, Cork, Limerick to Galway and back to Dublin. The Butler's bus was comfortable, spacious, and provided ample seating for everyone to spread out. Our drivers name was Peadar Homan, and he was an absolute delight. He was friendly and extremely knowledgeable on the history of Ireland, the people, the culture, and it's architecture. He was very professional, punctual, willing to work with our special requests, and provided recommendations for the group. Often times going out of his way to help make our trip seamless and enjoyable. Our family tour of Southern Ireland was amazing and memorable.The family is in agreement that Peadar definitely added to the overall experience. Would highly recommend using Butler's tours for your travel needs and if possible requesting Peadar Homan as your driver.

The company claims to be cruise friendly…read more I notified them a day in advance that our cruise was in a storm and we would not be arriving within a reasonable time of the tour. The company refused to cancel the tour, citing their cruise policy only applies if the cruise does not disembark at all. With their refusal to cancel and no reduced fee for the tour, despite the fact it was a 3 hour tour instead of the day trip planned, going to none of the stops that were on the itinerary, I can confidently state this is not a cruise friendly company, nor a customer oriented one. Although it isn't the guides fault (or ours), our guide took us to a little town where virtually everything is closed. A reputable tour company does not do this. Everyone knows that a good tour company is one that understands a win-win is possible in these circumstances (more than one win-win option available in these circumstances), but greed took over for Butlers. Highly avoid!

Wonderful museum. It is in the smaller side and a bit dark but it feels cozy somehow…read more The exhibitions tell a story of the history of Ireland. I wanted to visit to view the big bodies and I was not disappointed. They also had hordes of gold in display which were surrounded by beautiful jewelry. The museum is free.

My sons and I loved this museum. The building itself is gorgeous inside with hand carved wooden…read moredoors and amazing inlayed mosaic floors. The Bog bodies was my favorite exhibit. I didn't include images of the bodies on display since some people might find them too disturbing, but I did include one of the descriptions on what was found at a site. Lots of beautiful gold jewelry and iron weaponry as well. Admission is free, and we spent about 2 hours here.

My first visit to Carlingford, in August 2017, was for a friends birthday. A crowd of us rented a…read morehouse and spent a couple of nights there. Not only is Carlingford a beautiful little village filled with flowers, cobbled streets and medieval castles/ architecture, it's also located beside a stunning lough. We booked our accommodation, a mystery cocktail tour and an evening meal through Visit Carlingford. Everything was organised perfectly and this made our trip completely stress free and enjoyable. An excellent weekend.

From the owner: Visit Carlingford is an online information hub for people coming to the Carlingford Area. We have…read moreeverything you need from Accommodation to Activities we have it all covered. We sell customized package to suit any group like Hen or Stay Party, Sport Team Bonding Weekend, Golf Getaway, Family Break or a Couple coming to Carlingford. You can also build your own. We work with the businesses of the area to give the costumer the best package deal available. Contact us today.

Absolutely fascinating, powerful, and educational. I believe you can just arrange a visit yourself…read moreif you're driving but we weren't so we took Mary's tour here (and to Knowth and Hill of Tara). Mary herself is an incredible source of knowledge so the ride up and back was full of cool information. The bus trip was easy and comfortable though just an fyi there are no restrooms on board. Once we arrived our small group had a reasonable amount of time to spend walking through the visitors center and learning more about the tombs and history before hopping another short shuttle ride to Knowth first. The guide at Knowth was very helpful, thorough and interesting. You can't enter these tombs but I really enjoyed walking around the site and taking it all in. There's plenty to see and some beautiful views on a clear day. The visitors center is very well done... don't miss it. I almost wished we had just a little more time, like 15 minutes, to be honest. It's chock full of information. There are restrooms and they have a small gift shop and there won't be an opportunity to return (at least if you're on Mary's tour there won't be) so if you'd like a keepsake be sure to purchase it first. After Knowth it's back on the shuttle and out to Newgrange itself where small groups can go in with one of the very helpful and friendly guides. I thought for sure I would get claustrophobic but I had no trouble at all. All in all it was absolutely mesmerizing. 10000/10000 would go again.

