Irish Incentive Tours

INCENTIVES & MEETINGS

A little about Adams and Butler's entirely new and imaginative incentive products...

While we use well known locations such as Adare Manor and Dromoland Castle, we can also arrange unique accommodation and entertainment services that will make any Meeting or Incentive trip really memorable. The price range is determined by your requirements.

Our Corporate entertainment at Irish Sporting and Cultural Events is arranged with access to the most exclusive boxes, bars and grandstands, with hosting by the event organisers.

Our private banquets in great houses with leading members of Irish Society, politicians and the business community are memorable for their location, food, entertainment and hosts - stylish events that are quite unique offering your clients priveleged access to exclusive venues that are normally never available.

The clients of the various incentive houses for whom we have undertaken commissions such as Reuters, The Bank of Ireland, Volvo & 3M, have been truly delighted with the quality, the sparkle and the style that we have brought to their meetings.

"In Search of the Leprechaun" - a 3 day cross-country treasure hunt. Divided into teams of 4, the competitors follow clues hidden in pints of Guinness, castle ruins, stately homes... Accommodation is provided in a variety of hotels, manor houses and castles.

"Connemara Adventure" - make a raft and cross Killary harbour, hack out your own Connemara Marble bookends .. and more

"The Irish Olympics" - take part in a hilarious day of Olympics which include Aran knitting, Tossing the Leprechaun, Drinking a Yard of Ale and even Kicking Cabbage

We have been organising incentives since 1988. From brainstorming think tanks to reward trips, our multi-lingual team will work with you to plan and carry out a unique and delightful experience, whatever your budget or numbers.

A Day Away in Donegal - A Night in Casablanca

The coach proceeds along the road and back half a century. After 10 minutes is stopped by a soldier in the uniform of a WW II German officer who issues ID cards to every one on the coach.

For the rest of the evening the group will be in Rick's Cafe Americain as the story of the film unfolds around them - they are part of the film.

CORPORATE EVENTS BASED AROUND DROMOLAND CASTLE

One mile from Dromoland castle stands the medieval Castle Fergus. Within its ancient walls the group is divided into teams who vie with each other at bygone arts - weaving, dressing your knight in his armour (all 2o pieces of it, blacksmithing, candle making, word turning, archery.... For more details click here

An hour from Dromoland Castle in the heart of County Clare is a charming cookery school. Dividing the group into teams of two or three they will each have to try their hand at culinary skills.

As an alternative, to add a little complication to the afternoon, run it as A Hot-Cha-Cha Chili Cook-Off

The Game: Chili. Chili con carne. Texas Red. Whatever you call that savory concoction of meat, grease, and fire, it is without a doubt the natural child of the arguing state of mind. There's no standard recipe -- only curiosity and debate -- and almost anyone's first thought after a taste of somebody else's version, no matter how much it pleases the throat, is that they could do it better.

But to truly appreciate chili, one has to do more than taste it. You have to experience first-hand what it’s like to earn each ingredient; to have to stare deep into its restless, lonely heart.

You and your team now have the opportunity to participate in this great debate. See your fiery delight through from start to finish, beginning with trading and bartering for ingredients, both at the General Store and with other teams. After creating the best darn chili ever, you design a marketing campaign to promote your culinary marvel, complete with an artistic sales pitch and commercial jingle. Judges score the chili, holding up hilarious signs like "that’s going to hurt tomorrow," "don’t quit your day job," and "hasta la vista!" Negotiation and teambuilding skills are essential to success in this fun and engaging program.

Training Module or De-Brief: An optional debrief can be led by a trained facilitator around recognizing team strengths.

A range of enjoyable innovative games designed to train and bond your team efficiently and painlessly. Invariably, these events are loaded with challenge, humor, fun, and surprise. And invariably, their benefits continue to make positive waves long after all the ping pong balls, harmonicas, costumes and homemade rafts have been packed way.

The Game: How many times have you felt your pulse race as you watch the contestants sweating it out on a real TV Trivia show? Of course you know the zillion dollar answer, but there you are sitting helplessly on your couch. Meanwhile back at the office, how many times have you wished you could prove to your coworkers once and for all that you really are the sharpest knife in the box?

