Trips for 2027 and 2028
Twice Told StoriesFae romance, Irish myth and the places they come from, in the longest days of the year.
A romantasy trip for up to 15 women. We spend eight nights at Gregans Castle Hotel, a family-run country house hotel about 5 km south of Ballyvaughan in the Burren, County Clare, in the week of Midsummer, when the sun sets after 10pm.
The Burren is a limestone landscape on the Atlantic coast, full of 5,000-year-old tombs, stone forts and fairy forts. In the old stories, the Tuatha Dé Danann, the old gods of Ireland, went into hills like these and became the Sídhe, the fairy folk. A lot of today's fae romance comes from those stories.
Before the trip, from January to May 2028, the group reads and watches together online: fae romance, the Irish myths behind it, films and music, with two video calls a month, just for the group. By the time you arrive, you know the rest of the group.
The Essentials
| Dates | Saturday 17 to Sunday 25 June 2028, the week of Midsummer. |
| Nights | Eight nights. |
| Base | Gregans Castle Hotel, the Burren, County Clare, for the whole week. No packing up every morning. |
| Group | Up to 15 women. Women only. |
| Before you go | January to May 2028: fae romance, Irish myth, films and music, with two video calls a month, just for the group. |
| Getting there | Fly into Shannon. We pick you up there; the drive to the hotel is about an hour and a quarter. |
| Host | Stacy Earl, with you the whole week. |
| Price | Pricing goes to the waiting list first. |
Why the Burren
On a coach tour, Poulnabrone is a photo stop. On this trip it's a tomb built about 3500 BC that we visit after reading the stories of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Lady Gregory collected fairy beliefs from farmers around Gort and north Clare, about 35 minutes from the hotel; we read what she wrote, then walk in her garden at Coole Park.
The Cliffs of Moher have their own legends of a mermaid and a sea hag, and Lough Gur has the largest stone circle in Ireland, lined up with the Midsummer sunrise. A Clare storyteller tells fairy stories one evening at the hotel.
Five months of reading and watching together before you arrive, with two video calls a month, just for the group.
The Reading Months
The reading months run from January to May 2028. Each month has one main book, a myth to go with it and the occasional film night. There are two video calls a month, just for the group.
Every month has two picks: one closed-door (kissing only) and one spicier. You choose which you read.
Is This Trip For You?
The Week
We stay at Gregans Castle Hotel for all eight nights and travel by private minibus with a driver. Every day has free time, and in late June the sun sets after 10pm. The plan below is a draft; the final days go to the waiting list.
A guided folklore and fairy-fort walk on the Burren, then Poulnabrone portal tomb (about 3500 BC) and Caherconnell stone fort. On the way back, Leamaneh Castle and the story of Máire Rua O'Brien, a 17th-century noblewoman who married three times to keep her lands. Film night: Song of the Sea.
A 3-hour walk with a local farmer from Doolin up to the Cliffs of Moher from the quiet end, with the cliffs' legends of the mermaid of Moher and Hag's Head. These are also the Cliffs of Insanity in The Princess Bride. Then St Brigid's holy well at Liscannor, and dinner and traditional music in Doolin.
A ferry from Doolin to the largest of the Aran Islands. Dún Aonghasa, a cliff-edge stone fort the legends say was built by the Fir Bolg, and the places where The Banshees of Inisherin was filmed. Film night: a selkie story, The Secret of Roan Inish.
Corcomroe Abbey, a ruined 1200s abbey and the setting of a Yeats play about the ghosts of two lovers. The Burren Perfumery, then the Flaggy Shore and ice cream in New Quay. Evening: a Clare storyteller tells fairy stories in the drawing room.
Coole Park, Lady Gregory's estate, with the Autograph Tree carved with the initials of Yeats, Shaw and Synge, and the lake from "The Wild Swans at Coole". Thoor Ballylee, Yeats's tower. Then Galway: Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, the story of the Claddagh ring, and dinner in the city.
Lough Gur, County Limerick, the lake of the goddess Áine, fairy queen of Munster. The Grange stone circle is the largest in Ireland and lines up with the Midsummer sunrise. A guided visit and a picnic. It's the longest drive of the week, about an hour and a half each way.
The Burren Centre and high crosses at Kilfenora, home of one of the oldest céilí bands in Ireland. A free afternoon, then the farewell dinner at Gregans and a last talk about the final book. Then a late walk in the last of the light.
The Reading
The final list isn't announced yet. These are the books we're considering: new fae romance, older favourites, and the Irish myths and folklore they grew out of. Heat levels are a guide.
What's Included
| Accommodation | 8 nights at Gregans Castle Hotel, the Burren, County Clare. |
| The reading months | January to May 2028: fae romance, Irish myth, films and music. Two video calls a month, just for the group. |
| Day trips | A guided folklore walk and Poulnabrone. The Cliffs of Moher on foot from Doolin. Inis Mór by ferry. Corcomroe Abbey and the Flaggy Shore. Coole Park, Thoor Ballylee and Galway. Lough Gur. Kilfenora. |
| Evenings | A storyteller night, film nights, and traditional music in Doolin. |
| Transport | Private minibus with a driver all week, including Shannon Airport pick-up and drop-off. |
| Private group channel | Opens in January 2028, when the reading months begin. |
| Host | Stacy Earl, with you the whole week. |
| Group size | Fifteen women at most. Women only. |
| Not included | Flights to and from Shannon. Meals beyond those listed (dinner at Gregans is included most evenings; details to the waiting list). Personal spending. Travel insurance, which is required. |
| Price | Pricing goes to the waiting list first. |
| When to book | Join by December 2027 to start the reading months with the group. After that you can still take a place if one is free, and catch up on the reading. |
Nothing is owed and no place is allocated yet. The waiting list is the order we contact people in, and pricing goes to the waiting list first. The reading months begin in January 2028; to start with the group, join by December 2027.
Join the waiting list →Get the reading list for this trip.