About Us
My name is Martin Kelly and I have a deep passion for the nature, history and heritage of my country. For over 20 years I have worked
as an approved tourist guide, showing guests from all over the world around the most popular sites in Ireland.
However, there is so much more worth seeing, both ancient and modern and even the combination of the two. This inspired me to set up Martin J. Kelly Tours and Events and I have designed these tours to show you the hidden gems of the part of Ireland where I grew up. I am sure that everyone who comes on a tour will find something interesting to chat with me about.
Our ‘Regular Tours’ focus on tuning the traveller into particular aspects of the richness found in the unexplored but equally fascinating parts of the ‘Ancient East’. Many of these places are right on Dublin’s doorstep, so there is no need to waste long hours sitting in a coach.
But the ‘Ancient East’ is not just ancient. On our ‘Event Tours’ we focus on themed tours and special adventures to enrich your own creativity or learn how my fellow countrymen mix old Irish handcrafts with their fancy new ideas. Experience the Irish way of life as you have never imagined it.
Our coach tours bring you swiftly and comfortably out of the hustle and bustle of the city and give you insights into worlds which you otherwise simply would not see. We guarantee an interesting, educational and memorable experience and all at an easy pace.
About Martin
Martin started guiding shortly after he graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a BA in Germanic Languages in 1997. Since then he has guided hundreds of diverse tours around the length and breadth of Ireland, in between working on archaeological excavations all across the country, as well as one fascinating dig in Iceland. He has also organized and delivered workshops to school groups on many aspects of Ireland’s heritage, including woodlands, peatlands and archaeology.
He fuels his interest in history and archaeology by attending lectures at the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland and postgraduate research seminars in Trinity College Dublin. He is a director of the Irish Peatland Conservation Council, an environmental non-governmental organisation, which lobbies the government on behalf environmental interests, particularly those relating to the protection of Ireland’s endangered boglands.
He is a member of The Approved Tourist Guides of Ireland (ATGI).
Academic Qualifications
Event Management, College of Management and IT, Dublin 2018
MSc World Heritage Management, University College, Dublin 2009
MA Archaeology, Queens University, Belfast 2004
BA Germanic Languages, Trinity College, Dublin 1997
