Testimonials

Dear Gar and Team

The ONeil family cannot say enough about how wonderful our trip was and how grateful we are to Emerald Elite and your stellar tour guide, Paudy McCaughey. Paudy is good at everything. He is equal parts skilled driver, conversationalist, linguist, geographer, historian, archeologist, and companion. We went on a guided group tour of Ireland three years ago. The guide was good and the tour was enjoyable but it paled in comparison to your custom guided tours. They are well worth the fee.

Please feel free to use my comments in any way you wish and I would be glad to serve as a reference for emerald elite.

Kindest regards.

Bernie ONeil

Managing Director

FTI Healthcare

Dear Mr. Cooke;

We have just returned from our trip to Ireland. Our tour guide was Dermot Buckley and we just wanted to inform you and your company that we could not have been more satisfied with the services he provided to us. Nothing was too much trouble for him to arrange.

When the weather wasn perfect he shifted our itinerary without compromising the sights we wanted to see. He was able to get us hotel room upgrades and was wonderful at recommending the right shops and restaurants for us. He was excellent at immediately assessing our interests and that was what really made our 4 days with him so great.

Dermot is a true gentleman. We will always remember our Ireland vacation with fond memories thanks to his efforts on our behalf.

Sincerely,

Judy and Steve Hagen, Florida

Dermot,

Did you get the little "symbol" (the key pendant with the crown which decorates one of our church spires) and the chocolates? You earned this crown for Emerald Elite. I also added a chocolate box for Deborah. It was on the bus and I hope it was handed to the two of you.

We, i.e. nine seniors from Germany, got five-star treatment with Emerald Elite, both with the Mercedes luxury minibus and with our driver Frank. The whole six-day tour through Ireland was simply perfect.

Frank turned out to be an experienced driver, but what is more, he was the best guide you could think of: a "bundle of knowledge", full of love for his country, well acquainted with its culture, history and literature which came over to us in the most lively way. We should not forget to mention his wonderful humour and his deep humaneness. We miss him.

Can you make use of this?

Kind regards

Helga Duechting, Germany

Dear Garreth,

Thank you Garreth for your fabulous service. Thank you for making our trip possible. We adored Paddy and all his unbelievably tireless enthusiasm, cheer, song and information.

Also his driving abilities, quick reflexes and road knowledge were impressive to say the least.

We could not be more pleased with our whole tour, and that is no exaggeration. Paddy was a perfect fit for all members of our team. We loved his humor, candor and knowledge, just everything.

I will be in touch. All the very best, and we hope to engage you again in the near future.

Joy Lee Victor, Chicago, IL

Dear Mr. Cooke,

I wanted to express to you in the best way possible what a wonderful time we had on our family vacation trip to Ireland. From the moment we stepped off the plane to the time we headed back home we all experienced a trip of a lifetime.

Eamon Hegerty was our tour guide for the trip and we were all so grateful and thankful to have him take us on a journey we will never forget. Eamon treated us with the best service I have ever experienced in my life. His anticipation of our needs and his ability to make the little things happen for us time and time again was remarkable.

I have been in the service industry for over 22 years and I am a tough critic to say the least. I never give a 10 on a 1 to 10 scale as my family will attest to, but I am making an exception this time. The places Eamon took us and his ability to cater to all the needs of our family was amazing.

Eamons vast knowledge is unmatched, the constant variety of questions from the back seat drivers, he answered them all. If he wasn quite sure he found what we were looking for and came back with more than we could ever expect.

I would recommend Emerald Elite to anyone, and will and plan on coming back again someday soon and use your services. Eamon thank you so much for making this the best vacation we could ask for.

Your new friend!

John Davern

Dear Deborah, 

Just wanted to let you know that we had a lovely time in Ireland and we would like to give credit to Paudy for the success of our trip.  He is gracious and most knowledgeable, well prepared at all times, and with a great sense of humor.  His mannerisms and personality reminded me so of my father (who was Irish) that I felt that I was very much at home.  Paudy saved the day by rigging his charger to charge my camera batteries.  I would have missed so many memories without his efforts.  His love and pride of the Emerald was always evident which helped us understand her history.  We could not imagine seeing Ireland any other way and hope to return.  Rest assured we will recommend your company to our friends here.

Have a blessed Christmas,

Chris and Pat Wilkes

Greetings, Dermot,

We are safely home, warm with memories of an absolutely perfect trip, thanks mainly to Emerald Elite. The accomodations were first-rate, a variety of contemporary and cozy, all most comfortable.

