The Ballybunion thread

djlor

Hi, Myself and group of friends, between twelve and fifteen were thinking of Ballybunion in early August, maybe from the 1st to the 8th...We're all in and around eighteen age bracket, where is best for reasonable accomodation?Where's best for the nightspots and what else is there to do in Ballybunion.?..

Cheers

TheBishopOfSoho

Any one have a decent photo of the castle before the storm a couple years ago took the top off it? Used to have a great desktop wallpaper one time...

Hooch

djlor wrote: »

Hi, Myself and group of friends, between twelve and fifteen were thinking of Ballybunion in early August, maybe from the 1st to the 8th...We're all in and around eighteen age bracket, where is best for reasonable accomodation?Where's best for the nightspots and what else is there to do in Ballybunion.?..

Cheers

Lots of places to stay in Ballyb. Your best bet is to do a deal with somewhere for that amount of people. The golf hotel (not the best), cliff house hotel and Cooleys across from Garda Station are the hotels. The 19th Lodge, The Tides and the cashen course house are the big guest houses that could cater for you. You wont find anywhere in town that will be able to cater for more than 10 people.

Once your over 18 the best pubs for you is the exchange first (talent) and once finished there head to Jd's for late bar or club (even more talent). (The cashen is next door, full of teeny boppers wouldnt be the nicest of people using the place, but that would be the locals opinion.)

First two weeks will be mad!!! Always is. The weekend of the 7-9th has a huge tag rugby event on the beach. Monday nights are the big nights in Ballybunion. Started by Jd's several years ago, and no adapted by other pubs, Monday Nite Madness is just that....MAD!!!:D

Ye'll have a ball in Ballyb...by the sea

snow scorpion

TheBishopOfSoho wrote: »

Any one have a decent photo of the castle before the storm a couple years ago took the top off it? Used to have a great desktop wallpaper one time...

I searched Flickr for "Ballybunion Castle" and got 397 hits.

I looked through the first couple pages only and found a fairly nice photo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23629083@N03/2267312148/sizes/o/

Here's the list of all 397 results:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23629083@N03/2267312148/sizes/o/

djlor

nice guy always wrote: »

Lots of places to stay in Ballyb. Your best bet is to do a deal with somewhere for that amount of people. The golf hotel (not the best), cliff house hotel and Cooleys across from Garda Station are the hotels. The 19th Lodge, The Tides and the cashen course house are the big guest houses that could cater for you. You wont find anywhere in town that will be able to cater for more than 10 people.

Once your over 18 the best pubs for you is the exchange first (talent) and once finished there head to Jd's for late bar or club (even more talent). (The cashen is next door, full of teeny boppers wouldnt be the nicest of people using the place, but that would be the locals opinion.)

First two weeks will be mad!!! Always is. The weekend of the 7-9th has a huge tag rugby event on the beach. Monday nights are the big nights in Ballybunion. Started by Jd's several years ago, and no adapted by other pubs, Monday Nite Madness is just that....MAD!!!:D

Ye'll have a ball in Ballyb...by the sea

Cheers man, much appreciated....We'll definitely be heading down anyway...What about holiday homes though??Ballybunion Holiday Homes or somethin'??

briman1983

Have a look for the Trident holidays homes or the brambles. Trident would be the better ones.

http://www.tridentholidayhomes.ie/Self-Catering/Ireland/Kerry/Ballybunion.aspx

djlor

briman1983 wrote: »

Have a look for the Trident holidays homes or the brambles. Trident would be the better ones.

http://www.tridentholidayhomes.ie/Self-Catering/Ireland/Kerry/Ballybunion.aspx

Perfect, thanks man....

hi_im_fil

Are there any cheap hostels/hotels or campsites around the area? A group of around 7 of us are going down there for a few days in a few weeks and just want to see whats available there?

We we're going to go camping but apparantly the campsite place is closed now

RiderOnTheStorm

there are no official campsites in Ballyb (to my knowledge) but some of the mobile home parks will allow tents to be put up. They often allow camper vans to stay overnight. Just ask the site manager for permission and you will prob get a result. There are over 10 mobile home parks in BB so you should find 1 that is sympatethic.