Our hilarious game show spoof, the One Million Dollar Wheel of Jeopardy Feud, is just what you've been waiting for. Join zany host Alec Trajak in the biggest, wildest game show of them all. Your group will battle it out in pursuit of big prizes, fleeting fame and big fun. The excitement builds as one team of finalists go for a chance to win a cool $1 million jackpot!

The team building value of The One Million Dollar Wheel of Jeopardy Feud is undeniable. It's a great Ice-Breaker, giving participants a chance to really get comfortable working together. This lively interactive event also makes for a great morale booster ? it's amazing what a healthy dose of laughter can do to build team spirit.

Training Module or De-Brief: This event makes a great teaching tool. We can easily customize it by incorporating company info, product info, conference themes and other educational topics into the trivia questions. An optional debrief, led by a trained facilitator, focuses on recognizing team strengths.

Program Length: Approximately 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the size of your group and your time requirements.

The Game: Fashioned after the hit reality show your employees will be put to the test not only to survive the game, but too survive each other. Through a series of fun and challenging tasks that range from the silly to the intense, each team will work together to match their skills against the other groups. There are physical and mental challenges that each team and they will compete to get the highest scores in all categories. The game is played in four rounds and at end of each round each team's score is tallied and sub-totaled. The team with the lowest score for that quarter must handover a few members of their team to the highest scoring team at that point in time. Teams will square off against each other for certain tasks and will also perform individual tasks for points. The games vary from event to event, but each program usually includes:

Program Length: runs approximately three hours, depending on the size of your group, can be done indoors or out.

Corporate "Medieval Days" – rough outline

Spend a day (or two? or three?) as a Medieval Knight. Learn the Code of Chivalry and all the knightly skills and virtues, feast and quaff your fill, woo Fair Maidens, test your prowess in feats of bravery and skill, etc., etc.

Arming the Knight: teams of squires compete to dress their "champion" in a full set of 15^th century armour (all 20+ pieces are laid out and teams must figure out which piece goes where, and how it attaches). Team with the fastest time and most accurately dressed Knight wins.

Swordsmanship skills: qualified instructors safely teach the basic moves with wooden "waster" training swords, progressing to (blunted) steel weapons. This is very realistic-but-safe training with real effort required. Can progress to one-on-one bouts with point-scoring system.

Skill with the bow: learn to shoot with the longbow. Progressing to scored target competition.

"Paintbow" shooting with rubber blunt arrows and light bows through the woods. Will need some safety equipment (goggles, helmets, shields). Team competition rules apply (consider this one carefully – opportunity for accidents unless well supervised).

Jousting at the Quintain: train with the wooden Jousting Horse run on a pully. Learn how to steady the lance and score a "hit" on the swinging shield called a quintain (if you miss it hits you back!), or see how many rings each team can collect when "running at the ring".

Jousting (non-contact) demonstration with real horses and weapons skills from horseback.

The Art of Heraldry: devise a Coat of Arms using the heraldic colours and symbols to blazon your team’s shield. An expert in heraldry shows how to create your personal statement.

Courtly Love: compose a sonnet to your Lady Fair, or sing a song of unrequited love. A knight is expected have a facility with words and music.

Learn to play a Medieval tune on an authentic replica instrument (large selection) and hear our court musicians play a lively and/or soothing accompaniment.

The Medieval banquet: feasting, entertainments (fire eaters, jugglers, music and dance). This is where the Champion dons his Golden Spurs and is garlanded as the winner of the tournament.

For a basic indoor package with 5 core activities (arming the knight, archery, swordsmanship skills, maybe some music and dance) using 6 - 8 costumed personnel it will cost about €2,600 including VAT for 6 hours.

8 Day Meeting for 24 Senior Executives from Australia

Day 1 – Arrive Dublin 2 nights Merrion Hotel.
Arrival transfers by Private Car
Cocktail reception and Dinner at the Hotel

Day 2
9 am – an introduction to Ireland and the city at the hotel, followed by a
9.30 am 2 hour overview of the city, on a 35 seater coach.
12 Noon Private lunch with the Hon Desmond Guinness at his home, the 12th century Leixlip Castle
2 pm – 6 pm
Various activities –
• Golf
• Shopping
• Visit to Powerscourt House and Gardens in the Wicklow Mountains
• Genealogist on hand for any roots enquiries
• Private tour of Trinity College with Senator David Norris
• Try your hand at a cookery class learning how to bake traditional Irish soda bread
• Risk your stomachs on the sea in a Dublin Bay Sea safari in a RIB.

