Today it is my pleasure to introduce you to my good friend and trusted co-leader, Dave Yeates of Dave Yeates Ireland Tours, who will be our driver-guide for the trip in June.

Dave has led four Agnes Scott student trips, and he has also led a trip for my husband’s extended family (16 people). I’ve recommended him to many other groups planning tours of Ireland. Dave has his own company that does business under the umbrella of Celtic Tours, who make all the arrangements, provide insurance, etc. With over thirty years in the travel industry, Dave is also a Certified Irish National Tour Guide, Bord Failte Approved (that’s the Irish tourism agency–it means “Welcome Board”). But those details don’t begin to describe his vast knowledge of the country’s history, culture, and geography; his energetic and fun-loving spirit, or his kindness and care for everyone on his trips. I know you will enjoy getting to know Dave and seeing Ireland under his guidance!

Just to tell you a few stories on Dave–he spends his vacations exploring the very few corners of Ireland he doesn’t already know well, talking to local musicians and performers, craftspeople, restaurateurs, etc. to devise new, unusual “detours” to enhance his tours. He keeps in touch with people who’ve been on his trips via Facebook and other means, remembering their birthdays, congratulating them on their accomplishments, and always offering an encouraging word or two. When I was living in Ireland last year, he cheerfully drove me around the country in search of some lesser known literary sites, as I documented in my blog: a little known geological formation mentioned in a Yeats’s poem “Man and the Echo” (46 Into the Night); and a privately owned estate home where a famous memoir took place (51 Woodbrook).  Dave will do anything to make your trip to Ireland as wonderful and memorable as it can possibly be.