Hello "agus failte" (and welcome)! My name is Ben and I was born and bred in Dublin, where I have lived all my life, except for a period in my young adult life when I lived in Hong Kong. After only my second ever time on an airplane I was thrown into the deep end of foreign travel, but this wonderful experience gave me a deep understanding of what it can be like to arrive in an unfamiliar place, how daunting it can be, especially when it seems everyone knows where to go and what to do except you! This is why I love to give you my warmest and empathetic welcome to my native Dublin, where any question you ask will be met with a reassuring smile and an answer, which if not always correct, will at least be entertaining!
Having originally trained as a primary school teacher, I then took a year out to study outdoor pursuits, when I first learned mountain navigation among other skills. I then trained as a surveyor and subsequently worked on various projects Hong Kong, such as building road and railway viaducts and bridges. After several years there, and in the Philippines - my home from home - I returned to Ireland where I worked in Telecommunications. And now, having trained as a tour guide, there is nothing I enjoy more than sharing experiences, conversations and stories of my native city and surrounding areas with old friends or new friends to be.
I am a lover of the outdoors, whether being active or sedate, and enjoy a range of hobbies and interests from hillwalking to cycling, Irish language, history and placenames, from transport infrastructure to music and song, pretty much all sports, and as the saying here goes "whatever you're having yourself"
Whether on foot, pedalling or other modes of transport, my tours are either off the beaten track or offer a quirky perspective on well trodden paths, with plenty of stories to while away the time, some historic, and some personal anecdotes from my childhood and other times past. I am even known to occasionally break into poetry or song, in English or "as Gaeilge" (in Irish). I have been cycling all around Dublin, since going to and from school at the age of 8 right up to today, so I know many little known nooks and crannies.
But enough about me. My real passion is enabling you to have a most enjoyable and memorable experience. We travel at a pace that you dictate, stopping when and wherever you choose, and if there are places or things that are of particular interest to you, I can adjust the itinerary to accommodate.
I very much look forward to showing you around my native patch!
Is mise le meas (Yours respectfully).
Ben
Certified Regional Tour Guide, Dublin and Environs, Stillorgan College of Education
Certified Ride Leader, Cycling Ireland
REC-3 certified (Rescue Emergency Care, Level 3)
Mountain Skills 2
National Certificate in Outdoor Pursuits
Qualified Surveyor, Dublin Institute of Technology
Post Graduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Enterprise, University College Dublin
While I do not yet have a license to drive you, if you have use of a vehicle I will happily accompany and guide you to any destination of your choice or that you are happy for me to recommend.