We even had wonderful scenic views from almost every room. The hosts at these inns are so gracious and the meals were fantastic. What a welcome we felt there after a long days journey.

The itinerary suited our sensibilities wonderfully well and Mick was always most accomodating and helpful in choosing alternatives to the originally scheduled stops. We especially enjoyed our time at the Ulster American Folk Park--so well done and so interesting for this American whose ancestors are McAdams and McFarland.

All of the Rittens, young people included, had just a marvelous time. They spent a bit more time in the pubs after dinner enjoying a pint and the great music while us old folk enjoyed our comfy beds.

Mick, of course, was just the BEST. At his suggestion, as we were passing through Limerick at the start of our journey, we tried our hand at composing these 5 line poems. Yours truly presented this one to Mick at the end of our trip. It says it all:

What a singular fellow our Mick is,

He can charm you with words, but the trick is

To learn to distinguish

The truth from the gibberish--

For the blarney is laid on quite thick-- is!We expected the savage sea scenery

And a glimpse of the lush Irish greenery,

But we never had hope of

The depth and the scope of

This guide who is quite Seamus Heany-erly.He can quote Erins writers and poets;

If you ask for a fact, he will know it.

Hes a Cath-o-lic scholar

Without Roman collar--

Be it monks or St. Pat, hell not blow it.If Dermott asks how we have classed Mick,

Well all say he has simply fantastic!

We e so glad that we met him,

We will never forget him.

So our thanks for a tour unsurpassed, Mick.

And an ode to you also, Dermott, for so quickly arranging one of our best trips ever. We will recommend Emerald Elite to all of our friends who might be visiting Ireland and I am calling our travel agent today to recommend that she mention your company to her clients.

If we ever return to Eire, you e sure to hear from us. Who would go with any other tour company when they have already experienced the BEST?! Many thanks.

Love (and my heart),

Mary Ritten, Minneapolis, USA.

Dear Dermot,

Mindy, Delaney and I could not have been more pleased with our recent trip to Ireland. Everything was handled as you said it would be. All the accommodations were perfect but there was one item that vastly exceeded our expectations. That was our guide/driver, Paudy McCaughey. By the second or third day of the trip it seemed were a family.

He taught us so much not only about what we saw but even more about the history of your great country and the people who helped make the history. Delaney still tells Mindy and I every night how much she misses Mr. Paudy. The country side was beautiful and the people were so nice. I really didn know what to expect but we have decided this was probably our best vacation ever.

It was also a pleasure running into you and being able to talk and put a face with a voice. Your company is extremely professional and it was a pleasure dealing with you. We hope on future trips that if we don go to Ireland we will check with you to see who we should contact.

Our friends, the Regans, said that they had got with your man in Scotland and set up a day tour or something. Im sure theyll have the same wonderful experience that we had. Thanks again for a great trip and Delaney is already telling her friends about all the Fairy things she saw.

Thanks,

Buzz Jacoway

Hi Deborah,

We are still talking about the fabulous tour we had and we will be doing so for a very long time. Everything was just perfect from the van to the chosen hotels to the sights, but most of all it was Eamon Hegarty who enabled us to have the time of our lives. He was such a gentleman and a scholar. He enabled Lynne to see so much via the wheelchair and went beyond the call of duty in pushing her up some very steep hills.  He always was there for us and knew just what to do. He is an amazing man and guide. We loved his sense of humor and the wonderful stories of the regions. It was he who made the trip and all we saw and learned possible for us.

Although we had only seven days, we experienced so much. We are so thrilled that we chose the taste of Ireland tour as the scenery was breathtaking. Eamon stopped all along the way for us to take pictures to enhance our memories. The tour was well mapped out and planned to give us a wide variety of sights.  Each hotel was unique, comfortable, and well situated for us to get around each town. We had told Eamon that we wanted to eat in pubs for the atmosphere and music, so each day Eamon took us to an interesting pub for lunch and at night suggested great places to have supper. We enjoyed the variety of being able to try different foods.  

We could go on and on about all we saw and did. However we want you to know that Emerald Custom Tour for us was excellent. We appreciate all of your correspondences prior to our trip in answering our questions. It was very helpful. We would highly recommend your services to others. We would love to be put on your reference list for people inquiring into your tours. Lynne might be especially helpful in assuring anyone who needed a wheelchair that the tour is not only possible but one can do it all.

