Trips For Knitters

Knitting and Craft Trip of Ireland

DATES & PROGRAMS:
2025: October 15-23
• Spaces available -0

If we are fully booked, we recommend that you sign up on our  waiting list. as we may have cancellations. You can also choose to ensure that you get early notification about this event for the following year.

TO REGISTER:  Register Now → 
A $500 per-person non-refundable deposit is due upon registration. Questions? Contact us

LOCATION: Ireland

THE EXPERIENCE: Join other knitters and visit Ireland, sightseeing in this area of extreme natural beauty, enjoy knitting workshops taught by local craftspeople, and make new knitting friends!

LODGING:Camden Court Hotel, accommodations through Trips for Knitters. For details, see Lodging.

HEALTH & FITNESS: While we do relax often, we also walk to sites for meals and tours. For details, see The Experience.

PRICING: $5608. includes lodging (shared room) and $6,400 (single room), some meals, knitting classes, local transportation, and project yarn. For details, see Pricing. Note: (We don’t provide roommates, you have to have a roommate when you sign up)

TRAVEL: You make your own flight arrangements to Dublin Airport; travelers arrive at Dublin airport (prior to 9.30am) for a transfer to your hotel. on the first day.

TIPS FOR TRAVELERS: See our Tips for Travelers page for registered travelers. Read the Trips for Knitters Responsibility/Disclaimer Statement.

Itinerary:Important Note: Attractions, Workshops and Demonstrations May Change According to Availability and Scheduling

Day 1 October 15, 2025

Arrive at Dublin airport (prior to 9.30am) for a transfer to your hotel.

Meet your tour guide in the Camden Court Hotel for a brief introduction to your tour activities!

Visit Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin’s 1000 year old heart and take a turn ringing the famous bells!

Free time to explore Dublin city centre and savour local food.

Enjoy shopping experience in Dublin’s number one yarn and knitting accessory store This Is Knit and

enjoy the charming surroundings of the Powerscourt Townhouse. Do not forget to collect your

present before you leave!

Relax and knit as you travel to your hotel in County Galway to enjoy Welcome dinner

Overnight 4 star Lough Rea Hotel, County Galway – Welcome Dinner included

Day 2 October 16,2025

Breakfast

Visit AppleOak Fibre Works for dyeing demonstration. Owners Jennifer and Tristan Lienhard proudly run a circular-economy business, operating with sustainable and eco-friendly practices. All of dyeing is done with harvested rainwater and all dye water is recycled through engineered reed-bed and plant bed systems.

After lunch, enjoy a tour of McKernan Woollen Mills, a small family-run business located in the beautiful location in County Clare. You will have a chance to shop afterwards.

This evening is at leisure.

Overnight 4 star Lough Rea Hotel, County Galway – Lunch included

Day 3 October 17, 2025

Breakfast

Morning ferry from the fishing village of Doolin to Inis Óírr, the smallest of the Aran Islands located in Galway Bay.

Once you arrive at the island, Úna McDonagh, your Aran Island knitting instructor, will meet you at a local cafe where you will receive a warm, Irish welcome with tea/coffee and homemade scones. Una will instruct on traditional methods and stitches of the Aran Island such as the Sharry Chain Link Stitch. The Sharry family were an Island family whose connections to the sea are evident in their choice of stitches used in knitting traditional Aran sweaters. In the afternoon, we take a guided tour of the island before checking into your B&B accommodation. You will be collected this evening and taken to a local restaurant for dinner.

Overnight Inis Óírr, local quality bed and breakfast, Aran Islands – Breakfast, lunch and dinner included

Day 4 October 18, 2025

Breakfast

Enjoy a full day of local activities like traditional Irish brown break baking and homemade butter making demonstration, traditional music, spinning & dyeing and St. Bridget’s Cross making demonstration.

Dinner at a local restaurant.

Overnight Inis Óírr, local quality bed and breakfast, Aran Islands – Breakfast, lunch and dinner included

Day 5 October 19, 202

Breakfast

Morning ferry from Inis Óírr to Galway.

