I've seen several posts in the past asking about drivers for Ireland. We are just back from Ireland, and we highly recommend Tony McGann (previous co-owner of the famous McGann Pub in Doolin) if you want a driver to take you around Ireland (instead of renting a car and driving yourself). Tony is fabulous. He truly knows EVERYONE, and if he meets someone new, he becomes a fast friend. Clean, well-maintained Volkswagen van....could suit an entire family or group of friends comfortably. A cheerful, well-known person who not only shared tremendous knowledge but kept us laughing along the way. He was always more than punctual in meeting us each morning and kindly handled our luggage at each overnight stop. He made touring Ireland stress-free, allowing my husband and me to enjoy the scenery in a relaxed, comfortable way. We had obtained driver quotes from Dromoland and Ashford, but Tony was recommended by a B&B in Doolin, and his rates were much, much more reasonable. We adored him. When we initially emailed him, he responded promptly (as he did with all subsequent emails), and he even asked our phone number to call our home. He was pro-active with a suggestion to slightly alter our itinerary, and that change made our journey much more enjoyable. http://homepage.eircom.net/~tonyscabdoolin/ http://doolinmusictours.com/
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32350 posts
Margaret, This might have been better in the Trip Reports section, but since it's here I have a few questions. How many days did you use a Driver, and which parts of Ireland did you see? If this was a multi-day trip, I'm assuming you had to cover his hotel and food bills as well? Cheers!
Posted by
OP
TN, USA
2156 posts
Ken, Thank you. I had also posted on Trip Reports, but since that section is somewhat new, I thought people might search To the North only when looking for driver recommendations. (We found very little when we searched various sites over the last year.) Tony picked us up at 7 am when we arrived at Shannon...we went thru Adare, to the Rock of Cashel, and then overnighted in Kinsale. The next day, we went along the coastal towns, Glengarriff, etc. on to Kenmare, Killarney, Dingle, etc., then on to Dromoland Castle. The next day we stayed on the castle grounds. Then he picked us up, took us via Ennis (with time to explore on our own), then dropped us at the Cliffs before he took our luggage to the B&B. He collected us when we were ready. The following day, he took us to see The Burren, then thru Galway (lunch break and suggested we tour Key Street), then headed north to the Connemara region, drove Sky Road out from Clifden, then he took us along the high road to Cong to drop us at Ashford Castle. Cousins then met us at Ashford two days later to take us to see the cottage in which my grandmother was raised, along with other family homesteads, graves, etc.
He spent the night in Kinsale at his own expense...ditto for meals. He insisted on treating us to our first Guinesses in Ireland and kindly surprised us with a book re: the ring forts, after my husband was so fascinated with them. We gave him a generous gratuity...which he so deserved.