Our Retreats

Upcoming Retreat Opportunities • The Details
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TRANSFORMATIVE TRAVEL TO THE NORTH OF IRELAND - A FEAST FOR THE SENSES AND NOURISHMENT FOR THE SOUL, LED BY FRIENDS WHO ARE EAGER TO SHARE THEIR STORIES WITH YOU, AND INVITE YOU INTO A NEW WAY OF TELLING YOUR OWN STORY.

You’re invited to join us on a journey of hope, healing, creativity and community. Staying in historic restored accommodation including cottages in exquisite natural surroundings, with a group of friends old and new, enjoying the landscape on amazing walks, hearing music and story, meeting locals, experiencing the peace process in encountering people directly involved in activism and change, and getting to know the culture of northern Ireland, immersed in Celtic culture ancient and new. Good food, inspiring art, and beautiful journeys on foot will form the heart of this soulfully unique and transforming experience. Led by warm-hearted, thoughtful and knowledgeable guides, this will be a seven or eight day experience - for around 25 guests only - that might just last for the rest of your life.

You can find out about our 2025 retreats below. Some last-minute places are available on our October 2024 retreat - contact us for details.

Click here to be informed when we announce future retreats, and to receive the free email newsletter from The Porch Community which hosts the retreats. You can unsubscribe at any time.

an invitation from our host, gareth higgins.

Many people have taken trips to Ireland, but few have wandered off the beaten path, forming communities of pilgrims who wanted to experience Ireland in authenticity rather than the more antiseptic/corporate tourist trip where feet don't touch the ground and souls might as well have stayed on the plane. Growing up in northern Ireland I often wished I could show folks the beauty of our landscape, and the depth of our stories, not to mention the hard and rewarding task of peace-building.

I've been privileged to co-lead a few similar trips in the last couple of years in my home of Northern Ireland, with amazing writers, musicians and teachers. I'm delighted to be joined on our upcoming 2024 retreats with friends whose gifts for expanding our ideas about storytelling, engaging difference, and walking through difficult journeys will animate us beautifully.

Our trip is full of surprises, but I can tell you that mornings will often feature gathered conversations, afternoons we will walk the landscape, and in the evenings there might be music, storytelling, and maybe even a touch of firewater! You'll meet friends and colleagues with whom we have been honored to walk some of the journey, peacemakers and poets, you'll walk by the sea and amid mountains, and there'll be plenty of time to take by yourself for whatever you need.

What we are privileged to offer and co-create is a reimagining of the traditional concept of retreat. What we’re inviting you to is something like a hybrid of retreat, peacemaking pilgrimage, community gathering, artistic experience, and inner adventure. So this is not a typical retreat - nor are our participants tourists! Our retreat participants are people who want to respond to an invitation to peace-building on the inside and out, with deep reflection and creative stimulation, among a community of fellow travelers. There will be laughter and questions and quiet and a balance between having lots of things to see and learn while also providing space for the kind of renewal we all need. We’ll meet folks with fascinating, creative, and courageous stories; and we’ll hope to take home with us some lessons, some inspiration, some fuel for our own journeys, whatever challenges we’re facing, or doors we’re being invited to go through. We’ll also have fun! Part of our commitment is to try to learn how to take life seriously without taking ourselves too seriously… To help you decide if this retreat is for you, we invite you to read the brief reflections from previous retreat participants found at the bottom of this page.

In nearly a decade of hosting these retreats we've found that mystery creates an environment that invites a deeper journey, both into the inner spiritual landscape, and among the community participating. So we don't provide a detailed or day to day itinerary of the retreat in advance. (For what it's worth, Breakfast is usually around 8 or 8.30am, and we gather as a group around 9 or 9.30am most days.)

A day might include:

• Conversation with writers, peacemakers, and other teachers

• Walking a coastal path or mountain trail

• A visit to a museum or cultural or religious heritage site

• Live traditional Irish music

• Opportunities for private reflection, meditation or one-to-one spiritual direction, a stroll by yourself, or a nap!