Or you could try a field at the outskirts of town. Again, ask a local (or owner if you can find him/her....easier said than done!) and you should be ok. Try out twoards Beal (at very edge of town) or twoards the Cashen (by the end of the golf course) .... you will be out of range of drunks coming home and wanting a bit of mindless fun. But you wont have running water / toilet facilities.

There is always the sand-dunes .... but thats not reccomended.

Update:
there are no cheap hotels / apartments / etc in Ballyb in July & Aug. A mobile home or holiday home or apartment are about 400 - 600 per week.

hi_im_fil

^^ Thanks for the input. We're still sussing places out.

holly1

:DHello Folks I have been reading the posts from start to finish,it took me four glorious hours.The memories that have come flooding back are of sunny,carefree and romance filled summer holidays in BallyB during the 60s/70s.My family went there every year for two weeks and the odd month on holidays,I made great friends and the odd boyfriend:D(met my first love).We stayed in many houses over the years but the one that sticks in my memory most is the one on the Cliff road,there was two together and they had glass verandas(cliff hotel end).We spent so many happy summers in that house.
Thanks for the memories lads.I am going to keep looking in on this thread and keep in touch with BallyB.

RiderOnTheStorm

holly1 wrote: »

...reading the posts from start to finish,it took me four glorious hours....

wow.... you read all the posts! I think this earns you some sort of prize or title .... mutual respect at the very least!

welcome to the Ballyb thread Holly :-)

I think I know those 2 houses beside the Cliff House Hotel.... they are still there! I can take a pic this weekend and post it here if you like. You can let us know if it is the place you used to stay.

holly1

Thanks a million Rider,would love to see it again,you are very kind.

snow scorpion

I've heard some bad Irish accents before, but ... :eek:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQjBhMvophg

chupacabra

Savage full irish from that diner on Main st. Had to be said

fintonie

Hi there folks Ballybunion now there's a place that brings back many happy memories, I used to go there every year for about ten years with me kids and x misses, jasus the memories are flooding back my best mate used to go with us him and his misses and there kids. It was all about the beech it was brilliant pure sand no stones or shells and the water there was no seaweed or jellyfish in it which really helped to get the kids into the sea, loads of people sitting around playing, sunning themselves, opening up a picnic basket sitting everything on the picnic blanket waiting to dive in, the kids burying themselves in the sand then bursting out and running through the summer breeze to get a spin on the donkeys. squealing shouting giggling, chatter chatter all around, then up to the railway bar for a few to kill the thirst. Yes it was and i would say still a class spot it brings a tear to my eye thinking about it that was when we were a family unit why do things have to change so drastically ooooooooo to step into the tardis revisit when the sun shined and I noticed it .

snow scorpion

Welcome to the thread, fintonie. There's always room for a new face around here. To help alleviate your nostalgia for Ballybunion you could wander over to YouTube, there are more than 150 videos of the village there.

And Flickr has more than 3100 photos:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=ballybunion&w=all

Don't be a stranger. Stop by regularly.

snow scorpion

chupacabra wrote: »

Savage full irish from that diner on Main st. Had to be said

"Savage full irish"

I like the sound of that but I don't know what it means.

DenMan

Was only there once. Family holidays back in 1994. Is still remember it. Has it changed much over the years? Would love to go back.

holly1

fintonie wrote: »

Hi there folks Ballybunion now there's a place that brings back many happy memories, I used to go there every year for about ten years with me kids and x misses, jasus the memories are flooding back my best mate used to go with us him and his misses and there kids. It was all about the beech it was brilliant pure sand no stones or shells and the water there was no seaweed or jellyfish in it which really helped to get the kids into the sea, loads of people sitting around playing, sunning themselves, opening up a picnic basket sitting everything on the picnic blanket waiting to dive in, the kids burying themselves in the sand then bursting out and running through the summer breeze to get a spin on the donkeys. squealing shouting giggling, chatter chatter all around, then up to the railway bar for a few to kill the thirst. Yes it was and i would say still a class spot it brings a tear to my eye thinking about it that was when we were a family unit why do things have to change so drastically ooooooooo to step into the tardis revisit when the sun shined and I noticed it .

Hi there Fintonie, I just found thread a few weeks ago and spent hours reading through the posts,and like yourself it brought memories flodding back of family holidays there.My post is number 83 on page 1242 if you want to read it.
It was a magical place for children and adults.:)

holly1

snow scorpion wrote: »

"Savage full irish"

I like the sound of that but I don't know what it means.

