Cork guide Derek O’Keeffe finished the last tour of his 2026 season this week. To mark it, he and the Evergreen Private Tours team made a short film of the year, set to a song they wrote themselves, “Our dream lives on in you”. Every face in it is a guest who travelled with them.
Watch the 2026 season film
Derek also shared the film with our Love Ireland Facebook group. The season ran from March to October, and he says the planning began in the summer of 2025, long before the first guest arrived.
Four awards in one year
Derek says 2026 was also the year Evergreen Private Tours was named:
- Private Tour Operator of the Year, Republic of Ireland, at the CorporateLiveWire Innovation & Excellence Awards
- Private Tour Operator of the Year 2026, Ireland, at the EU Business News European Travel Awards
- Customer Satisfaction Excellence Award 2026, Ireland, at the same European Travel Awards
- Bespoke Tour Operator of the Year, Ireland, at the Irish Enterprise Awards
In his words: “Four awards. One commitment: looking after you and showing you Ireland.”
Where his guests went
Derek thanked the places that looked after his guests this year. The list reads like a tour of the whole island:
- Blarney Castle, County Cork
- Kinsale, where he thanks The Speckled Door and the Blue Haven Collection
- the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare
- Bunratty Castle, with Durty Nelly’s next door
- Kylemore Abbey, Connemara
- the Giant’s Causeway, County Antrim
- Titanic Belfast
- the Jameson Distillery
He also named the hotels where he stayed along the way, from the Grand Hotel in Malahide and Heaton’s in Dingle to the Menlo Park Hotel in Galway, the Titanic Hotel Belfast and The Ebrington in Derry.
2027 dates are open
Evergreen runs private tours for couples, families and small groups, with each trip planned around the guests. Derek says the 2027 dates are now open. You can see them at evergreenprivatetours.ie.
We have followed Derek’s tours for a while. Read how he plans each trip and one family’s seven days with him.
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