So the way that I travel, I like to rent a car and just drive around with my partner. The best way…read moreto experience a new country is just to live like everybody there. So as we were driving along, we found this beautiful park drove into and really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. There's a beautiful walkway that takes you down to this building. As we open the doors, there's a greeter and I asked her a little bit about what this whole experiences and she didn't really have much information to give me. So I said why not let's go ahead and see what we got ourselves into. There is a beautiful museum and there is a beautiful café with lots of different treats and sandwiches and entrées. There's also a gift shop that has really great gifts that you could give to family and friends a couple of the items we got were a wishing Stone and a worry stone. The experience did not stop there, you have to walk down this beautiful pathway where everything is green and luscious and you get to a bus stop. The bus comes and takes you down this roadway that leads you to what we found out was a tomb. It was a surprise to us that we found out that this tomb was actually one of the oldest tombs in the world, even older than the Egyptians. As we get to the property, we see a beautiful architectural, severe round building with one little small entrance. The entrance to the tomb is narrow but a large man can still fit through it to see the experience. As we come to find out, it was a tomb, possibly from a rich family and Ireland that controlled most of the land. The family had incest to keep the power within. All of these are possibilities they do not know because of how old this is. Once in the tomb, you get to see that there are three burial plots, and there's a light experience to show that once a year the sun hits a certain way and lightslights the tomb up for a period of time. After you're done with that, you get back on the bus and they take you back to the museum area where you can go ahead and have lunch or you can be done with experience altogether. This all lasted maybe an hour or two and really gave us something to do when we did not have anything planned. This whole experience cost us about $26 and was pretty nice and learned something new that I did not know before.

Its a easy experience to go through, beautiful castle with free lockers to store backpacks.read more

Dublin Castle was originally built in the early 1200s as a medieval fortress under the instruction…read moreof King John of England. For centuries, it was the headquarters of English (and eventually British) rule in Ireland. In 1684, a large fire destroyed a large portion of the castle. Instead of matching the original Gothic style, most of it was rebuilt using a Georgian style, similar to what you'd find in the French Palace of Versailles! It's quite the contrast. When you visit Dublin Castle, you can choose to explore it in two ways: with a self-guided tour to the state apartments or with a scheduled guided tour that visits the Viking Excavation, the Chapel Royal, and the State Apartments. When you first enter the courtyard, you'll immediately see the newer Georgian architecture in the neat red brick buildings surrounding the square. From the 13th century to the early 20th century, the castle was under British control. It served from being a royal palace and parliament to a prison. Dublin Castle was eventually handed over to General Michael Collins on the 16th of January in 1922. Collins was a soldier and a politician who lead the Irish people through their fight for Independence Dublin Castle plays a huge role in Ireland's history and a walk around the grounds is time well spent. Today the castle is a government complex and tourist attraction. Stroll through the famous Chester Beatty Library if time permits

Dermot O'Conner was FANTASTIC! 6 of us traveled to Ireland August 14 - 26 where our driver Dermot…read moreO'Conner met us at the Dublin Airport to start our fabulous vacation through South Ireland! He was more than we ever could have expected! His love for Ireland and his thirst for his country's history gave us an experience above and beyond all others! He took us to places we would never have known of. The Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance to honor the NYFD firefighters from 911 is just one of many. He shared the history and culture of Ireland and even got us on a ballfield to learn a wee bit about hurling! We will always remember Dermot for his genuine kindness and love. I hope he's available for your booking! You won't be sorry!

So glad that we booked a driving tour with Dermot O'Connor at Turas Eireann! We spent five lovely…read moredays in towns, villages, and countryside from Dublin to Galway, and back again. Relaxed and excited - small tour coach for up to ten (10) people, and the small vehicle, while not little, afforded access to so many places that the double deckers cannot handle. Dermot O'Connor (Owner) is well versed in the history and geography of Ireland, and shared information about every site that we visited. He is witty and funny, and so professional and honest. Our trip to Ireland would not have had the depth of experience nor the fun and magic if we had opted for a larger tour, or driven ourselves. There is just no way that we could have packed our time with all the sites and places we went to, and enjoyed so much in a relaxed tour with a gifted tour guide and driver. Email Dermot and book your trip - you will be happy you did! We sure are!!

Great way to see all of Boyne Valley! Michael was knowleageble and planned the whole day…read morebeautifully.

This was my first trip to Ireland and I kicked it off with a tour of Boyne Valley. It was…read moreincredible to see the historic sites. Michael was a great guide. I look forward to my next visit and booking a tour with him to see more of the country. I highly recommend this company.