Arrive to your hotel in Galway and take part in an Aran Stitches workshop with one of Ireland’s best known Aran knitters and designers – Mrs Anne Ó’Máille.

Lunch and dinner will be served at the hotel

Overnight 4 star Connacht Hotel, Galway – Breakfast, lunch and dinner included

Day 6 October 20, 2025

 Breakfast

Visit Connemara Sheep and Wool Centre and gain insight into the importance of sheep and wool in Connemara’s past. Learn the history of the local woollen industry and see the process of how sheep’s fleece is made into cloth through displays and demonstrations.

Visit Kylemore Abbey and its Victorian Walled Garden, surrounded by mountains and lakes, the Abbey is also a renowned place of spirituality and education. There will also be free time for shopping and lunch (not included)

Enjoy tea/coffee and scones and a sheep herding demonstration at Glen Keen Estate & Farm one of Ireland’s largest working sheep farms.

This evening is at leisure.

Overnight 4 star Connacht Hotel, Galway – Breakfast included

Day 7 October 21

 Breakfast

Travel towards the mid-west of Ireland and the edge of County Galway. Join Edel MacBride, who is a renowned knitwear designer specializing in Aran work, for a knitting workshop.

Arrive at Ahascragh Distillery, a state of the art zero emissions distillery, full of the warmth of community and built from an old stone mill. Enjoy lunch on arrival (included) and discover the story of the couple who created the sustainable process, the heritage of the building and the whiskey making process. Take part in a premium tasting experience, before relaxing with your knitting and sip of an Ahascragh cocktail in the Old Mill café.

Return to Galway for a free evening to explore or simply relax and knit.

Overnight 4 star Connacht Hotel, Galway – Breakfast and lunch included

Day 8 October 22, 2025

Breakfast

Visit Hushabye Farm; enjoy lunch before meeting the alpacas and learning about their farm life! Take a spinning class with Trish Kerr of Irish Alpaca yarns before browsing the Hushabye store!

Relax as you journey back to Dublin.

Join your fellow knitters for the Farewell Dinner and traditional Irish music.

Overnight Dublin 4 star Camden Court Hotel, Dublin – Breakfast, lunch and dinner included

Day 9 October 23

Depart-Transfer to Airport.

What is Included :

You make your own flight arrangements from a major airport near you to Dublin airport Ireland.

Travelers gather at the Dublin airport before 9:30 am local time where you will meet with Trips for Knitters leader. All arrangements for this trip are through Trips for Knitters, not Irish Tourism.

Where ever you are flying from you might need to arrive a day before hand to make the 9:00 am meeting time.

QUESTIONS? contact us

• Aran Islands Knitting Class with Úna McDonagh – Inis Oirr
• Aran Island Spinning & Dyeing Class- Inis Oirr
• Fascinating stitches in the Aran repertoire with Anne O’Maille
• Galway Wool Knitting Class With Edel MacBride
• Spinning with Irish Alpaca Yarns at Hushabye Farm Alpacas
• AppleOak FibreWorks Natural Dyeing Demonstration
• Visit to This Is Knit Yarn Store with Gift
• McKernan Woolen Mills Tour

The Connacht Hotel Galway

TO REGISTER:  Register Now → 
$5608. includes lodging (shared room) and $6,400 (single room), some meals, knitting classes, local transportation, and project yarn. For details, see

Pricing. Note: (We don’t provide roommates, you have to have a roommate when you sign up) You’ll want to have money for shopping and personal expenses . Note: If you are a non-knitter you will receive a $200.00 discount off the per person sharing price. Note: (We don’t provide roommates, you have to have a roommate when you sign up)

If we are fully booked, we recommend that you sign up on our waiting list as we may have cancellations. You can also choose to ensure that you get early notification about this event for the following year.

