There's one thing that everyone in Ireland agrees on. If you want to experience the country's most dramatic scenery and get an authentic taste of traditional Irish life, you've got to spend time in the west of Ireland.

If you like old Ireland where people are speaking

Irish and some of them are wearing the old sweaters and the odd guys running around in a donkey

and cart and it's just a real relaxed lifestyle. Head out from Galway to the Inishmore and if it's a sunny day it's as big

of paradise in Ireland as I've ever seen.

Hi, I'm Rick Steves.

Irish tour guide Stephen McPhelamy takes us to the rocky west coast of Ireland today on travel with Rick Steeves.

He'll tell us how the West still holds on to the traditional culture of the Irish people like

no place else in Ireland.

And to celebrate St Patrick's Day in true Irish fashion, you'll probably end up in a pub.

Barry Foy wrote a curious little book called Field Guide to the Irish Music Session,

and later in the hour he'll walk us through some of the conventions of those traditional Irish jam sessions.

The traditions of Ireland are calling us today on Travel with Rick Steve's.

If you're dreaming of experiencing Ireland in the extreme, you got to go to the West Coast.

Hi, I'm Rick Steeves. Stephen McPhelamy joins us in a moment to shepherd us through the highlights of Western Ireland.

And later, we'll learn about the unwritten rules of an Irish music session from Barry Foy,

for the pub audience and for a want-to-be participants as well.

Ireland's a little island, relatively speaking, 5 million people with a huge impact

on Western civilization and especially a huge impact on the United States of America.

Must be 40 million Irish Americans coming out of that little island with a rich history.

And if you want to visit Ireland and if you want to visit Ireland in the extreme,

I recommend going to the West Coast.

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