Testimonials
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Kate Reilley
Date: November 2011 Garreth,  Kara Micetich
Date: March 2011 Hi Sinead, We absolutely loved all of the accommodations you arranged for us. The hotels were beautiful and the service first rate. You were right about Adare Manor and the concierge, Bart, at Hayfield Manor was wonderful. I know we were covering a lot of ground, but having the flexibility afforded to us with a driver was just what we needed. This was especially important since I was trying to coordinate our trip with my aunt and uncles itinerary.
Having a ride to and from the airport was also a treat. We enjoyed meeting Peter and appreciated his punctuality. Paddys knowledge of Ireland and its history is impressive.
We would certainly recommend Emerald Custom Tours to our friends and in fact already have!
Thank you again for arranging a wonderful introduction to Ireland. I plan on bringing my sons in the future and will be contacting you again to help me arrange that trip.
Sincerely, Kara
 Pat Schiek
Date: April 2011 Garreth, Eamon, and Sinead, sadly we are on the plane on the way back to the US. We had an absolutely fabulous vacation. Every one of the guys commented that they could not have imagined a better trip. The accommodations in Killarney were excellent in both the location of the hotel and the hotel itself. Killarney proved to be a superb place to base ourselves. The golf courses did not disappoint and after having set up my own reservations in the past I truly appreciated Eamon and your team handling all the details for us, so we could sit back and enjoy ourselves. You all delivered on everything you promised and we are so grateful for having selected Emerald Elite as our tour company. Each member of your team that we had contact with was extremely responsive to our needs as well as just great people to deal with. It is true what you said earlier that "there are no strangers in Ireland....only friends that you have not met yet." As far as Eamon, he is probably badly in need of a vacation or at least hazardous duty pay after dealing with our group :). He was a delight to be around. He handled our group expertly and provided us with knowledge and experiences we would not have had without him. Ours is a close knit group and we quickly felt as though he had been with us for years. We are very thankful for having him as our guide. My thanks to the Emerald Elite team and when I have a chance to recommend a tour group to anyone in Ireland, it will without a doubt be Emerald Elite. Pat Schiek Jane and Kent Bartruff
Date: April 2011 Just wanted to thank you and your company for the great week we had while we were in Ireland. Mick was a wonderful driver who we thoroughly enjoyed having with us. We were very lucky with the weather as the days were beautiful while we were there. Thanks again for providing us with a great trip. Jane and Kent The Swank Family
Date: May 2011 Sinead, We loved your beautiful country and the friendly people who live there. Thank you for all your effort to plan such a great trip for us. Mick was an outstanding addition to our trip. He added a lot of value to our experience. He had some great restaurant recommendations and showed us spots we never would have found on our own. We loved Adare Manor and the Malton. The west coast of Ireland is lovely. The large van you provided us was wonderful especially for my tall son and husband to stretch out. We are so thankful we found Emerald to help us with our trip. Thank you so much. JoAnn Doonan and friends
Date: May 2011 We are home from our great trip to Ireland. We all had a fun time. Paddy was a great guide..Learned a lot about Ireland. The hotels were great especially the Malton! Best Regards, JoAnn Doonan Tom Holloran and family
Date: May 2011 Sinead, Thank you for planning and delivering an outstanding trip for our family. It was a wonderful way to see and experience Ireland. Paddy Kavanagh was a terrific choice. He was an exemplary guide, driver, and travel companion. Our family appreciated his depth of knowledge, his sense of humor and his singing ability. The accommodations were excellent and varied. We happily will recommend Emerald to others. Regards, Tom Holloran Robert Giuntini and family
Date: May 2011 Dear Garreth: Thank you for the professional services that you provided for my family on our trip through Ireland. Not only were we provided an excellent driver but also an entertainer - at no additional cost. I am not going to set forth "accolade after accolade," but Paul, our driver, is deserving of all the accolades I can possibly come up with. We were all pleased with his charming personality and knowledge of all the places we visited. He truly entertained each one of us. If I hear of anyone wanting to visit Ireland, I will readily recommend Paul and your services. Best regards, Bob Giuntini William Rumble
Date: June 2011 Dear Garreth:
I am writing to thank Sinead McGoldrick, Paul McGlinchey and you for making our guided tour of Ireland such a wonderful experience. Our group of six included my wife, Barb, her daughter Leslie and her husband, John McCarthy, and their children, Sean and Katie McCarthy.
From the beginning of our planning Sinead was very helpful and responsive to my questions and requests for changes in the itinerary. As I mentioned to you on the telephone, I had contacted a few other tour operators at the same time. It was not long before we had settled upon Emerald Elite as the one we would choose. Sinead’s attentiveness had a lot to do with that decision.
