Mosney Memories

xzanti

Sorry if this has been done, I found this yesterday and the photo gallaries really brought me back to simpler times

Almost brought a tear to my eye

http://www.butlinsmemories.com/mosney/index.htm

Barney Magoo

Happy days though. I go way back before these pics. Used to go for a family day out treat to Butlins when we stayed in Rush in summertime. We were in awe of the amusements section with its mini rollercoaster and other rides. Even spent what seemed like hours in the indoor pool. Even the boating lake seemed bigger then.
Years later as smart alec teeenagers we came up on the train (is there still a stop for Mosney?), sort of brought it all into perspective having been at that stage to Disneyworld.

Run_to_da_hills

Seeing it from the Enterprise would have been the nearest I got to it.

Ooly

I remember going to Mosney for Community Games. Aw it was magical - I had never been out of Ireland & thought the place was awesome!

BluesBerry

I loved Mosney:D Every time we went as kids we got those silver bracelets that you got engraved with your name on in the gift shop
and always went on the peddle boats around the lake
I wish Mosney would reopen

darkdubh

I went up there for the community games in ,89.One of my overriding memories was a motorcycling display put on by the motor bike guards and a group of skangers from Cork shouting "pigs" at them.

RH149

Remember the TV ads for Butlins/Mosney where they show the kids swimming in the indoor pool -you could see underwater as it was surrounded by glass walls and a girl swims overto the glass wall and waves out at the camera. As a child I thought that was amazing -????

Loved going there for day trips on the train-would get all excited as it came into view- the boating on the lake was my favourite and the outdoor rollerskating rink.....we were easily pleased with simple treats!!

Hellrazer

Great link Xzanti-Brings back some memories.

I suppose my family was like most Irish people in the early 80s that not many of them went on foreign holidays and Mosney was your 2 week holiday every year from when I was 6 right up until I was 16.The last time I was there was around 1991/1992 for the yearly family holiday and jesus the memories of that year really brought it into perspective of how crap the place was for teenagers (I would have been 16/17)

But memories of being a lot younger were much better ie spending all day in the pool,the roller skate place,boating pond,cinema,Dan Lowrys?? in the evening with the crappy English style pagent things--knobbly knees,glamourous grannies,bouncy baby etc etc.

And then there was Shakers Nightclub--all I remember is being 16/17.the first nightclub I was ever in and vomiting all over the empty dance floor that apparently was always empty.

Then we have to roll onto 1994.My family are heading to Mosney for their yearly holiday,they ask me to go for even a few days,I ask my then girlfriend(now my wife) if she wants to go and her exact words couldnt be repeated publically.
She hated the place ever since she was sitting in the place under the pool eating and some kid ****s in the pool and rubs it on the glass right in front of where theyre eating--put her off mosney for life.

krankykitty

I used to be always jealous of the kids who actually got to stay over in the chalets in Mosney, I used to only ever visit there on a day trip with the summer project, or the family.

One time myself, my mam and my sister went out on the "lake" in those swan shaped pedelos. Sister decided she didn't want the trip to end, so kept turning it around every time the guy would call us in. He was pretty pissed with us by the time we eventually came in!

Also remember the freezing cold outdoors swimming pool and the perverts paradise of the canteen that had everyones lower half on display in the pool.

And for eats - the best thing was those big huge red dummy shaped lollies!

krankykitty

Oh oh! Mini wheel ride! Loved that (even when I got a bit big for it )

http://www.butlinsmemories.com/mosney/late80s/id413.htm

xzanti

and the perverts paradise of the canteen that had everyones lower half on display in the pool.

LOL yeah I always thought that aswel.. Pedo's dream, God it wouldn't happen nowadays..

+1 for the big red dummies.. and the baby bottles full of cheapo 'smarties' can still remember the sugary taste of them you'd be going home on the train with a multicolored face from munching rubbish.. Ah memories

My favourite ride was the Space Roundup.. I saw a guy throw up on it one day and it just stuck all over his face :eek: lol

Loopy

Hellrazer wrote: »

She hated the place ever since she was sitting in the place under the pool eating and some kid ****s in the pool and rubs it on the glass right in front of where theyre eating--put her off mosney for life.