8 pm Private Dinner in North Great Georges Street, one of the finest streets of 18th century city palaces in Dublin

Day 3
9 am Depart Dublin
10.30 am Visit a stud farm in the morning.
12.30 Pub lunch in Morrisseys of Abbeyleix.
1.45 pm Depart Abbeyleix
4 pm Arrive Dromoland Castle – met by the local fox hounds and escorted up the avenue to the castle
Strawberries and cream and Pimms or fruit punch on arrival
Dinner at Dromoland Castle

Day 4
10-12.30pm meeting

Options on site
• Golf
• Fishing
• Skeet shooting
• Hawk walking
• Archery

Light Bar lunch at Dromoland

In the afternoon
Tour to Doolin for a private charter boat around the Cliffs of Moher to The Aran Islands for a horse and carriage tour of Inisheer, the smallest and wildest of the islands.
5.30 pm In the evening transfer to Limerick for a walking tour of the sites of Frank McCourt’s novel and film "Angela’s Ashes" and then to the Greyhound Stadium for dinner and a night of racing.

Day 5

10-12.30pm Meetings - golf, fishing, skeet shooting or archery option on site

In the afternoon

Tour The Burren with a local naturalist and archaeologist. Discover the arcane art of creating perfumes at the Burren Perfumery – a cottage in the heart of this beautiful wilderness.

6.00 pm In the evening drinks at Thomond House with the Earl of Inchquin, chief of The O’Brien Clan, and a seanachie or professional story teller to entertain the group, followed by dinner with the fellows of Limerick University.

Day 6

9 am Depart Hotel

11 am stop for coffee and a private tour of Annesgrove Gardens with Patrick Annesley.

1 pm Lunch with at a private Stud Farm in the finest 18th Century mansion in Cork with an introduction to Bloodstock brokerage.

3.30 pm Visit the Midleton Distillery for a private VIP tour with the master distiller.

5.00 pm Arrive Castlemartyr

7.00 pm Dinner this evening will start with an Irish whiskey tasting reception where you will sample 3 different Irish Whiskeys against Scotch and Bourbon, discover the history of Irish Whiskey and the differences between each whisk(e)y, and end your session with a glass of Irish Whiskey, a Whiskey Cocktail or an Irish Coffee, as well as receiving your very own Whiskey Tasting Certificate.

Day 7 Full day sightseeing with options for the ladies and gentlemen

9.30 am Transfer from Castlemartyr to Rathcoursey. At Rathcoursey there will be a Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB) a speed boat, that will take them to Kinsale – there will be caves to explore, wild seals to feed by hand, and lovely hidden bays to see.

10 am Those who want to avoid the sea can stay on the coach and visit Fota House and gardens on the way to Kinsale.

12.45 The group will have a private lunch at a country house near Kinsale.

2 pm Return to Cork City. Private tour of Gluksman Gallery in Cork City

4.00 pm Return to the Castlemartyr

7.00 pm Depart for Ballymaloe House, the Chez Panisse of Ireland for a farewell dinner with local entertainment from dancers and singers.

Day 8 Depart Ireland

Affordable & Intelligent Incentives

Amongst our "Affordable Incentives" programmes is a series of 7 day self drive tours of Ireland staying in country inns with significant host company branding at their accommodation and on pillow gifts, etc. As with all our tours we will work with you to come up with a range of teasers in the months leading up to the incentive.

These tours are designed so that your guests can bring their family with them. Pillow gifts are chosen to match the profile of the guest's family, and there are branded pillow gifts for all the family. The guests are greeted on arrival at the airport by one of our staff representing the host company. They are given a self drive car equipped with sat nav and a cell phone. The detailed itinerary will normally have been worked out before arrival, to take into account the guest's interests, such as golf, fishing, gardens, etc,. and with the car will come a pack of detailed directions and vouchers, all branded. On the first night an informal pub supper is arranged, and again the menus are branded. The quality of the accommodation is outstanding and part of the benefit is that the host company becomes beloved by all the family! And for sales staff incentives it is even better - it means that you do not lose all your best sales staff for the same week.

