Ireland Places to Go
From major cities to the off-the-beaten-track destinations, we’ve got this place covered. We’ll share the hidden gems that only a local can discover.
The Old Shamrock Bar
I love this old pub on Connacht Street here in Athlone. There’s something so poignant about its dereliction. Vacant shopfronts like this are fading fast - Athlone is a growing metropolis. Across the street from the old Shamrock Bar is a brand-new shopping/apartment complex.
Date: August 27th, 2007 |
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Tour of Ireland
I spotted this sign in Burgess Park here in Athlone yesterday.
The fifth and final leg of this bicycle race starts at the strand here in Athlone at 11a.m. on Sunday (tomorrow) heading to Merrion Square in Dublin. The time allotted for this 147.7 kilometre leg of the race is 3hr12min. Wow - that’s pretty fast.
The Tour of Ireland means to be the Irish equivilent of the Tour de France, but this is its inaugural year.
Date: August 25th, 2007 |
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Photo montage of Dublin
Check out this photo montage of Dublin:
Date: August 16th, 2007 |
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Ireland vs Chile
Last night I went to my first match in Athlone Town Soccer Stadium to see the Irish under-19 team play the Chilean under-19 team in an international friendly match.
Date: August 10th, 2007 |
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Remember that summer in Dublin?
Heya Niall - hailing from my home in the East Bay - WHASSSSUUUUUP??
Date: August 2nd, 2007 |
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Tourism Ireland
This is basically an attempt to show people how diverse and perfect a visit to Ireland can be. Straight from the pages of tourism brochure, the only thing it doesn’t show is the rain *grin*
Date: August 25th, 2007 |
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Athlone Video Retrospective
This is a video sent to me by Joseph Blake of the www.athlonelive.com forum showing a small retrospective and some modern pictures of Athlone town. Fair play to him. Enjoy:
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Date: August 24th, 2007 |
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Last weekend of the world Fleadh
Only in its second year, The World Fleadh finishes its week-long stint in Portlaoise (its inaugural year was in Kerry).
The purpose and design of this Irish festival is to showcase the best of Irish traditional and contemporary music in a custom-designed village setting. The organisers mean for it to be the Irish answer to festivals such as those held every year in Lorient (France), Cambridge (England) and Milwaukee (USA) wherein Irish performers are always featured. The World Fleadh is when it all comes home.
Date: August 12th, 2007 |
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Sean’s Bar, Athlone - Oldest Pub in Ireland
There has been a pub awaiting weary travellers at the crossing of the river Shannon for over a thousand years.
But Sean’s Bar in Athlone isn’t just the oldest pub in Ireland. According to the lads at the Guinness Book of World Records, it’s the oldest pub in Europe. Excavations beneath the current pub have revealed wattle and daub walls, bits of crockery (mugs and the like) and self-minted coins the bar would use for trade with clients dating back to 900 A.D. Most of the artifacts are on display in the National Museum of Ireland, but a section of the walls is on display in the pub inside a glass case. Research is ongoing for the title of oldest pub in the world. So far, nothing older has been found.
There really is something magical about Sean’s.
Date: August 4th, 2007 |
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Roscommon IRA statue
Some time ago I wrote a post on Athlone’s IRA Statue. In my limited experience such a thing is quite rare, certainly at the centre of a major town like Athlone. Well, I was driving north through County Roscommon recently and came across the statue you see there to your left. I simply had to get out a snap a photo.
The difference between this and the Athlone brigade’s statue is not just size (the Roscommon one easily dwarfs its Athlone twin), nor is it location (the Roscommon statue is well outside any major town), but the fact that the Athlonian statue is a revolutionary era statue, specifically commemorating the soldiers who died between 1916-1922.
Date: July 25th, 2007 |
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