Ew....:pac:
I remember sitting in the restaurant and you'd see young lads pissing in the pool while you ate your cold, soggy, greasy chips..

Peter138

I loved Mosney! If i won the Euromillions it would be the first place id buy and turn it back into what it was meant to be! A holiday camp!

On a side note, if anyone has any memorabilia of Mosney could you drop me a PM? Things that you would have bought in the place. Id particularly love any of the brochures they sent out every year, or a Camp Guide which you bought in the place for a pound when you got there, to see what was on during the week. Il offer £ for anything anyone has.

Catari Jaguar

Swan Pedalos!!

wyrn

Ah the memories. We used to go there most summers.

I can't believe no one has mention the Dragon Slide!! Remember it went underground and there were ropes hanging down from the ceiling. I loved the big red wavey slides as well.

I too have one of those 'silver' bracelets with my name carved in.
One of the best holidays I had when I was younger was when we stayed in the chalets for a few days. I thought it was the bees knees.

In this recession I think Mosney would have done well. It's too expensive to go abroad for many families but a day/weekend trip up to Mosney would be ideal.

Hellrazer

Loopy wrote: »

Ew....:pac:
I remember sitting in the restaurant and you'd see young lads pissing in the pool while you ate your cold, soggy, greasy chips..

But those chips tasted so good when you were there........Anyone remember the "Lazer quest" game they had aswell?Really **** since it was very young kid friendly--no running,jumping,hitting with guns :D
Also just remembered that ride that you stood up on--Think we called it the "Wall of Death" and in the evenings after the day trippers were gone we used to stay on it to see how many times you could go in it before puking.

Brilliant!!

smokingman

I was there for the community games in '86.
First time I had spent any time away from home, staying in one of the chalets with maybe three other lads.
Loved the arcade in there and played battlezone (the one with the visor and twin sticks) as much as I could. The wall of death thing they had over at the big red slide blew my mind at the time as well.

I remember we had a disco one of the nights and I spent the whole thing trying to get away from one of my room-mates who, while his Alien comic (from the movie) was the greatest thing I had ever seen, he was well creepy and followed me everywhere. When I did get away from him, two girls asked me to dance and I nearly exploded with embarrassment...well, I was 11 at the time...

Happy days indeed.

Brendog

1 thing I remember about mosney.....

Every bin had about 3 wasp nests in them and they were covered in a swarm...


gives me chills just thinking about it!!! :eek:

mondeo

Mosney closed down and the government housed aload of Asylum seekers there did they not? At least thats what I was told.

xzanti

mondeo wrote: »

Mosney closed down and the government housed aload of Asylum seekers there did they not? At least thats what I was told.

Correct.

Ann22

I never stayed in it...but my auntie used to take me to it for a day out..I also went on a school trip to it:). A day out to Mosney was a great summer hol treat.

Remember the radio jingle?-'Mosney! Holiday centre...Mosney by the sea!' I remember it well..the big red bumpy slide. The Octopus...which was later replaced by the Tempest ride which loads of people would puke on for some reason.

The yellow standing up ride was called the Space Round Up'. There was another ride in that area that we called the 'umbrella ride' I don't know the right name for it. Under the roof there was the 'Tilt-a-whirl' (loved that one..it was a waltzer type ride)..Then the ones for younger kids..- the 'whale' one and I think there was a little aeroplane one. Remember the amusment arcade's 'Morgana' who'd tell your future:).

Peter138

Just thought i should say that the majority of those photos are mine, which i sent over to Kevin who runs the Butlins memories. All of the "early 80s" photos are mine. Im the baby lol, and thats my mum and dad in the pictures. I was born in 1983 and since i cant remember the year those were taken in i just said it was "early 80s".

The "late 80s" photos are my first memories of Mosney, and when i fell in love with the place, and still do to this day (NOT with the foreigners in it!). I can remember playing with my cousin Susan (the girl with me in the pictures) out in the bowling green. We used to go every summer, and i used to collect the yearly brochures they posted out after Christmas for your mum and dad to book the holiday! All the late 80s photos are of me and my family, and i remember the next batch of photos were of 1993 because i was 10 and it was the first year we all went self catering. I also remember the Young Hoppers show well, with John and Teresa Collier!!