The ground cost for a family of 4 for 7 days / 6 nights, including gifts, transport, accommodation and breakfast every day is from €90 per person per day

The Elegance of The East of Ireland

A 6 day Exploration of Ireland, its culture, its food, its countryside, and its people

opportunities for golf, spa treatments, horse riding, traditional pub music & entertainment and gracious Georgian houses

Day 3 Full breakfast at the hotel. Leave Dublin for Powerscourt, one of the World's Great Gardens. It is a sublime blend of formal gardens, sweeping terraces, statuary and ornamental lakes together with secret hollows, rambling walks and over 200 varieties of trees and shrubs. The 18th Century Palladian House now incorporates an innovative shopping experience, terrace cafe and house exhibition. Facilities include specialty shops, interiors gallery, & garden pavilion. On to Glendalough. This early Christian monastic site was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century. Set in a glaciated valley with two lakes, the monastic remains include a superb round tower, stone churches and decorated crosses. Across the Wicklow Mountains to Carlow and on to overnight at Mount Juliet or The River Court Hotel in Kilkenny.

Day 4 Along the valley of the River Nore to the village of Inistioge, where the movie based on Maeve Binchey's novel Circle of Friends was filmed. On to lunch at Berkeley Forest the private home of the Countess Berntorf, has a museum of 18th and 19th Century toys, costumes, toy carriages, embroidered textiles and rare dolls - many of them from Irish families. The property is named for the uncle of the philosopher Bishop George Berkeley, in whose honour the University of California is named. The walled garden of 1780, now part Italian garden, part fernery, part bonsai, part knot garden overlooked by a fairytale thatched summerhouse, is very attractive. The Countess is know for outstanding combination of irish & Danish cuisines.
An afternoon VIP visit to Waterford Crystal. The company of Waterford was first established in 1783 on land adjacent to Merchants' Quay in the heart of the Irish harbor town of Waterford. Its founders were two brothers, William and George Penrose, who were important developers and principal exporters in the city. Their vision was to "create the finest quality crystal for drinking vessels and objects of beauty for the home." More than two hundred years later, the reputation they established for creating glass of unsurpassed beauty and quality has transcended the intervening centuries. Today, Waterford's principal manufacturing plant stands on a 40-acre site on the outskirts of the city made famous by its glittering product. Return to Mount Juliet for dinner..

For those who do not wish to tour, the various activities of the Mount Juliet estate are available - spa treatments, golf, horse riding, clay pigeon shooting, etc. The Jack Niklaus course at Mount Juliet is one of the top parkland courses in Britain or Ireland.
An alternative venue from the hotel for dinner is the Swiss Cottage at Kilfane Glen, a remarkable 18th century gothick cottage ornee. A romantic woodland garden dating from 1790, Kilfane Glen was designed to display Nature in all her terrifying beauty. Winding paths, clifftops, cascading stream, a hermits grotto, a waterfall and a tiny cottage orné work their magic on every visitor. Sir John and Lady Power created this garden on their Kilfane estate over 200 years ago, utilising the existing features of ravines, streams and woodlands. A waterfall was added by diverting a stream along a mile-long canal to a 30-foot rock face. At the base of this cliff, a grotto adds to the romantic theme. Winding paths lead to the thatched summerhouse - a cottage orné - from where the visitor may contemplate the carefully designed 'natural' garden. Walking through the garden, the eye is drawn to features such as bridges, seats, fountains - giving the impression of a series of rustic paintings. Through subsequent neglect, the garden became overgrown and introduced shrubs such as rhododendron and laurel spread unchecked, choking out the delicate woodland plants central to the romantic theme. Now the garden is being restored by the Mosse family, a family of famous artists. The upper garden is home to works of art commissioned by the Kilfane Trust .

Day 5 Time for shopping as you explore the medieval city of Kilkenny with its narrow streets and quaint shops. The impressive castle, the medieval merchants houses and the ancient cathedral make Kilkenny a memorable place to visit. Alice Kytler, a local witch, was a famous resident of the city in the 14th Century and your walking tour will dwell on some of the supernatural legends of ghosts that are still popular in the city. Pub lunch in Castledermot at The High Cross Inn. This delightful 'olde world' Inn contains a lot of interesting old artifacts that visitors can stumble upon. Located just a mile from the High Cross, the Inn is surrounded by well maintained gardens with plenty of Jacob sheep roaming freely. Return to Dublin. A farewell with an Irish "hooley night" of traditional dinner and entertainment at a famous local pub.

