Ireland: Songs of Wandering

This new tour will trace the history and spirit of the Irish people through story and song, focusing especially on the 20th and 21st centuries. Leader Wendy O’Brien will draw on her professional experience as a philosopher interested in beauty, wonder, and the natural world to help you explore Ireland and its literature more deeply.

We’ll start in Dublin, where through seminar discussions, walking tours, and museum visits, we’ll explore the city so famously described by James Joyce, Brendan Behan, Elizabeth Bowen, and many others. We’ll also dive into Dublin’s excellent theatre scene by attending a production or two and exploring the lively pubs and shops along the River Liffey.

We then head north to Sligo to explore the roots of the Irish Revival, led by W.B. Yeats, and the connections between Irish land, language, and literature. We’ll see the rugged yet lush countryside that Yeats wandered as a boy and take a boat ride on Loch Gile (Lough Gill), the setting for “The Lake Isle of Inisfree.”

Ireland’s extraordinary southwest coast will be our final stop. At Coole Park, we’ll learn about the legacy of Isabella Augusta Persse (Lady Gregory) as a longtime collaborator with Yeats and a fundamental figure in shaping modern Irish writing. In and around our base in County Galway, we’ll hear traditional Irish music, enjoy beautiful vistas over the Atlantic from the Cliffs of Moher, and immerse ourselves in the blend of past and present on the Aran Islands.