The reason i remember so much (and know!) is because i became a redcoat in 1998 when i was 16, after i wrote ot Phelim McCloskey the owner and asked for a job.


I wish the place was still open. It holds so many great memories for myself, and i wish i could continue those on for my children some day. But it looks doubtful as the place is raking in the money for the McCloskeys and they dont need to do a single thing. Im working on video footage (lots of it) from 1998 to upload to youtube, as a reminder for all those who miss the place.

xzanti

That's gas You were a cute little baby lol

CiDeRmAn

Always remember always getting on the train where the bell didn't work!
The young fellas waggling their privates out the windows at the bottom of the pool when you were trying to eat!

Best of all, I used to play Virtua Racing in one of the arcades, wonder if it's still there?
Wonder if they'd sell it to me?

diddler1

i worked there in the late 80's and it was one of the best summers that i can remember

Peter138

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Best of all, I used to play Virtua Racing in one of the arcades, wonder if it's still there?
Wonder if they'd sell it to me?

Haahaa you would have competition for that!!!

Nah i would want the afterburner arcade! Not only that but i LOVED the western shooting game called Mad Dogg something. It was amazing, and at 50p a go it was that, and Street Fighter II Turbo that completely ate my money. The last season i was there, they replaced it with another shooting game but it was with cops and swat teams. It was just as good, ah man so memories of that arcade. I think it was called Bobs Amusements. It had everything, from Bingo to Lethal Enforcers, air hockey and the Derby races. Oh and the roulette table with a ball! Man it was kiddie gambling heaven!Im trying to remember the other machines. I can remember Morganna that told your fortune, the tin can shooting alley, the 10p gambling machines with the things that pushed your coin into other coins then when you ran out you had to put a pound into the wall machine and it clinked out 10 10ps lol! Ah splashdown i think it was called.
OHHH remember that thing that was a small spinning platform in a glass case, and you pushed a button to move an arm to slide a cup over the edge and you won £10!!! It was far too hard and i never won. :-(

Penny Lane

BluesBerry wrote: »

I loved Mosney:D Every time we went as kids we got those silver bracelets that you got engraved with your name on in the gift shop

We went for a week once when I was 13, it was our first "proper" holiday, loved it. Still have my silver bracelet in a memory box LOVED the place.... only drawback was my folks had discovered Michael Bolton at this point and we had to listen to the same tape over and over and over and over for the whole week. Traumatised.

CiDeRmAn

I have to say, I used to wonder why my Dad hated the place, until I brought my then 3 year old sister to it, and then I knew, it was just money money money, and money for crap too.
By that time it was well in decline, 95 or so, and even though the pool had been done up, with the slides and the like, it was otherwise in poor condition.

I do have very fond memories of a Star Wars exhibition there one year.
And on another occasion they had an entire floor of Atari computers, the foyer had Holograms on the walls, and not the cheap ass lenticular things, but proper laser created ones, they were very awesome to this 11 year old, back in the day.
I remember playing Boulderdash on the Atari til our time was up, brilliant memories!

xzanti

Anyone remember the Dragon Slide in Funtropica? I only went down it for the first time on my last visit and discovered the underground pool that was a good day lol

Hellrazer

Peter138 wrote: »

Not only that but i LOVED the western shooting game called Mad Dogg something. It was amazing, and at 50p a go it was that,

Mad Dog Mcree it was called and I picked it up for the Wii last week.
Have to say playing it again on the Wii brought back memories.

raveni

xzanti wrote: »

Anyone remember the Dragon Slide in Funtropica? I only went down it for the first time on my last visit and discovered the underground pool that was a good day lol

Yep, was the first water slide I went on, was terrified at first then drove my ma mad trying to go on it as many times as possible:D

Peter138

Hellrazer wrote: »

Mad Dog Mcree it was called and I picked it up for the Wii last week.
Have to say playing it again on the Wii brought back memories.

You are joking me!!!!!!! :eek:

I sold my Wii a few months ago! But i will pick one up again because of this!!! Ive been DYING to play this ever since Mosney got it removed!


On another note i remember the Star Wars exhibition. It was the year they closed down the Gaiety Theatre cinema (again ANOTHER memory of going into there with a massive bag of crisps and cheap ass juice and a snack bar.) I cant really remember the Arari thing, but i remember the other arcade that was facing the kiddies playground was decked out in Atari merchandise.

