Sunday 15 th April -
.After a long wet, dreary winter it was great to see McGinleys coach
waiting in the Square
to take a very large group of us to Belfast for our five day Spring
break.
With a very pleasant
and obliging Brian McGinley as our driver and guide, we headed north
in bright sunshine .
Our first stop was in Kells where we enjoyed lunch in the Headford
Arms
Hotel. On arrival in
Belfast we booked into the very comfortable Corrs Corner Hotel.
Monday 16 th - After an
early breakfast we continued north taking the coastal route through
Carrick Fergus towards
Ballycastle. None of us were brave enough to make the terrifying
trip across the famous
Carrick -a- Rede Rope Bridge. We continued on to visit the Giant’s
Causeway, one of
Ireland’s top tourist attractions which is steeped in myth and
legend. The
interactive exhibition
in the Visitor Centre helps you to explore the origins and stories of
the
Giant’s Causeway. As
we travelled through the magnificent scenery along the Glens of
Antrim, Brian
entertained us with tales of “Paddy the Pidgeon” . A plaque was
erected in
Glenacloy to his
memory..We had a brief stop to visit Bushmills Distillery where some
of us
enjoyed a free sample
of the “good stuff”. After dinner in the Hotel, some stayed on to
enjoy
the wonderful
entertainment while the card players adjourned to enjoy lively games
of “25”
Tuesday 17 th April –
We spent some time in Belfast city with a very informative local
guide.
We viewed the Albert
Memorial, Stormont Castle, the Opera House and the imposing City
Hall. In the afternoon,
some went shopping while more went to visit the Titanic visitor
centre, Belfast’s
largest tourist attraction.
Wednesday 18 th April –
We travelled along the northern shores of Strangford Lough to visit
Mount Stewart, one of
Northern Ireland’s most popular National Trust properties. Mount
Stewart is the Irish
family home of the Marquesses of Londonderry. It combines the
elegance
of impressive Georgian
mansion with the 70 acres of beautiful gardens. It houses
Internationally
important portraits, stunning silver, sculpture, furniture and many
other
family treasures. It
was indeed well worth a visit. To finish off our day, we enjoyed some
more retail therapy in
an Outlet centre on our way home. Thank you Brian for your
patience.!
Thursday 19 th April -
We pack our bags to-day and head for home after breakfast. We
stopped for a welcome
dinner in Tyrellspass Castle. A lot of weary, but happy travellers
arrived back in
Ballinasloe after another very enjoyable Spring break. Once again,
the
weather was kind to us,
we found the people in Belfast very friendly and welcoming. It was
nice to see the economy
booming once again .
Thanks to all the
Social Committee for the time and effort put into organising these
trips.
Chris O’Flynn (P.R.O)
April 2018