We will say, however, that opportunities to visit the following are usually included:

• Giant's Causeway

• Ulster Museum

• Mourne Mountains

• Silent Valley

• Belfast City Centre

• Downpatrick and St Patrick Centre

• Clonard Monastery

• Traditional Irish music pub session

• Corrymeela Community

• North Down Coastal Path

There is also opportunity for personal sightseeing, quiet reflection, walking alone or with fellow retreat participants in beautiful surroundings, visits to traditional Irish pubs, and even an afternoon's golf (if that’s your thing!). Optional visits at an extra cost can be arranged to sites including:

• Titanic Belfast Museum

• Bushmills Distillery

• Ulster Folk and Transport Museum

• We're more than happy to advise on extended itineraries before or after the retreat. Our retreat leaders are highly knowledgeable about sites of interest in northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland (especially Dublin and Galway), and can also advise on visiting Scotland, England and Wales.

• We can also advise on sources of information for those interested in exploring family history, genealogy etc.

• Many of our previous guests opt to extend their stay in Ireland. We’re happy to advise on itinerary!

Applications for 2025 retreats are open now.

Read below for further information, or click here to open the application form in a new tab.

Places are strictly limited - we can accommodate around 25-30 guests on each retreat, and our retreats quickly fill up. So, if you know this is for you, or if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are eager to welcome you!

Cost (excluding airfare) includes:

• The services of all guides and retreat leaders, support staff, and guests from the world of arts, media, politics and peacemaking.

• Four nights in 400 year old thatched cottages or historic renovated corn and flax mill, stocked with traditional Irish breakfast foods.

• Three or four nights in converted 140 year old country house/retreat center by the sea on the edge of Belfast with cooked breakfast.

• Lunch or dinner most days.

• Transport from Belfast hubs to accommodation, and on organized trips throughout the tour.

• All admission fees to sites such as cultural centers, museums, etc.

• The use of all accommodation facilities including lounges, gardens, etc.

• A life-changing experience of spirit, imagination, and community.

SAVE WHEN TWO PEOPLE APPLY TOGETHER! FOR FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS ALIKE, THE COST IS REDUCED.

A final note: When serving food, visiting sites of interest, and hearing from creative people and those who work for peace, we prioritize local suppliers, organizations, and guests; the cost of our retreat makes a meaningful contribution to the wellbeing of people and places where we host our retreats, and to the ongoing work of transformative storytelling for the common good. In order to make the retreat widely accessible, we're glad to offer advice to people who need to raise financial support to join us, including folk with continuing education and sabbatical funding. If the cost of the tour is a stretch, please let us know. We'd be glad to help you find ways to join us if we can.

About Our Hosts

Gareth Higgins is a writer, storyteller, and community leader who grew up near Belfast during the northern Ireland Troubles. Author of How Movies Helped Save My Soul, Cinematic States: A Journey Through the American Dreamlife, and co-author of Religion, Civil Society and Peace in Northern Ireland, he writes and speaks about connection to the earth, cinema and the power of dreams, peace and making justice, and how to take life seriously without believing your own propaganda. He was co-founder of the Wild Goose Festival, The Porch Magazine, and Movies & Meaning, and he's happy to be a work in progress. He leads trips to his native Ireland every year, inviting participants to go beyond the beaten track, to experience the landscape and history through the lens of a story about people learning to live at peace with one another. Find more about Gareth's work at www.garethhiggins.net.

Brian Ammons, M.Ed., M.Div., Ph.D. is an educator, spiritual director, coach, writer and ordained minister. A former faculty member in Duke University's Program in Education and for over eight years Chaplain & Director of Spiritual Life at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, NC, Brian was named Interfaith Youth Core Outstanding Educator in 2017. Brian holds a PhD in Education with a certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies from UNC-Greensboro, and is an ordained minister in the Alliance of Baptists tradition.  Brian was trained as a coach in an International Coaching Federation accredited program jointly sponsored by Pinnacle Leadership and The Center for Congregational Health, and formed as a spiritual director through Shalem Institute’s spiritual guidance program.  

Brian has written and spoken widely on themes of vocational discernment; interfaith work in higher education; and the intersections of gender, sexuality, and spirituality. Find out more about Brian’s work at www.theporchcommunity.net/coaching-spiritual-direction.

