Tony Kirby was born in Limerick city. He has also lived in Dublin and Bologna. Tony started leading walk groups in Dublin city in the late 1990s.
Tony moved to the Burren in County Clare in 2002. He founded Heart of Burren Walks that year.
Tony audited 60 holy wells in North Clare for the Clare Holy Wells project https://heritage.clareheritage.org/category/places/holy-wells
He is currently writing a book on children's burial grounds in the Burren. Tony lectures widely on the region's heritage. Topics include holy wells, children's burial grounds and folklore.
Outside of work, Tony is active at the community hub X-PO in the parish of Killinaboy. X-PO is housed in the former Killinaboy post office. X-PO activities include heritage talks, an Irish language club, film evenings, field trips....Tony lives in Killinaboy with his wife Eimer and two sons.
IN THE MEDIA...
MAGAZINES Cara (Aer Lingus in-flight) and Knack (Belgium) ;
RADIO CBS (USA) and RTE (Ireland);
TV RTE and TG4 (Ireland).
GUIDE BOOKS Heart of Burren Walks is strongly recommended by the 2025 editions of guide books Fodor’s, Frommers, Lonely Planet, Guide de Routard and Rick Steves Ireland.
NEWSPAPERS
Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Tribune, Sunday Business Post (Ireland) ; Guardian and Daily Telegraph (UK) ;
Hannoversche Allgemeine (Germany) ;
USA Today and The West Australian.
Hannoversche Allgemeine (Germany) ;
USA Today and The West Australian.
THEY SAID
"Thanks to Tony for making our guided Burren walk an unforgettable experience.
A Burren walk with Tony offers beauty, geology, history, nature, politics, ideas, serenity, spirituality . . . This is the one to take." Tom Quinn, Dublin Ireland.