When we arrived in Dublin, albeit 6 hours late, we were met by our driver/guide, Paul McGlinchey. For the next seven days he kept us enlightened, informed and entertained with his vast knowledge of Irish history, geography, folklore and stories. We especially enjoined hearing the history of the relationship between Britain’s monarchy and Ireland from 1169, the story of Oisín and of Irish fairies. Perhaps most appreciated was Paul’s very entertaining narrative of the correspondence between Queen Elizabeth I and Cormack McCarthy. Paul’s easy-going demeanor quickly made us feel as if we were old friends. All of us, including our grandchildren, enjoyed our afternoon crossword puzzle sessions.
The accommodations selected for us were all delightful. The first two nights in Ballynahinch Castle were awesome. We particularly enjoyed our night with Olive at Glasha Farmhouse and the time spent at James’ pub just down the road. The easy walking distance from our hotels to all we wanted to see and do in Killarney and Dublin was very convenient.
We had the pleasure of seeing the Cliffs of Moher in dramatic fashion with driving rain and strong winds. It was like something out of a nineteenth century novel. We had rain part of every day but one, but it never slowed us down. Pauls sunny disposition kept us all very positive.
We appreciated Paul’s suggestions for places to see, stores and restaurants to avoid and/or patronize. We stumbled upon a loser restaurant or two to add to Paul’s list and also a couple of keepers.
We loved the Kylemore Abbey. The Connemara Marble Factory was fascinating, as was Aillwee Cave. We also enjoyed the trip to Dingle, Cahir Castle, Killarney and Dublin. The countryside was magnificent. Far different than what we see in Southern California.
Thank you again to all of Emerald Elite, but particularly to Sinead and Paul for making our stay in Ireland one that we will never forget.
Kind regards,
Bill & Barb Rumble and John, Leslie, Sean & Katie McCarthy Camarillo, California USA John Devaney
Date: June 2011 Gar - I wanted to take a minute to thank you and your company for helping to make my family and Is recent trip to Ireland a tremendous success. I particularly want to thank Sinead who was terrific to deal with in the planning stages of our trip. She simply could not have been nicer or more professional. Our driver was Paul McGlinchey and I don think there is much about Ireland or its history that he doesn know. He simply made the trip for the 7 of us. He was extremely flexible everyday and amazingly insightful. I can say for sure the trip would not have been nearly as much fun nor as interesting without his knowledge of the country his funny stories and his caring. He is great asset to your business. Once again thanks for everything we will do it again. Tim Gosnear and family.
Date: August 2011 Sinead,
I wanted to let you know that we had a wonderful and memorable visit to Ireland.
Barry was a terrific guide and the kids really connected with him. He was the perfect choice for our tour. He really knows the places to see and gave us the perfect combination of the major tourist sites as well as some less well known sites off the beaten track. It was a real treat to tour with Barry.
If you would like me to complete a survey or testimonial, I would be happy to do so.
My daughters are already planning to do their semester abroad in Ireland when the times comes so I am sure we will be back again.
I will also be very pleased to recommend Emerald Elite to our friends and family members.
Thanks for a terrific itinerary and working with us to give us the trip of a lifetime
All the best. Tim Gosnear Meg McCown
Date: August 2011 Hi Sinead, So sorry for the delay in responding. Between moving Katie and Daniel to new apartments, an earthquake and a hurricane, it has been quite exciting and busy here! We are still recounting stories of our amazing trip to all our friends, family, and anyone who will listen. Mick was absolutely wonderful! His knowledge of Ireland and its history, anecdotes, and personality really made our stay even better than we could have hoped. After our first day in Dublin, he knew exactly the type of places we would enjoy the most...and those to avoid! We always seemed to beat the crowds at busier destinations and loved going off the beaten track to explore little known places and breathtaking scenery. I was especially appreciative for the time spent at the church and graveyard in Ballymote to explore "family roots" (or at least lots of headstones!). Many people have inquired about the food in Ireland. Micks recommendations of places to eat were always outstanding and atmospheric:) Kennedys and ONeills in Dublin, Hardigans in Sligo...it was so much better to eat at "local" establishments. The music at Danny Manns in Killarney was definitely a highlight, and Mick made it all possible by reserving a table for us. Also, Cromleach Lodge had some of the best food weve ever had anywhere! We especially loved our unplanned trip to Slieve League. That alone would make us want to come back to Ireland and explore the northern counties in more depth. Absolutely breathtaking! By the end of our trip, we really felt as though Mick was like a part of our family. To any tours that he leads throughout the rest of the summer...you are lucky enough to have the best guide ever...enjoy it! Thanks to you, as well, Sinead, for all your hard work planning the trip and meeting with us at the end. It was wonderful to see you in person! Hope you have a great rest of the year. Keep in touch... Best, Meg, Chip, Katie and Daniel Steve and Jan Jarrell
Date: September 2011 Hello Valerie, I wanted to let you know how much Steve and I enjoyed our Enchanting Ireland tour from September 22 to October 2nd. Eamon Hegarty was truly a delight. He is such a fantastic historian and was very knowledgeable from the Mesolithic age to the present day. Countries such as Ireland with an extensive history of many millennia have so much to offer it boggles my mind because our country is only 235 years old. Each of the sites we visited was so fascinating and Eamons history lesson each day made it that much more special.