Again we would like to say how thrilled we were with everything and how fortunate we were to have Eamon Hegarty as our guide.

Lynne Schneider and Marianne Torbert

DEAR GAR:

THIS IS A LITTLE LATE IN COMING, BUT JIM AND I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW WHAT A WONDERFUL TIME WE HAD ON OUR 18-DAY PRIVATE TOUR OF IRELAND.  YOUR COMPANY IS FIRST RATE AND PROFESSIONAL IN EVERY WAY.  EVERYTHING WAS HANDLED WITH CLASS AND YOU ENABLED US TO SEE ALL THE "MUST DOS" ON OUR LIST AND THEN SOME.  WE HIT THE JACKPOT WITH OUR DRIVER/GUIDE, PADDY KAVANAGH.  NOT ONLY DID WE GAIN THE BENEFIT OF A FUN, KNOWLEDGEABLE AND MEMORABLE TRIP TO IRELAND, BUT WE GAINED THE BLESSING OF A FRIENDSHIP WITH PADDY THAT WILL LAST FOREVER.

AS A GIFT TO PADDY, I WROTE A POEM OF SORTS ALONG WITH A COLLAGE OF PICTURES THAT WE TOOK WITH HIM AND SENT THEM IN A FRAME TO HIM.  I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE THIS POEM AND THE PICTURES WITH YOU SO THAT YOU MIGHT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE FEELINGS WE HAD ABOUT THE TRIP AND OUR NEW FRIEND, PADDY.  I HOPE YOU ENJOY!  MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND ALL THE FINE FOLKS AT EMERALD ELITE!

BEST REGARDS,

JIM AND DIANE DAHL

THROUGH PADDYS EYES

Gazing out the window of our plane I could see the land of my ancestors through a mist-shrouded frame.  The journey was long, a lifetime of dreaming; an invisible force pulling me through centuries of time, now meeting a pair of eyes that were playfully gleaming.  With a tilt to his head topped in a tweed brimmed hat, He welcomed us with a charm that promised of adventures to come.  We went on a trip, a magic carpet ride, and discovered a land and people through the wonder of Paddy’s eyes.     

Through Paddy’s eyes we saw the grandeur of Dublin, the cathedrals so tall, the pain of Kilmainham, we saw them all.  The Book of Kells, the River Liffey, a bright red door on a Georgian home, Grafton St., Guinness , and pubs galore, all under the watchful eyes of Molly Malone.  Through Paddy’s eyes we saw the mystic Glendalough, and could almost hear the chants of so long ago.  Through Paddy’s eyes we felt the desperation of the immigrant’s plight at the ship of Dumbrody, his voice echoed the pain of the famine as we viewed the remains of long-forgotten villages.  We climbed the steps of Blarney to kiss the stone and walked with the ghosts of Kinsale to see where they roam.  From New Ross to Cobh, and Bantry Bay, The Ring of Kerry and Dingle’s Blaskets to the great Bay of Galway.   We crossed the Shannon, soared to the Gaps of Molls and Dunloe and sailed the Lakes of Killarney ever so slow.  From the Caves of Aillwee to the heights of Moher, to the barren Burren and Eire’s golden shores.  We were king and queen in our castle at Ashford and part of a movie in “The Quiet Man’s” Cong.  We sat in pubs by the peat fire and joined in song.  The beauty of Connemara and the rugged Donegal gave way to the wonder of the Giant’s Causeway, the magical Glens of Antrim and the Mountains of Mourne. Whether in a car, a boat or a jaunting trap, the green tapestry unfurled before us like a present to unwrap.  The abbeys and castles with their stories to tell dotted the land like the beads of a rosary.  The undulating terrain was living and breathing with contented sheep and cows, the swans forever bowed in prayer glided through the peaceful loughs. Through Paddy’s eyes we met the real Ireland; the farmer, the pub owner, skilled weavers, crystal carvers and shopkeepers.  Their friendly smiles and lilting brogues forever etched in our memories.  We heard the music of Ireland as we tapped our toes and sang and clapped our way through the sessions and shows, and Paddy sang songs to us of the land he knows. 

As I sit back at home and memories flood, my ancestors are no longer far away but part of my heart and my blood.  We saw a country as no other, how a people can arise, not through books or brochures, but through the wonder of Paddys eyes.