After a two-year pandemic hiatus from traveling abroad to perform, the Bucks County Women’s Chorus spent a week in Ireland performing. The Lower Bucks Times chronicled this international trip to the auld sod.

The group’s 38 members were eager to travel again, having had a set of performances in Greece cut by COVID-19. The group has a lengthy history of going on the road — and a far road it is. Its members have been to Italy, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Estonia, and Finland.

But the 2020 outing abroad was scotched with just a month’s notice.

The pause made the Ireland excursion even more meaningful. Tour stops were:

• Cobh, an island off the coast of Cork City
• Balbriggan, a suburb of Dublin
• Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland

Members even stretched their music skills to take on some Irish dancing classes with former members of Riverdance, the high-stepping, Gaelic performance group.

“It was an amazing tour in an incredibly beautiful country,” said chorus director and founder Pat Guth. “After two years of very little travel, our ensemble and their guests enjoyed a week of music, camaraderie, great food, and fun.”

The chorus, celebrating its tenth anniversary in 2022, is already planning a 2024 trip (the outings are every two years).

In the meantime, several members are singing with Foreigner, the 1970s rock band, in its upcoming show at Parx Casino.

More on the Irish tour of the Bucks County Women’s Chorus is at the Lower Bucks Times.