9 Night Woollinn Adventure, Dublin, Cavan, Derry & Donegal

Your yarn festival tour begins in Dublin! Entrance fees are included for you to explore the Woollinn yarn festival at your leisure.  The pass included with this tour will grant you entrance to the marketplace and all connected "bonus" events such as demonstrations, displays and social get-togethers. You will also be given a special 10% discount that can be deducted from any three-hour workshop that you would like to book at the festival. Please note that workshops at Woollinn are not included in this package and we cannot book people into workshops, we will provide you with the information on how to book directly with the organisers as soon as this information is available to us.  Please note, spaces at the workshops are available on a first-come first-served basis and neither Irish Tourism or Woollinn can be responsible if you do not manage to secure a place at your chosen workshop. Please book your classes directly on the Woollinn website http://woollinn.com/

For non-knitters or those that want to do some Dublin sightseeing today, there will be an optional tour of Dublin included. At 1pm, meet at Hotel reception and begin your sightseeing with a panoramic tour of Dublin City. Visit the National Museum of Archaeology where you can discover gold, bog bodies, ceramics, glass, Viking artefacts as well many other archaeological objects found in Ireland!  The museum contains artefacts ranging in date from 7000 B.C. to the late medieval period and beyond. Return to your hotel in time for dinner which includes a sit-down meal and entertainment, with some of the Woollinn Special Guests in attendance! Dinner will be included for knitters and non-knitters. Overnight in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.

For those that want to spend another day at Woollinn, the option is there for you. Otherwise there will be return transfers to/from Dublin included so that you can do your own personal sightseeing. Overnight in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.

This morning meet with Carol Feller for an exclusive three hour workshop. Carol’s popular class on Short Rows shows students several different ways of crafting short rows until they find the method that perfectly suits them. Once short rows are perfected you will explore new ways of incorporating them into your work! After time for lunch on your own, we will take a tour - visiting Russborough House & Glendalough. Russborough House is a stately home located near Blessington Lakes in County Wicklow and is believed to be the longest house in Ireland, with a frontage measuring 210 metres. It is an excellent example of Palladian style contruction, designed by Richard Cassels for Joseph Leeson, 1st Earl of Milltown and built between 1741 and 1755. We will tour the house and then there will be time for you to walk around its pretty gardens and perhaps visit one or two of the local craftspeople working out of the west courtyard. After your visit to Russborough we take a quick trip to Glendalough a glacial valley located a short distance from Russborough and renowned for both its Medieval monastic settlement and stunning mountain vistas. Overnight in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Bed & Breakfast included.

Leaving Dublin, we travel to Drogheda to meet Aine Dunne a tapestry weaver and artist, resident and working from the Boyne Valley. With Aine and her team, you will enjoy a tapestry workshop and try your hand at weaving a sample piece on a four-sided tapestry frame loom. During your time with Aine you will gain insight into her designs, weaving methods and work schedule. Today, we will also meet Jess from Olann.ie who produces beautiful hand dyed yarn from her hub in Cavan for a short dyeing demonstration. For non-knitters we will arrange a trip to nearby Drogheda where places of interest include Oliver Plunketts Head at St. Peter's Church! After lunch nearby (included), we will all head off to tour the Boyne Valley. The Boyne Valley is one of Ireland’s most historic regions. We will enjoy a guided tour of Old Mellifont Abbey the first Cistercian monastery in Ireland, founded in 1142 by Saint Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh. In 1603 the famous Treaty of Mellifont was signed at Mellifont Abbey between the English Crown and Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. Overnight in Cavan, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.  

Today we visit Sandra at Crafts of Ireland for some craft activities. Non-knitters or those that prefer to do some touring can do some additional Boyne Valley sightseeing. The group at Crafts of Ireland will learn how to Crochet a traditional Irish Rose motif that often adorns Irish knitwear, see a spinning demonstration as well as a sock knitting demonstration on an antique sock knitting machine. For non-knitters we will arrange a trip to the heritage town of Trim and a tour of Trim Castle. After the craft workshops continue to your hotel in Cavan for some leisure time. Overnight in Cavan, Bed & Breakfast included.

Set off early, traveling along the Northwest coastline to Belleek Pottery Centre, stopping along the way at the Butter Market in Enniskillen where the early 19th century butter market buildings have been beautifully restored and house such diverse crafts as pottery and knitwear. At Belleek Pottery Centre, take a guided tour takes you through all aspects of pottery production which has been in business since the early 1800’s. Continue to Donegal where time will be allowed for you to have lunch on your own or simply walk around town.  The County of Donegal is largely an Irish-speaking region. The landscape is strewn with castles and ancient ruins and it is characterised by rugged coastline and imposing mountains such as the quartzite Mount Errigal and stunning Derryveagh. In the afternoon we will visit Donegal Castle, the castle consists of a 15th-century rectangular keep with a later Jacobean style wing. The castle was the stronghold of the O'Donnell clan, Lords of Tír Conaill and one of the most powerful Gaelic families in Ireland from the 5th to the 16th centuries. Overnight in Donegal, Bed & Breakfast included.

Today your textile tour of Donegal begins in earnest with a visit to Studio Donegal, a hand-weaving and clothing manufacturing business dedicated to preserving and promoting traditional Irish hand-weaving. Donegal Yarn’s soft Merino yarn is dyed and spun in the region and sold on site. Next stop is the stunningly beautiful Slieve League Cliffs the highest and often considered the finest marine cliffs in Europe and the inspiration for Edel MacBride’s locally spun Sliabh Liag wool; we will have a quick bite to eat before we continue with the tour. Travel onward to Glencolmcille Folk Village, a collection of several small cottages, called a ‘clachan’, resting on a hillside that overlooks the stunning Glen Bay Beach. Designed, constructed and conserved by local people, the Folk Village is one of Ireland's longest running living-history museums.  Overnight in Donegal, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast Included.

After breakfast travel to Derry to meet one of Ireland’s finest knitwear designers, Edel MacBride for a core workshop including yarn pack, working the best of Irish moss, cable and Edel’s favourite Aran stitches.  After your workshop and lunch, take a Walking Tour of Derry City which will include some of the local attractions including Derry’s Medieval Walls, Information on The Bogside, The Peoples Gallery (Murals) The Bloody Sunday Story, The History of the Apprentice Boys, The Marching Season Traditions. Finish up with some free time to explore Derry city at your leisure & tonight dinner is not included so you can check out one of this city’s superb restaurants. Overnight in Derry, Bed & Breakfast Included

This morning we return to Dublin via the Ulster American Folk Park and Carrickmacross Lace. The Ulster American Folk Park is all about the historical link between Ulster and America, focusing particularly on the lifestyle and experiences of those immigrants who sailed from Ulster to America in the 18th and 19th centuries. You might enjoy stopping by the weaver’s cottage where you will see an authentic handloom which would have been used to weave tweed or linen by the man of the house while his wife spun the flax fibres into yarn and the children carded and combed the flax in preparation for the spinning wheel. Your final stop today will be Carrickmacross Lace where fine lace masterpieces that have been produced since the early 1800’s. Enjoy a demonstration where staff will show you the intricate needlework involved with creating the finished pieces.  Continue to your hotel in Dublin Airport and check-in. The remainder of the day is free for personal sightseeing or shopping before our final farewell dinner tonight. Overnight Dublin Airport Hotel, Dinner, Bed & Breakfast included.

After your final Irish breakfast depart the hotel for Dublin airport arriving in time to complete check-in formalities and that last-minute duty free shopping.