Mythical Ireland Tours

Author and Mythical Ireland creator Anthony Murphy has been exploring the ancient monuments and landscape of Ireland for 27 years. He is a knowledgeable guide, available for private hire to bring you on a voyage of learning through the sacred sites of Ireland's Ancient East and beyond. He also organises regular public tours through Mythical Ireland. Let Anthony be your guide to the megalithic and sacred sites of Ireland.

If you would like to arrange a private tour, please send an enquiry using the contact form below or email directly.

About Mythical Ireland Tours

Anthony's knowledge and passion for Ireland's ancient heritage and culture shine through. He can lead individual private tours, or group tours, including school tours. He has been writing about Ireland's prehistoric megalithic monuments and some of its foremost historic sacred sites for many years, and is the author of ten books including Island of the Setting Sun, Newgrange: Monument to Immortality and Mythical Ireland: New Light on the Ancient Past. He has featured in numerous TV, radio and internet documentaries, podcasts and programmes.

Anthony can tailor a tour to suit your own needs and wishes. Sites which can be included on a tour itinerary include: Newgrange, Knowth Dowth, Fourknocks, Hill of Tara, Hill of Slane, Loughcrew cairns, Mellifont Abbey, Monasterboice, Glendalough.

If you would like to include other sites, just let us know when you email and we will try to arrange it for you.

In July 2018 Anthony shot to international fame when he discovered a previously unknown late Neolithic henge or ceremonial enclosure 750m from the world famous megalithic monument of Newgrange

Read About "Dronehenge"

Explore Myths & Monuments

Here are just some of the themes explored by Anthony on his tours: The origins of the Irish people; the invasion mythology; place name stories; myths of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the early gods; the megalithic art of the great passage-mounds of the Boyne Valley; the creation myths of the Boyne Valley; the goddesses of Knowth; Newgrange solstice illumination remembered in myth; the swan myths and Newgrange; long-distance alignments of megalithic sites; the Dog Star and the Morning Star (Venus) at Newgrange; the Calendar Stone at Knowth; the astronomical myth of Dowth; the story of the magic cow and her calf; the fascinating alignments of Fourknocks; the myths of the kings of Tara; kissing the Cailleach: Niall of the Nine Hostages; the Salmon of Knowledge: the poets of the Boyne; the great battles of Irish myth; the coming of the Milesians to Ireland; the 'Island of the Setting Sun'; Ireland's first farmers; the decline of the Neolithic people and the arrival of the Beaker culture; Brigid's Way: saint and goddess; the cosmology of the story of Saint Patrick's arrival; Slane and the Fir Bolg; the Christian monks who saved the "pagan" myths of Ireland; Orion, the 'High Man' of the night sky and his myths; Mata, the monster of the Boyne; Dowth and the story of famine; the return of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Note: You must have your own transportation for tours. Anthony is unable to provide transport.

Testimonials

  • A first-class guide

    We spent a long day with Anthony around the summer solstice. Kind, warm weather it was a most wonderful time. It’s a tour which quietly engages you in some profound human questions about where we come from, how we got here. An explorer, an enthusiast, an educator, an entertaining storyteller Anthony is a first class guide. Do yourself a favour and sign up with him.

    - Amsterdam Mike (From Google Reviews)

  • Passionate expert

    A big thank you to Anthony for arranging at short notice a private tour around Dowth for four of us, as we’d been unable to book up a tour of Newgrange.

    Any disappointment amongst the two of us who had not previously visited Newgrange was soon forgotten, as Anthony took us on an authoritative, eloquent, and entertaining journey around the history of the Bru na Boinne complex, and the place of the Dowth monument within it. Always open to listen to, and attempt to answer, queries from any of us, without ever becoming too high brow. We never felt that the tour was being conducted “on the clock”, as long as we were interested to talk, look around, take pictures, Anthony was verry happy to look after us.

    We left feeling quite privileged that we’d had time with such a knowledgeable, eminent and clearly passionate expert in his field. Once again, a big thank you to Anthony from all four of us!

    - Tom Donnelly

  • Knowledgeable and engaging

    Anthony Murphy speaks clearly; he's knowledgeable & engaging; & he has a passion for his subject. If you have an interest in ancient sites, history & archaeology, along with gaelic myth & legend, I recommend taking a tour with "Mythical Ireland".

    - Kevin Noonan

  • The highlight of our trip

    My family and I just returned home to the US after a wonderful vacation in Ireland. We enjoyed seeing the beautiful country, learning about Irish history, and experiencing Irish culture first hand, but our tour of Dowth and Fourknocks with Anthony from Mythical Ireland Tours was the highlight of our trip. We greatly enjoyed visiting these serene and spiritual places while listening to Anthony tell us stories that were infused with his passion for the ancient history of these sites and the beautiful way that the history is encoded in myth. His stories highlighted some of the similarities between us and the people who built and used these monuments so long ago, which brought the dry facts of history to life and made those lives real to us. Anthony to was a fabulous guide to this whole other world. Book a tour with him at Mythical Ireland. You will be glad that you did!

    - Marie Sardelli

  • Lia Scallon and Stephanie Phelps, Mystical Ireland Tour

    Stephanie and I are absolutely thrilled to have secured the presence of author and researcher Anthony Murphy to be our guide for this important day at Bru na Boinne. It goes without saying that his vast knowledge of Newgrange, Knowth and Dowth, can only enhance our understanding and appreciation of these incredible Neolithic Solar/Lunar temples. This day promises to be a highlight of our tour.

  • Glenn and Cameron Broughton, Journeys With Soul.

    We can attest that Anthony Murphy is the most knowledgeable expert on the sacred sites in the Boyne Valley, i.e. Newgrange as well as on the mythology of the region.

  • Lynette Rink, Zambia.

    Thank you again for an absolutely superb tour! I loved my time with you …. Visiting the sacred sites, hearing the Irish myths and poems, your stories and different perspectives … It was a gloriously gentle and enlightening time. I look forward to exploring with you again one day. In gratitude and with appreciation.

  • Ben & Tara Larisch, Salt Lake City, Utah.

    Your tour of the ancient sites was a high point of our Ireland trip.