Top Ten Reasons to Visit to Cleveland, Ohio

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According to Forbes*, Cleveland, Ohio has something for every type of traveller with world class experiences ranging from culture to food and drink, music, outdoor adventure in an urban setting and sports. Though there are countless reasons to visit The Land – here are the top 10:

1) During the Total Solar Eclipse on 8 April 2024, Cleveland will be in the path of totality. The moon will block out the sun for nearly four minutes – one of the longest durations of any major city in the path.

2) Travellers can now fly direct to Cleveland from Dublin with Aer Lingus. The flight launched in May and operates four times a week, with connections from London Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Passengers can carry out their pre-clearance in Dublin so that, on arrival at Cleveland airport, they can avoid immigration queues, quickly collect their luggage and start their Cleveland experience immediately.

3) Cleveland is The Land of urban outdoors, sitting on one of the Great Lakes – Lake Erie – and close to the 33,000-acre Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Visitors looking for outdoor or active experiences during their visit can take advantage of the many activities available on and around the lake and the national park, including paddle boarding, kayaking, sailing, hiking, birdwatching and biking.

4) Every music fan should visit the world-famous Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at least once in their lifetime. The museum tracks the evolution of rock and roll and pays homage to the most influential artists. From June 24 to January 2024, a new exhibit ‘Hop at 50: Holla If Ya Hear Me’, commemorates 50 years of hip-hop with never-before-seen and “new school” artifacts from artists like The Sugarhill Gang, Salt-N-Pepa and Jay-Z. Through iconic jewellery, fashion and records, visitors can follow hip-hop from moguls and social issues, east to west coast and all the beats, rhythms and art that happen in between.

5) For theme park fans, Cedar Point is known as the roller coaster capital of the world, home to 70 rides including 18 world class roller coasters. Cedar Point also boasts a recently reimagined, slide-filled waterpark, sandy beaches, and an activity park with go-karts, mini golf and the like.

6) The Cleveland History Center tells the fascinating story of Northeast Ohio through one-of-a-kind items, documents and artefacts from a variety of collections.

7) Located in the University Circle neighbourhood, Cleveland Botanical Gardens consists of 10 acres of beautiful gardens and the 18,000-square-foot Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse. The Glasshouse takes you into the Costa Rican rainforest full of lush plants, butterflies, and birds, as well as to the spiny desert environment of Madagascar.

8) West Side Market is the oldest indoor/outdoor market space in Cleveland. It has been featured on many food and travel programmes and is popular with both tourists and locals. It has numerous stalls offering not only fine meats and vegetables but also fresh seafood, baked goods, dairy and cheese products, and even fresh flowers. There are also booths that sell ready-to-eat foods, herbs, candy and nuts.

9) The Cleveland Cavaliers play at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Downtown Cleveland.  Taking in one of their exciting games is a must-do for any NBA fan. Baseball and American football fans can also enjoy professional competitions in downtown at Progressive Field (home of the Cleveland Guardians) and Cleveland Browns Stadium.

10) For 50 years, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland (moCa) has presented the art and ideas of the time. As a non-collecting institution and the region’s only contemporary art museum, moCa is ever-changing, introducing new exhibitions three times a year and creating fresh experiences for visitors each season.

Click here for more information on Cleveland.

Kindred Spirits – The Irish & the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma

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Kindred Spirits – the title of a stunning commemorative installation in Midleton, Co Cork – perfectly describes the longstanding relationship between the people of Ireland and the First Nations of what is now the USA. The stories of how that bond came about are many and varied, but surely none is more poignant than the gesture of solidarity by a group of oppressed, impoverished people 5,000 miles away, with the people of Ireland in their time of need.

More than 175 years ago, when the Irish were suffering through the Great Famine, in 1847 they were gifted with $170 (a considerable sum at that time) by the Choctaw people of what would become the state of Oklahoma, in the heartlands of the emerging USA. The aim of the Choctaws was simply to ease the suffering of fellow human beings, whose grinding poverty had struck a chord with the tribe. All the more remarkable, since they had just completed a gruelling forced march along the notorious Trail of Tears from their original lands in the south to US government reservations in the heartlands of the country.