I was appreciative of the fact that Eamon started our day a little later than most larger tours so those big buses would be leaving by the time we reached our destination. We have been on tours that began at 6:30 in the morning and by the end of the first day exhaustion would set in and it seemed to stay with you the entire tour. Our little group of six was comfortable, got along really well and we vowed to stay in touch. Steve and I are so enamoured with Ireland that we decided we would definitely return. Thank you again for a wonderful time. Jan Jarrell |
Mary Ann Foster
Date: April 2011 Our trip was fabulous and we are very impressed with Emerald Elite and will absolutely book with you in the future. Paddy was an absolute treasure and every single other aspect of the trip was more wonderful then we had imagined. Thank you very much, Mary Ann Kathy Myles and family
Date: April 2011 We had the pleasure of using your service last week for our tour of Ireland. As a previous visitor to Ireland I didn think our vacation would get any better until we met Sinead and Eamon. Sinead arranged our tour keeping in mind our needs. She was always available for questions, suggestions, and changes to our itinerary prior to our arrival. Eamon was unbelievable. His depth of knowledge of Ireland gave us an understanding of the history, people, and culture. His genuine warmth towards people was obvious throughout our travels. He was understanding, comical, patient, respectful, musical, and we dubbed him "our guardian angel". We were all very impressed and felt blessed to have the opportunity to get to know him. Thanks Kathy, Larry and Haley Bruce and Debbie August
Date: April 2011 The dinner arranged by Valerie was excellent. A great way to end a great trip. The trip to Wicklow was terrific with Eamon. We truly enjoyed the whole experience. Thank you for everything. Richard and Linda Schien
Date: May 2011 We wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our Enchanting Ireland Tour with our Driver/Guide Mick Mulcahy. As I am sure you know, Mick is a walking encyclopedia on Ireland as well as a helpful and considerate travel companion. He went out of his way to make sure our time in Ireland would be an unforgettable experience in every aspect. Our hotel accommodations were outstanding, each place being a pleasurable new experience. We were treated like VIPs by everyone. Our Saturday night tour of Jamesons distillery followed by their dinner and show was just super...great music and dancing. We stayed to the very end. We will certainly recommend your company to anyone planning a trip to Ireland. Thank you for arranging a special time for our tour that worked so well with our scheduled trip to The Netherlands.
J. Richard and Linda Schien Dan and Dolores Flynn
Date: May 2011 My Wife and I have returned home from a much too short vacation in your beautiful country. Emerald Elite is the primary reason time flew by so quickly because the entire time we were there everything was arranged so expertly that we could relax and enjoy the countryside, the historic sights and most of all the people. The accommodations were flawless, the dining superb and the service unequaled anywhere. We had to alter our tour script because of the visits of the Queen of England and the President of the United States, but thanks to Emerald Elite’s flexibility and your expert and talented guides Alan, who navigated the closed streets of Dublin to show us not only most of the tour agenda but other parts of the city not normally seen by tourists and Paul McGlinchey, who was our guide for the rest of the week. Because of their skills we were able to improvise a tour that gave us, not only the tour sights but an opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of the Irish people. Paul was phenomenal in his desire to satisfy all of our needs and enlighten us to Irish History and that increased our relaxation and enjoyment even more. Thank you Garreth, Deborah, Alan and Paul for a most wonderful memory that will be the highlight of our 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration. Dan & Dolores Flynn Michael Schmidt
Date: May 2011 The trip was fantastic. It was truly a special experience. Barry was great. Thank you for all the coordination on your part.