Four Night Incentive - Kerry based

Day 2 The day starts with a seafari, cruising down Kenmare Bay visiting Seal Island . The group are met by vintage cars at Dereen Pier and a Vintage Car Rally follows, bringing the group on a treasure hunt to the beautiful 18th century mansion of Bantry House for lunch. After lunch, pausing for a bit of My Fair Lady on the Blue Lagoon, where Shaw wrote the original, Return to Kenmare for a dine around – groups of 6 are entertained at private homes around the village.

Day 3 A morning of sports - archery, skeet shooting, quad biking and team games, followed by lunch on the banks of the lakes of Killarney. After lunch teams will remake the John Wayne & Maureen O’Hara classic movie The Quiet Man. Oscars for the best production will be awarded at a Traditional Pub Night this evening with musicians, dancers, Guinness, an Irish Whiskey tasting and hearty traditional dishes.

Day 4 As you depart for Shannon or Cork you will meet a local shepherd whose flock look set to block the road, until his dogs work to clear them into a field, where he will demonstrate their skill and give everyone a tiny farewell gift.
Throughout the trip cars and drivers are available and a hospitality desk manned all day.

Cavan & Castles

Arrive Dublin airport where you will be welcomed by our guides. Relaxing welcome in a restored 18th century mansion in the heart of Georgian Dublin, now The Writers’ Museum, with canapés such as miniature potato cakes and smoked salmon on soda bread. Entertainment will be provided by actors playing the parts of James Joyce, Brendan Behan, W.B. Yeats and other literary giants. Visit to the Whiskey Distillery where you will have the opportunity to discover the secrets of Irish Whiskey and sample the difference between Scotch, Bourbon and Irish Whiskey.

Transfer to the Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross. Co Monaghan. A fine 4 star Country hotel, 80 kilometers from Dublin, which offers an unrivalled range of sporting and leisure facilities. The parkland estate boasts a splendid 18 hole championship golf course. The country club has a swimming pool, whirlpool, sauna, steam room, gym, squash, tennis courts ad snooker room. Individually designed bedrooms are of a good standard.

Irish Piper to welcome group & Irish coffees on arrival. Dinner in the hotel followed by a night of music & dancing.

Transfer by coach to Castle Leslie, a Victorian castle 3/4 hour from the Nuremore. Set in an estate that covers 500 hectares around 2 lakes, Glaslough overlooked by the castle and Kelvey Lake deep in ancient oak forests. The castle has been the Leslie family home for well over 300 years, The home retains the original furniture, family portraits, books and archives going back to the 1660s.

The Last Great Picture Show - an adventure full of fun and mystique involving planning, communications, lateral thinking and creative work, Each team, armed with a camera and a booklet of instructions on the competition rules, ventures in search of the photographs in which THEY are the stars and based on a theme pre-arranged with the host company. The winning team wins the “Scoop of The Year”

The Final Crusade is a competitive challenge between three teams. Each will have to use their ingenuity to outsmart the other teams, They will all be provided with initial clues and have to use various forms of transport to get to the other clues. The transport will include Land Rovers, horses, mountain bikes and boats. Anagrams, puzzles and various other brain teasers will keep each team active as they navigate around the 1,000 acre estate.

A new form of transport and a new challenge today. Teams of four will be allocated to a car, equipped with a cell phone and a map - the things that we had before sat-nav! The bright ones will notice a CD in the CD player. That has the first clue on a treasure hunt that will bring them south towards Dublin . On the way they will be challenged physically, artistically and intellectually and will meet Irish farmers, shopkeepers and food makers. The ones who find the clues successfully - and they can always lose points and use the phone when they are hopelessly lost, will have lunch in a haunted castle. At the end of the day all they will have to show off their Graffiti skills to get their room keys from the Dublin Skanger who is the gatekeeper to their hotel rooms. A grand private dinner tonight in an elegant Georgian townhouse

A little time for shopping in Dublin before Late morning head for Dublin for a Jazz Brunch in one of Dublin’s trendiest pubs . Depart from Dublin airport where VIP security clearance has been arranged.

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