When I saw that the travel agency International Tours and Events had scheduled a supernatural Ghost Tour of Ireland, I had to sign up immediately. Over the past several years, I have gone on three of their other "Ghost Tours", visiting Romania, England and Scotland. They were all amazing and unforgettable. Of the three, I wrote online reviews of two of the trips, which you can read by clicking on the following links: Romania Review and Scotland Review. Well, let's get back to the topic of Ireland, the main focus of the write-up you are reading right now. Just like the other IT&E tours I had gone on, this week-long adventure included airfare, lodging, transportation on a luxury tour bus and admission to many famous attractions in Ireland with a supernatural history.

Day 1:

Prep for the Ghost Tour actually started long before the trip began. For weeks, I scoured the internet for any and all information I could find about Ireland, looking for picture galleries, YouTube videos and pages with Irish history. I really couldn't look up information about specific locations that we would visit while in the Emerald Isle, because the tour company didn't publish the itinerary until right before the trip. While I normally like to know absolutely everything before going on a long journey like this, I was still confident that it would be a great time, taking into consideration how fun their other trips were. Knowing that we would be traveling in both Ireland and Northern Ireland, I made sure to exchange my American dollars for Euros and British pounds about a week before the trip, so I wouldn't have to worry about finding currency on the run. During previous trips, I had found that the fast-paced nature of these tours doesn't leave you with a lot of free time to track down a currency exchange or Western Union, so taking care of that little detail beforehand really paid off. I am also glad that we decided to take advantage of the rental cell phone deal that the tour company offered us. There was no charge to rent it. We only had to pay to ship the phone, along with any outgoing calls/texts (incoming calls were free). Having the rental phone along on the trip was invaluable, allowing us to keep in touch with family back home.

I was really excited to hear that our tour guide was going to be Richard Felix. Richard, a paranormal investigator and historian by trade, had also been our guide for the Scotland tour I went on. He is probably best known for being on the popular television program "Most Haunted". His extensive knowledge of local history and supernatural folklore made the Scotland trip very enjoyable and I was confident that he would make the Ireland Tour even more fun. Also, this particular vacation would be extra-special because I wouldn't be flying solo this time; my girlfriend Jennifer would be going with me.

So, basically Day 1 was a day of travel for everyone. The tour's official departure point was JFK airport in New York, so all ghost travelers had to make their way there, from all around the US and beyond. Unfortunately, the trip started off on a negative note for us. Due to some misinformation communicated by an airport employee, we ended up going to the wrong terminal. When we got there, I thought it was funny that we could only find one other Ghost Tour member there. I decided to ask another airport employee and we were indeed in the wrong place! Luckily, the correct terminal was only a short tram ride away. When we got there, I was expecting to see Charles Rosenay, as he had coordinated and attended previous tours, but I found out that he couldn't make it due to a medical emergency. Even though he couldn't be there, Kelley, another member of the tour staff, was waiting for us as we walked into the terminal. She greeted us with name tags and goodie bags, which were filled with all kinds of horror-related swag.

When we arrived at the gate, it was a reunion of sorts. At least half of the people in our group had gone on the Scotland Ghost Tour, so it was nice seeing fellow ghost hunters I had previously traveled with. After another hour or so we all boarded the Aer Lingus jet, with a shamrock on the tail fin, for a non-stop six and a half hour flight to Dublin.