Ireland is a place imbued with a spirituality that is deeply woven into the natural world. Filled with ancient and mysterious megalithic monuments of remarkable sophistication, Ireland has its own profound mythology dating from pre-Christian times, and went on to “save civilization” in the Middle Ages while so much classical philosophical and spiritual learning was lost throughout continental Europe.

For many centuries, it was the western edge of the known world. The beauty and mystical silence of the West of Ireland creates some of the most evocative and soulful states of consciousness. The Otherworld does not seem far away. The fairy folk who live in the hollow hills, also known as the síd, descendents of the Tuatha Dé Danann who inhabit the land of eternal spring, Tír na nÓg, all these seem near in Connemara’s hills, lakes and mountains. This is an area filled with ancient sites, many recently discovered. It is a landscape of inlets, sacred mountains like Croagh Patrick, and holy islands where many early Christian monks cultivated spiritual experience while living in their simple beehive huts.

On this Quest we will journey into Ireland’s rich and vibrant cultural heritage with leading writers, scholars and artists, and learn how it is experiencing a new flowering today. The Celtic Twilight movement of the late 19th-early 20th century that included the work of figures like W.B Yeats and AE Russell brought back the mythology of ancient Ireland to poetry, fiction and the stage, and played an important political role as Ireland sought independence from the British Empire. Today, many young people have embraced their Celtic heritage and are creating rituals, gatherings and practices that draw on the strength and beauty of the old Irish ways.

We will gather first in the market town of Ennis, close to Shannon airport, where we will spend a leisurely night upon arrival, and leave for Connemara the following day. Connemara is a rugged, scenic region of Ireland, one of “savage beauty”, as Oscar Wilde called it. The conference proper will take place in Connemara at Killary Lodge on the shores of Killary Harbor, the only fjord in the West of Ireland and a beautiful, serene spot where the ocean flows between the mountains. En route to Killary, we will stop to walk a stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way in the dramatic seascape of the Burren.

Our Main Conference will be filled with compelling presentations on Irish spirituality and culture. We will have excursions by boat and on foot into the sheer beauty and tranquility of the West of Ireland, and we look forward to enjoying its famed hospitality and conviviality. Of course, no visit to Connemara would be complete without a céilí, or traditional dance party, with live music and the intense exhilaration that goes along with it.

Our Post-Conference Journey takes us to Clare Island, home of the 16th century Pirate Queen beneath the holy mountain of Croagh Patrick. We go on to W.B. Yeats country in Sligo where we will visit the Lake Isle of Innisfree and imbibe the vision of Ireland’s greatest poet of the 20th century. We then travel north to Donegal to the oceanside village of Glencolumbkille, long associated with St. Columba, the founder of Celtic Christianity. Finally, we travel east to Belfast with its own unique culture and history where fans will have the chance to walk the Van Morrison trail.

We look forward to welcoming you to this year’s Quest in Ireland, which will have a stronger experiential element than usual, offering many meditative opportunities to experience the dramatic and mystical land and seascape of Western Ireland.