I also remember the Swamp slide. It was awful buying a yellow rubber arm band to have a go. That reminded me of how bloody awful it was having to put your locker key around your waist or ankle, and ****ting bricks that you lost it in the pool.


Im sorry i can never go there again.

Garlic Suplmnt

Fond memory of some girl projectile pebble dashing the occupants of the Space Round Up, which was mid cycle and at full tilt and speed, with an aggregate of what looked like semi-digested silvermints, red TK and tayto.

Was very glad at the time that I never pushed my luck beyond the waltzers.

Den_M

Garlic Suplmnt wrote: »

Fond memory of some girl projectile pebble dashing the occupants of the Space Round Up, which was mid cycle and at full tilt and speed, with an aggregate of what looked like semi-digested silvermints, red TK and tayto

No carrots?! There's always carrots. Even if you haven't eaten a carrot in months! One of lifes most perplexing mysteries.

BroomBurner

We went here (I think) 3 times for our school tour, on day trips. I absolutely loved it. The Space Round-Up used to mock me with it's terrifying speed and standy-up-ness. Eventually, I got the courage to go on it, on our last visit there. It was class, went on another 6 times in a row, just off and straight back in to the queue again.

Will we ever see another funpark hayday that brought us the joys of Mosney, Clara Lara, Fun Factory, etc.?

bonerm

I remember going there once for a friends birthday and having a run-in with some chavvy knacker in the pool. I didn't know the guy from Adam but he was slagging me off about something and for whatever reason it stuck with me.

Now, this was the summer between 6th class and start of secondary school. I went to secondary school in a different town with all new kids and if that wasn't bad enough sure enough when I got into the classroom on day 1 yer man from the pool was there in the class. :eek: He of course didn't remember me, but I remembered him. Spent the next five years in his company.

Also when I got to University one of the guys from the b.day group that I had spent the day with (who I had never met before or since and who I didn't really get on with that day) ended up being in my class. :eek: Five years on from Mosney and he was still a spa.

Funny how things work out like that (usually not for the better either). Mosney probably should have done an Ad "go to Mosney if you want a taster for some of the jerks you're gonna meet later in life."

Big Nasty

I remember going there round mid 80's with my mother, sister, family friend and her two sons. Got the train up from Dublin, Mosney was one of the stops in those days!

diddler1

I worked on that slide letting all the kids down and collecting the yellow rubber bands as they went , that was one hell of a summer. 87 I think

ger vallely

Does anyone remember the 2 aliens? Can't remember their names, they had silver suits and were there to , well I don't really know what they did actually. I won 50p in the mother and child contest!The bar was Dan Tanners, manys the pack of Tayto and glass of orange I had there while the parents supped happily on a pint.I also remember the walk down to the beach, through the woods, it was quite lovely actually. Another memory is that it was the first place I ever had a 'starter', silver dishes with tinned grapefruit before dinner, very classy!

diddler1

the bar was actually dan lowerys bar

Duggy747

Ah Mosney, we went there a few times back in the mid 90s. I remember that big slide opposite the bumping cars, the arcades (10p back in those days got you some quality time on games :pac:), those orange pedal boats beside the go-karts, and that big spinning amusement ride that would lift up and go sideways.

I remember in one of the arcades (The one that had that game with steering wheels that let you control RC cars on a track from behind a window) there was this little kid who went around to everyone asking for money to play games. Every year we went to Mosney he was always there in the same place looking for money! I'd be in the middle of playing Mortal Kombat when I'd feel him tugging at my clothes, little punk!!

Ahhhhh..............memories.

Asphyxia

Two of my sisters used to work at Mosney I remember them taking me one summer I loved getting on the Molly Whales and the ghost train, we also went to the beach, it was one of the best holidays I had as a child. It was so much better than Trabolgan

grundie

I was there for a week in 1991. We booked a self-catering chalet and it was awful. Looked like it hadn't been touched since the 60s. The rest of the camp was OK-ish.

The pool was good, but way too overcrowded and I think it cost a pound for a go on the slide that went through the bottom of the pool. Not only that, when you got off the slide there was a lifeguard screaming at you to move on.