Karen Broome
Date: June 2011 I can begin to express how lovely our trip to Ireland was. Everything went smoothly and we were thrilled to have Mick share his time with us. He was great with all the things he shared with us about his home land and to share his love for it with us. The show you lined up for us was great and my daughter Monica would love to come and just stay with Olive and learn all about the ins and outs of running the farmhouse. My boys all had such great memories of the farmhouse and so that was especially special to us be be there as well. I appreciate all you did to put this together at the last minute in timing for us, my daughter and I had a simply lovely time and look forward to returning again and for a longer visit. Thanks again for everything. Kind
regards, Jim Zallie
Date: June 2011 Garreth: I great visit to Ireland and positive in so many ways. Thanks for the flexibility shown to deal with the changes - it reflected well on your services. I would highly recommend Emerald Elite to friends I know who are planning trips to Ireland. I can also tell you that I will plan on a return trip. I also can say as a businessman that you have a very valuable asset and great ambassador for Emerald Elite in Peter Maloney. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Ireland in great measure to having the good fortune of having Peter as our driver. He was a great choice for both of us. Nancy Tanner
Date: July 2011 Dear Sinead I was sorry not to have the opportunity to meet you or Gareth, but hope you will pass on my words wherever appropriate. There is absolutely no way our tour could have been any more delightful, informative or pleasurable. I can wait to return! Eamon was not only an outstanding, extremely knowledgeable guide, he went above and beyond what was expected ... to insure our comfort, as well as add to our understanding of Ireland folklore, customs and opportunities for enjoyment of food and Irish life. He is a jem, one of those people one wishes all people could be modeled after. I had hoped to heighten my young (just turned 17) granddaughters zest for history, and later discovered a letter she had written to Eamon, but was not able to locate and give to him before she left. I am therefore taking the liberty of quoting a portion of her letter to Eamon: "You know your stuff, you are by far one of the most intelligent guys I know. Your facts just keep spitting out. I have definitely found out a few things...I also know that I will be missing you when we leave. I have had such a fun time on this trip because of you. You brought us to such great places and treated all us complaining girls like we aren crazy, headstrong people. So once again, thank you for putting up with us and making us feel so welcome. I hope I get to see you again at some point. You e a good guy. Keep at it! Thank you does not seem enough for the marvelous experience that not only Tori had as expressed by her, but for my daughter, my sister-in-law and myself. Eamon went above and beyond to help me locate my ancestors. I thank you all for the great opportunity to experience Ireland with such a kind, knowledgeable guide. Nancy Tanner Michael Maloney and Family
Date: August 2011 Dear Mr. Cooke, We had the opportunity of having Sinead put together a custom tour for our familys first visit to Ireland. She did an excellent job; easy to work with and great on the suggestions. We spent several months fine tuning the itinerary and she was always a pleasure to work with. We were also warmly greeted at the airport by Patrick and sent home by Peter with a big smile! Mick Mulcahy took wonderful care of us from August 2nd through August 12th. Not only did he get along incredibly with the family, his communication with each individual was perfect! His skill as a driver, knowledge of history, geography, and humor was amazing. Granted, he has been a professional long enough to achieve such attributes, but I have found more often than not, such people may get a little tired into a tour, not so Mick! He was always a part of the family. I do not believe he could have made it any better. The saddest time for us was to say goodbye to Mick and not have a chance to talk more about the trip and tell him how important he was to us. The traffic outside our hotel was miserable on Friday and I hurried him off because of it. We did tell him that we looked forward to returning again in the near future! I will share the story of Emerald Custom Tours and Mick Mulchay with all my friends and business associates. Carol Zacney
Date: August 2011 Eamon, I wouldn even know where to start for the affection we all have for him after spending all that time together. There were many tears as we parted ways on our arrival back to Dublin. I think of him often when Im driving and wish to I could hear his singing. I enjoyed having my daily scone and tea and was happy to steal a moment alone to get to talk to him and hear about him personally and his family. What an incredibly kind man. He took us to places I know we would never have seen if we hadn been with him. He was patient with our lingering longer then we should have and was open to change our plans to suit our needs. I can thank him enough for getting us into the cooking class at Ballymaloe, it was a dream come true for me personally and I enjoyed it immensely.
Everyone at Emerald was wonderful and friendly and made us feel welcome. Ireland is such a beautiful place and renewed my Irish pride for sure. The girls still haven stopped talking about the trip. Our photos are beautiful but of course with such a beautiful subject it was easy to get great shots. I know we will definitely return in a year or two with my husband and son and we will plan our trip to make sure Eamon is available! And thank you Sinead, for taking the time to come meet us in Dublin personally, and for all your planning and assistance to make this happen for us. I look forward to working with all of you in the future. Sincerely, Carol Zacney
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