Recorded on a brass plaque in the grand Entrance Hall of the Lord Mayor of Dublin’s Mansion, the Choctaw peoples’ generosity has become more widely known in recent years, and in June 2017 Kindred Spirits was erected in Midleton, Co Cork and dedicated at a moving and widely-attended ceremony by Chief of the Choctaw Nation Gary Batton. In 2022, a Choctaw delegation once again made the journey to Midleton to view it, as do an increasing number of Irish and international visitors.

And now Kindred Spirits – nine huge steel feathers in the shape of a cup, set amid the greenery of Bailick Park in the town – is to have a companion installation, across the Atlantic in Tuskahoma, Oklahoma.

The Choctaw Nation and Irish Government have revealed their plans for ‘Eternal Heart’, soon to be installed on Choctaw Capitol ground in Tuskahoma. Samuel Stitt, a member of the Choctaw Nation, submitted the winning design, combining a heart shape and a Celtic trinity cross. The heart will be specifically located to face toward Ireland, representing the eternal bond between the peoples of the two Nations.

The Choctaw Nation – with more than 220,000 tribal members and associates, the third-largest Indian Nation in the US, can trace their origins back more than 13,000 years and today – nearly 200 years after their gruelling journey along the Trail of Tears – they are a thriving community with a recently opened and impressive, interactive Cultural Center in their headquarters town of Durant / Calera, Oklahoma.

For international visitors young and old – not least those from Ireland -the Center is a ‘must-visit’ stop on any Oklahoma road trip.

Click here for more information on Oklahoma.

Aer Lingus to Launch Minneapolis-St. Paul & Denver Flights in 2024

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Aer Lingus is set to launch new direct services from Dublin to Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul in Summer 2024.

The new additions will bring the total number of Aer Lingus routes operated between Ireland and North America to 18. This strategic expansion reflects the airline’s commitment to its Dublin Hub strategy, not just between Ireland and North America, but also offering seamless connections to Europe.

Flights to Minneapolis-St Paul commence on April 29th, 2024, increasing from four-times weekly to a daily year-round service from next October and will be served by their newest aircraft the A321XLR from Winter 2024. Dublin – Denver flights, which will also operate four times a week, will begin from May 17th,
2024.

Passengers departing from these cities can also enjoy the convenience of onward connections to 20 European cities via Dublin.

Aer Lingus ranks fourth in the world in terms of the breadth of its longhaul network serving key US gateways and is the fifth largest European carrier based on the number of seats on offer between the US and Europe.

Speaking at the launch of the new Aer Lingus transatlantic routes, Aer Lingus Chief Executive, Lynne Embleton said:

“With Dublin’s geographic position as the gateway to Europe, pre-clearance facilities at the airport and the strong, long established Irish American ties, Aer Lingus is ideally placed to connect people and places across the Atlantic.”

“Denver and Minneapolis-St Paul are significant business destinations within the US and the new Aer Lingus routes facilitate corporate links and connectivity between Europe and North America, through our Dublin Hub. Denver’s position as the ‘Gateway to the Rockies’ and its outdoor appeal, from world class skiing to hiking, opens up a whole new US experience to leisure travellers from Ireland and Europe.”

“This summer has been our biggest yet, with 2.25 million seats to North America and the successful addition of Cleveland, Ohio to our network. We are confident in our growth strategy and look forward to welcoming customers onboard these two new routes next year.’’

A Gateway to Opportunity

The new direct route to Denver will facilitate increased business collaboration between Ireland and Colorado’s thriving industries. Colorado-based companies, including Level 3 Communications, Otter Products, Webroot, Graebel, Emergentics, and Paragon 28, have already established their European headquarters in Ireland. Denver’s growth in technology, renewable energy, and aerospace offers Irish businesses an avenue to explore new markets.

The city’s rich Irish heritage and vibrant Irish American community provide an ideal setting for strengthening business relationships.

The reintroduction of the Minneapolis-St. Paul route amplifies Ireland’s engagement with the robust business landscape of the Twin Cities. Companies including 3M, Smiths Medical, and Medtronic are headquartered in Minnesota and have successful Irish bases. The Minneapolis-St. Paul region is the seat of 15 Fortune 500 company headquarters, including popular chain stores Target and Best Buy. The cities have been noted among North America’s fastest growing tech hubs and share some significant parallels with Ireland.

Learn more about Minneapolis.

Learn more about Denver.