By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

ATLANTA-Archbishop John F. Donoghue invites Catholics of the archdiocese to join him this July on a pilgrimage tour across "the little bit of Heaven called Ireland" and savor its saintly and historic sites ranging from the mountain where St. Patrick spent 40 days praying, to Dublin's National Museum & Library. The archbishop, whose parents were Irish immigrants, will be the escort for the pilgrimage to be held July 14-26. It is being sponsored by The Georgia Bulletin and planned by George's International Tours in San Diego, Calif. Billed as "an unforgettable expedition into the past and present," exploring the "art, architecture, music, dance, history and the wonders of Ireland," the trip highlights will include stops at Shannon, Galway, Limerick, Killarney, Clonmel and Dublin. Participants will depart on a transatlantic flight from Atlanta to Shannon, Ireland on July 14. Among trip highlights in Shannon will be Clonmacnoise, one of the most important medieval monastic settlements in Ireland, situated on the banks of the River Shannon. Next stop will be Knock, where Mass will be celebrated in the basilica next to the church where the Blessed Mother appeared in 1879 and where Pope John Paul II announced that the church would be known as the Basilica of Our Lady, Queen of Ireland. There will also be free time for individual worship there. En route to Galway there will be stops at Croagh Patrick, Ireland's holy mountain where St. Patrick spent 40 days fasting and praying, and at Ballintuber Abbey, dedicated to St. Patrick, where Mass has been celebrated for the past 776 years. The Galway itinerary will include a visit to Kylemore, a 19th century Benedictine abbey, and the Collegiate Church of St. Nicholas, with its famous Spanish Arch where Columbus prayed before sailing to America. Traveling through the moonlike landscape of the Burren and along the scenic coastline to the Cliffs of Moher rising 700 feet above the sea, Georgia pilgrims will proceed on to Limerick to see among other things King John's Castle, the Treaty Stone and St. Mary's Cathedral, followed by a medieval banquet at Bunratty Castle. Passing through Killarney, pilgrims will go through the Ring of Kerry region and visit Muckross House and Gardens, an Elizabethan-style mansion. The day will be completed with a stroll through town and a boat ride. In addition to visiting another abbey, castle remains and a cluster of Gothic churches, in Clonmel there will be time to shop at the Blarney Woolen Mills Store for tweeds, lace, woolens, china, crystal and handcrafted jewelry and to drive through Waterford Country, a mixture of Gaelic, Norse and Norman cultures. Passing ruins of the medieval monastic settlement of Glendalough, travelers will arrive in Dublin where they will visit St. Patrick's Cathedral, Old Town, the National Museum & Library, Trinity College, O'Connell Street and Phoenix Park. The pilgrimage will conclude with a final free day in Dublin ending with a farewell dinner and ballads in an Irish tavern. Cost per person for double occupancy is $3,380 and for single room occupancy is $3,775. The cost includes round trip airfare from Atlanta on Delta Airlines, accommodations in first class hotels with private facilities, all hotel taxes and service charges, breakfast and dinner daily, professional tour escort and sightseeing costs, all transfers and baggage handling, and land travel by deluxe motorcoach. It also includes all entrance fees, daily Mass, and gratuities to tour escort, guide, driver and hotel staff. For registration and other information contact Tom Aisthorpe at The Georgia Bulletin at (404) 877-5517 or taisthorpe@archatl.com.