Hi Snow Scorpion,a"Savage full Irish" just means a brilliant breakfast with everything from rashers,sausages,black and white pudding,fried eggs maby beans and mushrooms,tea/coffee and toast,Im after making myself hungry now:rolleyes: .

snow scorpion

holly1 wrote: »

Hi Snow Scorpion,a"Savage full Irish" just means a brilliant breakfast with everything from rashers,sausages,black and white pudding,fried eggs maby beans and mushrooms,tea/coffee and toast,Im after making myself hungry now:rolleyes: .

Ah! OK! I wonder if he's talking about that diner on the north side of the street with the cash register just inside the door on the left. I had breakfast in there one morning -- the food was really good. My brother even mentioned that to the woman running the place.

fintonie

did they pull the castle down, I heard they were going to replace it with a new hotel, and i also heard rumours that someone was trying to get a nudest beech set up, tomashins pub this is where Clinton stopped for a pint, and the bould JP MacManus like to go in there for 1 also. Ok got to stop thinking bout it for a while have a good day folks.

slackerdude

Hi,

The castle is still standing, just about, if by that you mean the old ruins overlooking the sea. The Castle hotel was sadly knocked down a few years ago. I've been coming to BB for almost forty years (initially as a young baby). I will be travelling there soon again to swim in the sea at the golf beach which is far quieter than the ladies or mens beaches. The sea walks are wonderfully relaxing on warm days when a mild breeze is blowing. I miss the cinema (now also gone) which showed some old films during the summer months. I regret not having made a pass at some of the pretty foreign girls I met there as a teenager. One French girl in particular stands out in my memory. Then again, I look back fondly on those warm summer days spent on the beach with my family and friends. In essence, bitter sweet are my memories of this cherished place.

snow scorpion

Another new kid in school! Isn't this becoming a popular thread!

Welcome, slackerdude. I hope you'll make this thread a regular stop during your surfing.

:cool:

holly1

Am I also welcome Snow Scorpion.

fintonie

yes slackerdude it was the ruins I was talking about, it seems Ballybunion holds alot of memories for a multitude of people, I guess for those of us who spent our younger years there from teens up to late 20s for me sen. It is a time in life where were setting our future up, unfortunately a lot of people sacrifice the good times for an uncertain future, as has happened in the last 2/3 years alot of people have lost the savings and investments plus also losing those precious times that were sacrificed, so if your reading this and you feel like you need to take stock and invest time in your family but never seem to get the time, switch it all off now, turn the light off and walk out of the room then look at the smiles you create when you say ok folks were going on a bit of a holiday some down time you wont regret it .

slackerdude

Thanks for the welcome snow scorpion and to fintonie. I am slowly but surely making my way through the entries in the thread. Some have mentioned comics. The comic images brought back good memories and I still recall the feverish excitement each friday evening as I awaited my weekly consignment of fun. Not wishing to get too risque in this thread but the frequent refs to the black rocks reminds me of an extraordinary sight from my youth: an old man was drying himself on the rocks as I made my way to the pools and he made no effort to hide what still ranks today as the largest ... I have ever seen. Some people have referred to the old golf clubhouse. I don't remember the first clubhouse but I have happy memories of the second one which was situated where the new one now stands. I always looked forward to eating a meal there with my parents as it was a special treat and I think the food was better than it is in the new one. Most of the time we ate in our holiday home. I'll end on a creepy note for now. As a child I sometimes visited the graveyard beside the golf course with friends and on one such occasion we noticed that one of the crypts was open so I descended a few steps and saw a few coffins with skulls inside. Needless to say, the crypt was shortly afterwards sealed up.

TargetWidow

Took shelter from a shower on the Men's beach on sunday and had the best cup of tea from the little shop with the surf school. Shame they didn't have any cream buns, I would've gladly fallen off the dieter's wagon for something to go with that tea! Who would've thought growing up in Ballyb that we would ever have something as cool as a surf school?:D

chupacabra

Something will have to be done about those ruins alright. To tear them down would be a disaster, i often sit out on the cliff over the barriers on the front face. Beautiful spot alright.