If you had a sudden windfall and could take that long wished for trip to Ireland what would you do?
Are there tours that would get you into sessions that you could actually play in? Would you book around a festival or Tional and if so which one? What if you wanted to do Shetland too?
Any suggestions?
I’d certainly take the pocket book, ‘The Rough Guide to Irish Music’, as it lists sessions, festivals and summer schools all across the country.
WCSS is a must eh?
Summer has its own ups (great festivals, ‘best’ weather) and downs (crowds, tour crowds, lousy weather).
For my money, your money goes further in off-peak times, basically when school is in session. The weather is OK and there are very nice festivals without the tourist crowds - sort of like the way the big festivals like Willie Week started out. Also, if you wanted help with playing, it is easy to contact someone for some private lessons.
It is easy to get to the Shetlands on your own without pre-booking.
The best “summer day” I ever spent in Ireland was in rambling around in Connemara in mid February. Ahhhhhh…lovely.
[apologies to Mark Twain]
Hi Baglady
If you are going to Shetland then why not take in the folk festival as well.
http://www.shetlandfolkfestival.com/
David
Go at an off peak time if possible. It’s much cheaper, you can find rooms more easily in great places for less money, and you don’t have to deal with the crowds.
If you go towards the very end of tourist season, you can even get to some of the parks that close (like Cragganowen and such) later in the year. Two of my best trips were in March and October. My least favourite trip was in late August/early September.
Bring the reference book, but do not forget to use your best resource: Your B&B/inkeeper. They will likely know where all the good music is and if you can play or not. Other good resources include asking around in town. I’ve encountered very few unfriendly people in Ireland and most of those were tourists (Oh the stories I could tell about American tourists in Ireland). So don’t be shy.
I’d reccomend NOT doing a tour, unless you think you couldn’t stand driving around on the other side of the road. Part of the magic is driving around the countryside, following tiny roads and finding the small towns that the tour bus would just blow-by. You’ll find some of your best music there if you’re lucky or if you ask around enough to draw out the musicians in town.
I’d suggest skipping Dublin if you’re looking for the smaller town experience. Fly into Shannon, stay in Galway for a while then drive into the NW. Or if you want some natural beauty and don’t mind the tourist-bend, go down to Killarney Nat’l Park, then drive back up into the NW.
A good place to stay just outside of Galway is Cregg Castle. The owner plays pipes very, very well and his wife plays Bodhran. They also know where all the sessions are locally and who’s playing where.
Feel free to email me for more.
Dionys
Definitely skip the tour stuff unless you’re very ancient. Fly to Cork and just stay there for 2-3 weeks. Better to stay in one place and get to know it, than to gad about all over the place. Or head down to Dingle/Ballyferriter and stay there for as long as you can. Lots of music/sessions to listen to in both Cork and the Dingle area. I don’t know if you are a beginner or an experienced musician but I’m sure you find a place to play somewhere and it’s easy to meet people, no problem if you’re laid back, show respect, and don’t just barge in. If you’re on a budget then there is a good campsite in Dingle itself and one out at the Oratory near Ballyferriter. In Cork there is a decent hostel that’s cheap.
Can’t wait till the summer to get down the west coast!! 
If I had a couple thousand dollers lying around, then I’d buy a Gallagher half set. 
Andreas
I did a tour of Ireland just last week - a Google Earth tour
(BTW, don’t ever accidently type goggle when trying to go to Google, you’ll spend hours trying to get out again).
Then I went to New York, Richmond VA (my place of birth), Jakarta (where I’m going to live and work for three years this coming July) etc…
DavidG
When you go to Jakarta, check out the Gamelan music. I’ve played for over 15 years now with one group. You’ll likely love it.
Dionys
Yep, I met my wife when living in Central Java at Gamelan rehearsals. She used to help me with the tricky bits - which was everything as a complete novice 
Cheers,
DavidG