Welcome to Essential Ireland Tours

The AUTHENTIC Irish

Experience

VIP Tours for the young-at-heart
Cost-effective, small groups & big Irish experiences
Proud of our never-cancel guarantee

Essential Ireland

BESPOKE TOUR COMPANY FOR the YOUNG AT HEART

Award-Winning Adventures by Ireland's Leading Tour Guides

Essential Ireland

You may only visit Ireland once: experience the Essential Ireland

We bring over 20 years Experience Offering Life Enhancing Tours of Beautiful Ireland

Travel and Guided tours of Ireland

’Essential Ireland’ offers specialised tours:
7 day Luxury Castles & Classics tour of Ireland (overnight in Ashford Castle)
7 day Wild Atlantic Way tour (Killarney, Dingle and Galway)
5 day True North Tour (Northern Ireland and Donegal)
& Award-winning Private tours of Ireland for groups of friends and families

Our tours

‘Essential Ireland Tours’ emphasizes history and culture, and we travel in comfort. You'll experience the best of Ireland. We guarantee great music, food, pubs, and fun on every journey. You may only visit Ireland once; it’s important you experience the Essential Ireland.
A large number of our small group tours are led by Stephen McPhilemy, a passionate historian and renowned tour-guide who has been Rick Steves' right-hand Tour Guide in Ireland for over 25 years
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Click here to see our 2025 Tour Dates

’Essential Ireland’ offers 3 specialised tours:
5 day Northern Ireland tour
7 day 'Castles & classics' luxury tour
7 day wild atlantic way tour - Ireland West and South

7 Day 'Wild Atlantic Way' Tour 2025: (Galway, Killarney & Dingle): March 24 - 30 (Mon - Fri), April 6 - 12 (Sun - Sat), April 13 - 19 (Sun - Sat), May 4 - 10 (Sun - Sat), May 11 - 17 (Sun - Sat), May 25 - 31 (Sun - Sat),
June 1 - 7 (Sun - Sat), June 29 - July 5 (Sun - Sat), July 6 - 12 (Sun - Sat), July 13 - 19 (Sun - Sat),
Aug 24-30 (Sun - Sat), Aug 31 - 6 Sep (Sun - Sat),
Sep 7 - 13 (Sun - Sat), Sep 14 - 20 (Sun - Sat), Sep 21-27 (Sun - Sat), Sep 28 - 4th Oct (Sun - Sat),
Oct 12 - 18 (Sun - Sat) & Oct 19 - 25 (Sun - Sat)
SPECIAL OFFERS: March tours only €1799 per person. April Tours €1999 per person
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7 day 'Castles & classics' Deluxe tour 2025: (Ashford Castle, Killarney & Dingle): April 6 - 12 (Sun - Sat) & Oct 5 - 11 (Sun - Sat)
SPECIAL OFFERS: April Tours Only €2999 per person - Enjoy a €300 discount

‍5 day Northern Ireland tour: (Belfast, Derry & Donegal): April 28th - May 2nd (Mon - Fri), May 19 - 23 (Mon - Fri),
June 8 - 12 (Mon - Fri), July 21 - 25 (Mon - Fri),
Aug 18 - 22 (Mon - Fri), Sep 1 - 5 (Mon - Fri) & Sep 15 - 19 (Mon - Fri)
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Wild Atlantic Way

7 DAY ESSENTIAL IRELAND TOUR

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Ireland’s True North

5 Day Tour

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Private Tours

for small groups

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Castles & Classics

vip tour of ireland's castles

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Essential Ireland was lovingly created by Stephen McPhilemy, one of Ireland’s leading Tour-Guides who has been Rick Steves' Irish protege for over 20 years,
and Irish-American Entrepreneur and Ireland-lover, Patrick Wade. Hosting and welcoming guests to Ireland is their passion.

Fáilte - Welcome from stephen mcphilemy, ready for 2025!

Essential Ireland

Our travel philosophy

Our fun concept of cost-effective, VIP style travel for small groups, was a response to the hundreds of travel requests from international friends, our clan and families, and people in our extended networks who desired:

Luxury Tours - with a value-for-money, affordable price

Small-group Tours - 8 to 16 people average - safe & unique

Lively Tours - Itineraries framed by our unique travel style; relaxed, insightful, fun and focused on essential Irish experiences

Tour-time & Free-time - A nice mix of tour-time/free-time philosophy, freedom to enjoy your own free time while also maximising your tour activities.

100% Irish Experiences – A tour that emphasises authentic Irish experiences and meeting the Irish people, everyday!

Our Story

About US

Who We Are

Stephen McPhilemy and Patrick Wade are the co-founders of Essential Ireland Tours. One Irish and one Irish-American, they met 20 years ago while Patrick was backpacking through Ireland and Stephen was his tour-guide.

Two decades later they (and their Irish Wolfhounds) are experienced and respected figures in the Irish tour and hospitality scene with a passion for providing high quality tours. Authentic Irish experiences for unbeatable value.

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Testimonials

"We loved our tour with Essential Ireland. Stephen was an excellent tour leader — professional and organised, a passionate Irish patriot and what really impressed us was the amount of local Irish characters and personalities he was able to introduce us to. The small group of 15 people was ideal for us and made our vacation a more authentic experience"

Brooke and Brad Antonioni

California

"Fantastic tour. Thanks to Patrick, Stephen and all the team. Oh and can't forget Seamus their gentle-giant Irish Wolfhound and handsome mascot. My family and I loved every minute of our Irish adventures. We will definitely return and we'll be sure to take your tours once again. Thanks for going the extra mile helping us reconnect with our Irish ancestry"

Ash Kelly and clan

Melbourne

"Great service and fun times in Ireland. Bravo to Essential Ireland Tours!"

Rob Sheridan

Toronto

OUR LATEST NEWS

Catch up with the latest news from Essential Ireland Tours

March 1st

03/2019

Stephen G McPhilemy Irish 'songs for the road'

stephen-g-mcphilemy-irish-songs-for-the-road

Stephen McPhilemy

Jan 2024

Jan 24

We Never Cancel

We Never Cancel! Essential Ireland Tours have a 'never cancel' guarantee

December 2025

2026 Essential Ireland tour dates

2026 ESSENTIAL IRELAND Tour Dates Prices include all activities, hotels and breakfasts Enjoy our proud 100% never-ever cancel guarantee!

Stephen McPhilemy

VIEW ALL NEWS

The AUTHENTIC Irish

Experience

BESPOKE TOUR COMPANY FOR the YOUNG AT HEART

You may only visit Ireland once: experience the Essential Ireland

Travel and Guided tours of Ireland

Our tours

Wild Atlantic Way

Ireland’s True North

Private Tours

Castles & Classics

20% off all tours

seamus20

Win a once in a lifetime tour of Ireland

Click Here to Enter

Black Friday special Offer

Fáilte - Welcome from stephen mcphilemy, ready for 2025!

Our travel philosophy

Your Experience

Who We Are

OUR GALLERY

Testimonials

"Great service and fun times in Ireland. Bravo to Essential Ireland Tours!"

OUR LATEST NEWS

March 1st

Stephen G McPhilemy Irish 'songs for the road'

Jan 2024

We Never Cancel

December 2025

2026 Essential Ireland tour dates

GET IN TOUCH!

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