2025 retreats with Diana Butler Bass, Kathleen Norris, Over the Rhine, and David Wilcox, hosted by Brian Ammons & Gareth Higgins

Can’t Make it This Time Around?

Is travel to Ireland is more of a stretch than staying in the US?
Join us for The Porch Gathering in March 2025:
a weekend of conversation, music, movies, storytelling, and community - near Asheville, NC.

"Few memories bring as deep and wide a smile to my face as the Ireland Retreat. It's a pilgrimage, a field trip, an experiential learning adventure, a community, a vacation, and a full immersion in Ireland's history, poetry, and beauty all in one. Gareth Higgins is a master storyteller and more: you'll come home with stories of your own to tell and savor. Really, you should go!" - Brian D. McLaren, Author and Activist, Florida

“Ireland Retreats, led by Gareth Higgins, are the best way I know how to do the three things I expect from travel abroad: (a) get to know local people who are vitally engaged with the culture (in this case, the peace movement); (b) become more deeply immersed in the country’s rich history; and (c) experience the natural beauty distinctive to the area. On the Ireland Retreat you experience all these things and you have a great time, get to know interesting people in your group, and get to know yourself better as well.” - Eric Elnes, Ph.D., Pastor, Oregon.

“This retreat time in Northern Ireland has nurtured me, changed me and brought me much joy. Please give yourself the gift of this never to be forgotten experience.”  - Karen Moore, Inn-keeper, North Carolina

“Gareth is a warm and insightful guide on both the geographical journey through his homeland of Northern Ireland, and the soul journey that is woven into it. He also has a knack for assembling cohorts of fellow travelers and local friends who will enrich both adventures. I can’t recommend this trip highly enough.” - David LaMotte, Musician, Writer & Activist, North Carolina

“Sure, there’s beautiful views that will inspire you to fill your camera with images, and there’s beautiful walks that will fill your lungs with air. But the ideas that stir your imagination will inspire interesting conversations that fill your mind with beautiful questions, and all together, the Ireland adventure will fill your heart with hope.” - David Wilcox, Musician, North Carolina

“We've had the extraordinary gift to be on retreat with Gareth in northern Ireland. The experience of taking time away from our demanding lives to sink into their amazing stories, music, and meaningful conversation, has brought both healing and an incredible new energy toward deeper purpose in our lives.” - Francie Calfo & Trent Jones, Producers, California

“You couldn't pay a world-class tour guide enough money to get what we got: not just a journey to extraordinarily beautiful places, but a pilgrimage of the soul and action that has changed my life.” - Ken Sehested, Writer, North Carolina

A NOTE ON COVID-19: As we navigate the pandemic, we are committed to doing everything we can to ensure our retreats are safe and serve the common good. We are, of course, monitoring the situation in light of the pandemic. Everyone’s health depends on each of us acting for the common good, and our retreats will only take place if it is safe to do so as recommended by the public health authorities in Northern Ireland. 

Here are three principles of how we're responding to the pandemic:

1: We follow public health advice and requirements issued by the government of Northern Ireland, where the retreats are held. If we are required to cancel or postpone a retreat due to public health requirements, we will offer a full refund of your retreat registration fees as early as possible, along with the opportunity to register for a future Ireland Retreat.

2: Our retreat groups are small and there is ample time provided for solo or small group activities, and space to be outdoors.

3: The best defense against the virus includes a range of measures, including vaccination, hand washing, social distancing, and mask-wearing. For our 2024 retreats we ask that all participants act responsibly in a spirit of mutual respect for the wellbeing of all participants.

In short, we want to share a wonderful experience together, and seek to honor the well-being of us all, inside and out. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions.

If any of our retreats are rescheduled due to Northern Ireland government public health requirements, we will issue a full refund of registration fees and also offer participants the alternative option of transferring their registration to a future Ireland retreat within six to twelve months. With that said, we encourage you to apply now, confident that we are committed to the common good and the health of us all. Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions; and wishing you all good health, safety, and community even at a time of necessary distance.