ISSUED: 13 December 2022
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Community members are invited to join Shepherd University students as they explore their Celtic roots during a June 12-25, 2023, tour of Ireland and England.
The trip, part of the Global Appalachia program sponsored by the Center for Appalachian Studies and Communities, will include five nights in Ireland, where stops will include Ulster—home to Scots-Irish emigrants who brought the Appalachian dialect and contributed to the region’s cultural roots—the Ring of Kerry, Rock of Cashel, and Dublin. Seven nights in the United Kingdom will include the legends of King Arthur at Glastonbury and Tintagel Castle, and St. Michael’s Mount and St. Ives in Cornwall.
The study tour will follow the people, places, and events studied in the Celtic Roots class offered during the spring 2023 semester on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5-6:15 p.m. Dr. Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt, Appalachian studies center director, will teach the class and lead the tour, which will be managed through WorldStrides Travel.
“This will be one of our most exciting and enriching travel experiences,” Shurbutt said. “We’ll see some of the most gorgeous sights in Ireland, Wales, and Cornwall, and be able to experience the places that inspired the likes of James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, Oscar Wilde, and Virginia Woolf.”
Community members who go on the trip must join the Appalachian studies supporting organization, Allies for Appalachia, for a minimum of $50 and can enhance their travel experience by attending any of the Celtic Roots classes. The cost for the trip is $3,675/twin occupancy, which includes all three- and four-star hotels, ground and ferry transportation, one group dinner, daily breakfasts, cultural admissions as noted, and medical insurance. The single supplement is $1,296.
The tour is limited to 20 travelers, with a March 12 deposit deadline. For additional information, contact Dr. Sylvia Shurbutt or visit the WorldStrides tour webpage.
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