I remember the Space Round Up, it was my favourite ride. I also remember gettign attacked some swans for getting too close without realising.

I remember spending most fo my time in the Kawai Music Centre. It was a big room full of Kawai keyboards with broken headphones, It used to be an Atari computing centre, but they changed that the year i was there.

I was actually back there this year. My wife was doing some musical work with some of the refugees who live there. One of the guards let me have a wander around after I told him about my childhood memories. It really hasn't changed much.

Most facilities have been mothballed, but are still being actively maintained. The pool, theatre, shops and arcades gave been left as they were. The grocery shop is still going for the benefit of the residents. What was the hairdressers is now an internal call shop and internet cafe. The funfair still has some rides that look like they will never run again.

All the childrens murals are still in situ. Most of what were small childrens theatres and the like are now branches of various churches. It was weird seeing a mural of a 1980s vintage pack of Tayto crisps whilst someone was shouting how I would burn in hell if I did not repent.

I wish I had brought a camera with me.

markocork

Hi guys, I worked in Mosney in 1988 and it was the best summer ever. I went up there with my friend John Barrett. We worked in the kitchen first and then got transferred to the amusements. The wages I think was 49 pounds before tax but the crack was excellent. We got paid on monday and used to go to laytown and then back to Shakers nightclub. Lost contact with everyone up there, eg, Joe Sadd, Sile Molloy, Juliette O Byrne and MY FIRST LOVE Georgina Walsh. If anyone would like to contact us give us a buzz. Cheers Mark O Connell.:D

robo

Went to Mosney in 87, 88 & 89 I think. Great holidays. We went with family friends, there were about 15 kids & 10 adults.
But I was trying to think of something that no one mentioned...does anyone remember that they never sold chewing gum in Mosney!

admiralofthefleet

diddler1 wrote: »

the bar was actually dan lowerys bar

i remember getting drunk on kilkenny in there when i was about 14

Dr Bob

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

And on another occasion they had an entire floor of Atari computers, the foyer had Holograms on the walls, and not the cheap ass lenticular things, but proper laser created ones, they were very awesome to this 11 year old, back in the day.
I remember playing Boulderdash on the Atari til our time was up, brilliant memories!

yeah i remember that , it ran for 2 years at least (as the two years we were there I spent most of my time in there), used to play boulder dash , Montezuma's revenge, Bruce lee, Pacman and the educational stuff they had there as well.The attendant guys were pretty sound as well (I'm guessing they were 1st year comp.sci students on summer work).
I think it was a str trek exhibition following that , then a celtworld?? one and at some point a keyboard centre.

iguana

I went there in '79, '86, '87, '92 and '93. I don't remember much about the first time as I was a baby but apparently the milk up there was very rich and made me puke so my parents had to water it down for me.

In '86 my baby brother had been born that summer and my parents were planning a house move so my nana took me and my little brother up there for a week. My great-grandparents were also staying there for the week. I think it must have been some retirement group trip, as lots of my nana's friends were there.

It was brilliant, I got to sleep in the upper bunk all week because my nana said my little brother was too small to sleep up there, (my parents would have made us swap during the week). We were full-board so got to have a 3-course meal 3 times a day, which was fantastic, 2 deserts everyday! I came 3rd in the Little Princess contest (but everyone told me it was a fix and I should have won:D). I joked about that with my mother years later as an adult and she told me that many of the contests were fixed as if you came 1st in the contests you got a free holiday on the last week for the grand-final and the girl who came 1st was known to be a niece of one of the managers.:eek:

My favourite ride was the waltzers, which was a little problematic as you could only ride it without an adult if you were 8+ and I was a short-arßed 7 and 3/4. We had made some older friends and they used to run on to a car while my brother (aged 4 and 1/2) and I would stand at the steps to the ride until the guy running the ride had checked that the occupants of their car were all old enough and then when he wasn't looking we'd sneak on. It nearly always worked.:) (These were the innocent times when 7 and 4 year olds were allowed to spend nearly entire days out playing with kids they'd just met.) The Gaiety used to play movies for kids earlier in the evening, after the kiddy disco and during the adult dance, I remember seeing some fantasy set in the middle east, that still plagues me to this day as to what it was. This holiday is also weirdly memorable for the fact that our last night coincided with Hurricane Charlie hitting Ireland and my nana was too worried to let us out to the toilet (which was in a separate block) so we had to pee in the sink.:pac:

In '87 it was a full family holiday with my nana along too. We were self-catering that year as you couldn't be full-board if you had a child under 2 in your group, so I think my mum was a bit peed off with that. She didn't have the best holiday with having to cook and clean for us all. Afair, they still had the old pool that year. I remember seeing the brochure the following year with the pictures of the new pool and being gutted that we couldn't afford a holiday that year.:( I remember going to see some comedian with a beard in the Gaiety Theatre after the movie was over and the kids were mostly in bed. I stayed with my dad while my mum and nana brought my brothers to bed. I don't know if he was Scottish or not, but for years after whenever I saw Billy Connolly on tv I was convinced he was the guy from Mosney.:o (I actually thought celebrities performed at Mosney after seeing Aongus McAnally (of the, at that time, recently defunct Anything Goes) singing in the ballroom.)

In '92 I was in 13 so the holiday wasn't quite as fantastic. We were half-board that year, as full-board had stopped, so my parents used to tell us to save the breakfast bread rolls and jams so we could have them for lunch and save the same from dinner, so we could have them for night-time snacks. I was allowed to go on all of the rides that year without adults, including the Tempest which had been 12+ in '87. Problem was they had relaxed the rules so my 10 and 6 year old brothers were allowed too, which ruined my plans to lord it over them.;) We went on the Tempest 3 times in a row and my youngest brother puked. The best bit was that even though I was in the middle of both of them, he leaned across me and got sick on my other brother's shoes.:pac: The roller-rink was gone at that point and was replaced by the crazy golf, which was pretty disappointing as it did not have any moving obstacles and was mainly just trying to aim a ball up a slope with a few blocks in the way. I also really wanted to rollerskate. Also they'd really updated the movies they were showing in the Gaiety and were showing things that were at the video/Sky-Movies stage so I got to see them quite a bit before they were on tv. Arachnaphobia was my favourite.

In '93 I was kind of bored for a lot of the holiday, it was definitely a bit dull for a 14 year girl old with only two younger brothers to hang out with. I remember hanging out on my own a lot as there weren't really any other kids my age there. And that year they had organised some kids clubs which were for age groups 4-8 and 9-13, that my brothers spent a lot of time at. I'm sure they wouldn't have turned me away at the 9-13 group, but I was so small for my age I had a real bee in my bonnet about not being assumed to be younger than I was, so wouldn't join in. It's a pity they didn't organise a 14-16/17 group and have a few sports tournaments and discos for that age group. I'm sure I wasn't the only oldest child in family-teenager moping about, wanting to have a great time, but not having anyone to hang out with, because their parents are doing adult things and their siblings are doing kiddy things.

That was my last time going there. We had no proper holiday in '94 and by '95, when my parents and brothers were going I asked to stay behind. I was "in love" and I'm sure that not only would I have had a miserable time missing my boyfriend, but I'd have spoiled everyone else's time with my full on 16 year old drama queen moping.:o

Fittle

This thread has brought back so many happy memories:D

We never had holidays as a kid, but my friends aunt would bring us on a day trip to butlins one day, every summer. We lived for it, and considered it our holiday!

My immediate memory is eating sausages and chips in the restaurant and looking at all the people in the pool (crazy now, when I think back:eek:). I just loved the chair-o-planes...and the waltzers, though I remember turning green a few times on them.

The auntie would bring a huge bag of jam sandwiches and bags of crisps for us all, and we'd sit somewhere close to the outdoor pool for our picnic.

God, times were so simple back then ...the outdoor pool was always freezing, no matter how good the weather was! Not an ounce of sunblock of course...we'd be sunburnt to bits and exhausted on the train back into town, which seemed to take forever. It was for one day, every summer, for about 8yrs I'd say...the auntie died recently but I was always so fond of her for giving me my holiday every year....Great days:D

Peter138

Great memories! Hopefully going to be uploading a lot of Mosney footage to youtube soon. Stay tuned!

RichieC

Used to love the space roundup.... ah they were the days