About Dara McCarthy
Welcome to the website of Dara McCarthy, a Dublin tour guide who provides private Dublin walking tours, day trips from Dublin and Ireland tours.
Dublin tour guide
I provide private walking tours of things to do in Dublin and driving tours of the rest of Ireland.
As well was my Dublin Walking Tour, I also give a private Dublin Pub Crawl for small groups or if you feel like a day trip from Dublin you can take my Powerscourt Tour or take the Glendalough Trip.
My tour approach is to condense down history to understandable and relate-able information, show you some hidden things off the beaten track, examine the characters and tell you the funny stories of the Irish capital.
I have a degree in History from University College Dublin, am a Fáilte Ireland approved tour guide for Dublin City and Environs and I also work for Rick Steves in Dublin, throughout Ireland and in Italy.
I have over 10 years tour guiding experience including at Trinity College Dublin, the Vatican and Rome for 5 years, Glasnevin Cemetery (Irish National Cemetery) and the General Post Office (Headquarters of the 1916 Rising).
My clients have included Prime Ministers (Enda kenny TD), Deputy Prime Ministers (Martin McGuinnes MLA), Congressional Delegations (US Congress), some well known politicians, journalists, actors but most of the people who take tours with me are normal members of the public like yourself.
I always include skip the line tickets to the sites we visit so you waste no time waiting in line and I include recommendations for lunch, dinner and a good place for local music or entertainment.
vatican tour guide
Many of you visiting this site may have had a friend take one of my Vatican & Sistine Chapel tours in Rome, where I lived for five years.
I brought groups of 20 people through the HQ of the Catholic Church, twice a day, six days a week, 9 months of the year for 5 years. It adds up to over 40,000 through the corridors of the Vatican.
I offer a licensed tour guide service where you can book one of my tour guides in the Eternal City. I still have many friends who live in Rome and I visit the city for work and pleasure often.
If you don’t want a Vatican tour, you can read my articles on the Sistine Chapel, or St. Peters Basilica or St. Peters Dome among other parts of the Vatican.
rome tour guide
Having provided tours of Rome Italy for 5 years, I have excellent tour guide contacts who can bring you on a walking or driving tour of the attractions of the Italian capital.
If you don’t want a Rome tour, you can check out my articles on the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon and the other piazzas of the Eternal City.
music
I used to write electronic and classical music which you can listen to and download for free here.
the name dara
If you are visiting this site from outside Ireland, my first name, Dara, is a common Irish name for men, first noted in Celtic Literature The Tain Bo Cuailgne about events dating from the first century AD. Like many Celtic names, my name is quite common in Ireland.
The name first occurs in the Bible, 1 Chronicles 2:6: “The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all”. Spelling variations include Daire and Darragh.