A $500 per-person non-refundable deposit is due upon registration. Payment in full is due April 30. Questions? Contact 

Trips for Knitters Cancellation Policy

To secure your place on the trip, a non-refundable deposit of $500.00 is required upon booking. The remaining balance for the spring trip should be submitted by February 1, while for the fall trip, the balance is due by May 1.

 **Cancellation** 

We understand that circumstances may change. If you need to cancel your trip after confirming your participation, we kindly ask that you notify us as soon as possible via letter or email. After the final payment has been made, no refund will be issued. We strongly encourage you to secure travel insurance to cover the cost of your trip due to cancellation. Please be aware that the deposit is non-refundable and cannot be returned.Please read our Tips for Travel Insurance.

Read the Trips for Knitters Responsibility/Disclaimer Statement.

Edel MacBride is a renowned knitwear designer specialising in Aran work. Her work centres on the need to keep Irish knitting skills alive and relevant.

As a leading and award winning knitwear designer, Edel brings a love of local knitting traditions to her work.

Edel is renowned for her own hand knitting speed, while the quality of crafting is paramount. One of our first tutors with her classes on Aran hand knitting, Edel’s classes on Aran knitting and her unique techniques are highly sought after. Edel’s latest designs are examined, as are beautiful samples from earlier collections,including the family knitting archive. Expect a generous, creative experience using her custom Sliabh Liag yarn and other Donegal yarns, with some new Irish fleece too!

Edel has managed her eponymous label Edel MacBride Knitwear for decades, setting it up shortly after leaving the Limerick School of Art and Design. She values traditional technique highly, while embracing modernity in design and business practice. Her knitwear has won her many awards and television appearances, both as a designer and positive female role model in business. While dedicated to the North West Region and her artisan business model she has designed for industry and exhibited extensively abroad.

The Donegal/Derry based designer has her work collected internationally and Edel’s very original work is created in the North West (Donegal and Derry) by herself and a family team. Edel is passionate about wool. Edel’s class will focus on the creativity of early Aran knitwear and its expression as a folk art or craft. There was a short but wonderful era where knitters showed off their individual stitch prowess! Knitting was then standardised to help fulfil orders of varied sizes. Edel will work some wonderful Aran stitches with you, using an Irish DK wool on 4mm straight needles (or you may use circulars in a size smaller too).Irish Alpaca Yarns.

Una McDonagh Una McDonagh was born and raised on Inis Oirr (Inisheer), the smallest and in her opinion the most beautiful of the three Aran Islands! Una comes from a long tradition of knitters and crafts people.Islanders had to be very resourceful and self-sufficient to survive on this barren rock throughout the ages thusperfecting amazing craft and boat handling skills. Seaweed was harvested from the shore and used as fertilizer along with sand to make the potato and vegetable drills to sew crops and feed families. The making of these fields also involved clearing the bare limestone of loose stones and these stones were used to build dry stonewalls to shelter the fields and mark boundaries. The work was laborious and never ending and had a great influence on life as is portrayed in both music, song and local customs but also in the Aran stitches such as the honeycomb, the diamond, cables and blackberry to name just a few. As Una grew up very much immersed in those traditions it was only a matter of time until she would return tocrafting and knitting on the island, where she teaches Aran Knitting using the traditional Aran methods. All skills are handed down from generation to generation visually (no patterns in those days howeverdo not fear as she uses patterns for her classes). She can cater for all groups and abilities and can design the class specifically to the group’sneeds. Typically she introduces the class with a short historical presentation of island life, traditions, clothing, knitting, and its influence on the island economy through the ages and especially on women’s lives. She also includes a guided island tour to complete theexperience and give people a sense of the beauty and uniqueness oftheir surroundings where they are steeped in Irish culture and Gaeilge is the spoken language.

