Heritage Chorale - Concert Tour 2015

The Heritage Chorale’s concert tour to Ireland (June 29 - July 6, 2015) covered a large part of this fascinating country, from Galway to Derry to Dublin. We sang concerts in all three cities (plus two shorter singing appearances), while enjoying the many sights and learning about Irish history and culture.

After arriving at Shannon Airport, we met our excellent tour guide Gerry Ronayne and traveled up the western coast of Ireland. We viewed the spectacular Cliffs of Moher and the rocky Burren region before arriving at Galway. The next day we drove through Connemara and visited the impressive Kylemore Abbey, where we sang a few selections in the chapel. Our first full concert took place later that afternoon at St. Nicholas Collegiate Church in Galway City. This was followed by opportunities for dinner and pub-visiting along Quay Street.

Our bus took us northward through Counties Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal to Derry (also known as Londonderry), where we stayed for two days. Derry is in Northern Ireland,
part of the UK, but there was no indication of crossing any national borders. Our concert performance was in St. Columb's Cathedral, a beautiful Gothic church built in 1633. We toured the historic city walls, learned about the Seige of Derry and the long history of Catholic/Protestant "troubles" in Northern Ireland, and viewed the moving murals of Bloody Sunday in the Bogside district.

A long rainy bus ride took us to Dublin, the thriving capital of Ireland, where we visited Trinity College to see the gloriously-illustrated medieval Book of Kells. This was followed by our concert at St. Ann's Church on July 4, including singing of "America the Beautiful" in honor of Independence Day. The next day we traveled to the Glendalough monastery in County Wicklow, and sang at Sunday Mass in St. Kevin's Church where John played the organ and Darryl conducted.

The farewell dinner, a highlight of our tour of Ireland, took place at the Merry Ploughboy Irish Pub, where we enjoyed a final night of socializing with an excellent dinner and entertainment by an Irish band and Irish dancers.