Straight answers

No — and that’s the point. I’m an independent adviser. The trips themselves are delivered by two or three family-run Irish tour companies I’ve vetted over seven years. I match you to the right one, they get your itinerary sorted, and I stay your point of contact throughout.

Because that’s how many earned it. I’d rather turn work away than hand your trip to a company I wouldn’t send my own family with. Between them they cover every kind of trip — self-drive, chauffeur-driven, private coach, rail, music, horse racing, hiking, cycling, golf, genealogy. Their names are shared when we talk through your itinerary.

My advice costs you nothing extra — I’m paid for making good matches, not for steering you anywhere. Trip prices are quoted in US dollars, and I’ll always tell you plainly when something isn’t worth your money.

It’s my cashback for planning ahead: book your trip through me and you receive $250 back once your deposit is paid, in US dollars. It applies to every party that books their itinerary through me, it’s confirmed in writing on your itinerary, and there’s nothing to remember to claim. Final written terms are being added to this page; ask me when we talk and I’ll walk you through them. [DEMO — exact terms to be confirmed with Brendan]

Yes — while you’re in Ireland, my phone is on and I answer it. Ireland is five hours ahead of US Eastern time, so your evening call is my night: I take it anyway. That’s the service.

A surname is enough. A county, a ship, a date, or a family story all help. The tour companies I pair you with are experts in genealogy — records, local historians, parish contacts — and the groundwork is done before you fly. I’ll always be honest about what we’re likely to find.

Absolutely — multi-generational trips are a speciality of the companies I recommend. Grandparents, parents and kids travel at different speeds; they build the itinerary so nobody is dragged and nobody is bored, and the vehicles and stays fit the whole crew.

Yes — Ireland is home and the heart of what I do, but the tour companies I work with also cater for tours in Scotland and England. Plenty of guests pair a week in Ireland with a few days in the Scottish Highlands or London, and it all sits in the one itinerary, with me as your point of contact throughout.

For summer travel, six to nine months out gives you the best of everything — the castle stays and the small guesthouses fill first. Shoulder season (April–May, September–October) is my favourite for weather-to-crowds ratio and can be planned closer in.