Anne O’Maille For nearly 80 years, the O Maille family has offered traditional knitted goods in Galway City, Ireland, renowned for their hand-knit Aran Sweaters featuring intricate patterns and cables.  Anne, surrounded by unique sweaters, teaches the Aran stitches and has created her own patterns, guiding students to embrace complex Irish knitting. Focused concentration is essential.  In class, Anne supports each knitter, helping them master multiple patterns or perfect a single one. She also shares insights about the vibrant yarns in her shop.  Having taught students from around the world, Anne is a prominent instructor at events like the Summer School of Milwaukee Irish Fest and Vogue Knitting Live in New York. Attending her workshop on Galway Bay is truly inspiring.

Patricia’s mission is to make the best possible use of the fiber, create awareness of the wonderful properties of Alpaca products and to generally make it more accessible to everyone.

To all Alpaca owners in Ireland she can offer a fleece processing services, hand spinning or to have it spun commercially in the Uk.

At present numbers of fleeces available in Ireland do not justify commercial level of a mill, so for now it’s the individual Crafters who are benefiting, developing and most certainly enjoying working on and producing some magnificent unique Alpaca garments and crafts with the very finest Irish Alpaca Fleece.

Alpaca owners are generally a very passionate bunch and know how special the fleece their flock produces so they too are keen to find ways to use the fleece. Many are also learning to spin. What better way to learn and enjoy this ancient craft than by joining one of our small personalized workshops, suitable for absolute beginners or indeed those who have already tried their hand at spinning other fleeces.

Hushabye Farm Alpacas has almost become a second home to Patricia, where she invites people who would like to learn to spin yarn on a selection of traditional and modern spinning wheels and meet the Alpacas who provide the beautiful fleece to work on at the same time.

• What is Included :
• Transfers on arrival and departure
• Experienced tour guide/manager throughout
• Luxury, spacious coach with experienced driver
• Four star accommodation on the Irish mainland with en suite bath/step in shower or walk in shower
• Authentic and Traditional bed and breakfast accommodation on Inis Oirr for 2 nights
• Porterage from hotel reception to your room and back on the Irish mainland
• Breakfast Daily
• Welcome Dinner
• 2 x Local Restaurant Dinners (Inis Oirr)
• 1 x Hotel dinner
• 6 x Lunches
• Farewell Dinner with traditional Irish music
• Return Ferry to Inis Oírr, Aran Islands
• Inis Oírr Guided Tour
• Aran Island Baking & Butter Making Demonstration
• Connemara Guided Tour
• Ahascragh Distillery Knit and Sip Experience
• All activities, workshops and attractions listed in the itinerary
• All materials for the workshops (you just bring your favourite needles!)
• Knitting tours gift bag including tote bag, notebook and pen, lanyard, luggage tag and rain poncho.

Not Included in this trip

• Travel to and from Ireland
• Gratuities/Tips
• Room Service
• Additional beverages and alcoholic drinks
• Personal items such as phone calls, additional meals, snacks or drinks not included in the itinerary
• Yarn, patterns and materials not included in the itinerary

It is important to note that a certain amount of walking is encouraged on our trips. All trip members must be able to mount steps into the coach and walk unaided at a reasonable pace from coach to hotel and coach to visitor attractions/events on possibly uneven ground. Passengers must be able to handle their own luggage.

You must be ale to climb stairs of more than 25 steps and be able to walk more than 1 mile unaided at a reasonable pace. The terrain at some attractions and locations may be rough and uneven and not suitable for someone with mobility issues.

Travel Insurance

We urge you to purchase cancellation insurance & supplemental medical coverage (which covers pre-existing conditions). This is a smart way to safeguard against life’s surprises.

Additional Information

Baggage

Please pack light. You are required to bring no more the one piece of standard airline bag per person and one carry-on

Items Not Included

The trip does not include items of a personal nature such as laundry, room service, telephone charges or other hotel extras. You are responsible for settling any such costs incurred before checking out of each hotel.

Gratuities

Gratuities are not included. These are at the participant’s discretion.

Safety

It is the responsibility of each individual client to ensure that they do not behave in such a way as to cause offence or danger to themselves or others, or which risks damage to property. Each client shall be responsible for any injury or damage caused by their failure to behave in a safe and proper manner.