THIN PLACES Tour of Western Ireland

September 8-16

8 days – 20 major sites -land pkg. $1690

Travelers will follow a Maryland writer on a pilgrim’s tour of spiritual transformation, visiting mystical sites in Ireland where the veil between this world and eternal world is “thin.”

The tour focuses on Western Ireland including Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon, Fermanagh, Clare with an optional tour of the Aran Islands, and will include stone circles, sacred hills, castles, abbey ruins, passage tombs and holy mountains.

Author and expert on mystical places, Mindie Burgoyne will guide travelers on an eight-day journey to thin places in Ireland from September 8 – 16, 2012. The group will traverse eight counties visiting twenty sacred sites where they’ll experience the spiritual energy of places where the veil between this world and the Otherworld is thin. As a bonus, the tour will stay at least two nights in three popular Irish towns – Galway, Sligo and Westport which allows for a taste of Irish culture along with the spiritual experience.

Mystical sites in Ireland have been referred to as “thin places.”



This short video shows places on the tour. Mindie Burgoyne offers commentary on the thin places concept.

More videos on Thin Places featured on the Travel Hag Video Channel.

Thin places are those places where the veil between the physical world and the eternal world is thin. The two worlds intersect or seem woven together.

Not Affiliated With Any Particular Religion

The tour is not targeted to travelers of any particular religion. All faiths are welcomed. At each sacred site tour guests will learn about its history, learn about its legend of spiritual power, and contemplate what that means in today’s world. Burgoyne will offer hints on how to notice signs and symbols along the way and interpret their meanings, how to journal as a means of continued spiritual growth after the tour is over, and how to sense the mingling of two worlds and how that connection helps the human spirit listen better to the Divine voice.

“These tours are not about piling into a bus and stopping to see some standing stones and abbey ruins,” states Burgoyne. “Our tours are about becoming an image in an ancient landscape and traveling within the context of a story. At the end of our tours, guests feel a spiritual transformation.”

On March 9, 2012 the New York Times published an article on the thin places concept. Best-selling author Eric Weiner who wrote The Geography of Bliss, wrote and article for the Travel section entitled Where Heaven and Earth Come Closer. Weiner makes a case for travel with purpose and travel with the intent to exercise the spirit as a means to finding happiness.

About the Tour Guide

Mindie Burgoyne, a Maryland author and travel writer, has been traveling to Ireland researching thin places for twenty years. She is the author of several books including Haunted Eastern Shore: Ghostly Tales from East of the Chesapeake published by the History Press, 2009. She has a successful blog on thin places and a travel blog called the Travel Hag. Her writing and photographs have been published by CBS News, National Geographic Television Network, the Vancouver Sun, MDBiz Media and Maryland Tourism website. She is currently writing Thin Places: Irish Gateways to the Otherworld, due to be published in 2013

IRELAND TOUR ITINERARY DETAILS

ITINERARY FOR THE 2012 TOUR – Sligo sites include Knocknarae (the burial place of Queen Maeve of Connaught) and Carrowmore megalithic cemetery, followed by a tour of the ancient royal sites at Rathcroghan in Co. Roscommon. An optional trip to Caldragh Cemetery in County Fermanagh to see the famous Janus figure is included as are the Knock Shrine, Ballintubber Abbey, Croagh Patrick and Murrisk Abbey in County Mayo. Guests will take a scenic drive on the Sky Road around the Twelve Bens and through the hills of Connemara and visit the seaside town of Clifden. The Burren, Lady Gregory’s Coole Park and the castle home of W.B. Yeats – Thoor Ballylee are also on the tour.

Complete itinerary is posted on the Thin Places Tour Itinerary.

EXPERT TOUR GUIDES



Mindie Burgoyne will be with the tour from start to finish. She is an expert on mystical and sacred sites in Ireland, having researched thin places for over a decade and traveled thousands of miles across Ireland doing conducting the research.

Mike Croghan will lead the tour of Rathcroghan in Tulsk, Co. Roscommon. Rathcroghan is a complex of ancient royal sites used for burial, coronations and other community rituals. Mike is native to the area and an expert on the history of the complex.

COST – $1690

Cost is $1690 (based on double occupancy), and is for the land only. It includes lodging in 3 star hotels, breakfasts, four dinners, transportation, admission costs, and some private guides. Scroll through the posts on this blog site to see more about the sites on the tour.

DISCOUNTS

$50 per person for paying by check or money order

$50 for Thin Place Tour alums (those who went on previous thin places tours)

ITINERARY DETAILS – Check the itinerary to see expanded tour details. Space is limited to 25 so reserve your spot soon.

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

8 nights in premiere town-center hotels (3* all w/ private baths)

Double, Triple & Single Occupancy available

All hotel taxes/fees

Airport Transfers to/from city centers while in Ireland

Transportation via luxury coach between towns & for daily touring

Traditional full Irish breakfast every morning

Full time host & guide – Mindie Burgoyne

Additional Expert Guide for Tulsk Sites- Mike Croghan (Rath Croghan)

Emergency Local Contact available 24/7

Daily Private Tours of Thin Places to include sights listed below.

Hill of Uisneach – County Westmeath

Fore Abbey – The Seven Wonders of Fore

Sligo Town

Carrowmore Megalithic Cemetery – County Sligo

Knocknarae – Tomb of Queen Maeve

Drumcliff Cemetery

Keshcorran

Rathcroghan – County Roscommon

Boa Island – Caldragh Cemetery, – County Fermangh (Northern Ireland)

Drumskinny Stone Circle – County Fermanagh

Knock Shrine – County Mayo

Ballintubber Abbey – County Mayo

Town of Westport – County Mayo

Croagh Patrick, County Mayo

Murrisk Abbey – County Mayo

National Famine Memorial – County Mayo

Galway City

Sky Road Drive through Connemara

Town of Clifden (seaside)

The Burren – Poulnabrone Dolmen – Corcomroe Abbey

Thoor Ballylee, County Galway

Coole Park – County Galway

MAKE YOUR RESERVATION TODAY.



$500 per person deposit needed to reserve your spot. Final balance due to be paid by August 1, 2012.

To book your reservation go to the Reservations page and download the registration form. Tour is being facilitated by Harrigan Holidays.

Still have questions? Email Mindie at mindie@travelhag.com