The Ballybunion thread

snow scorpion

Well, at least I got to see the half-marathon. Or parts of it anyway.

Unfortunately, I never got as far as the starting line. The second half of the winter here in NY did me in. Eighteen days of training in 7 weeks is not going to help anyone get to the finish line of a 13 mile run. I went for a run two days before the race and all I could do was 4 miles. And when the friend I was going to run with said she wasn't ready either I figured discretion is the better part of valor.

But I was impressed to see such a great turnout. 4000 runners in a city of 8,000,000 is impressive over here. But Ballybunion did 1200 runners in a village of 1300 people! I assume that means there will be a 2nd Annual Ballybunion Half-Marathon and 10K Run.

Congratulations to all.

Fireman

I was asked to do some photos for the Half marathon/10K road race by the committee so I put this together and posted it on you tube, Click on the link below


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvfPmsD9X14

jjreidy

thanks for that Fireman - good to see some pics of the day - wouldn't mind being there with the fab weather this week

jjreidy

found some more photos of the race -
http://www.listowel365.com/photogroup.asp?grpid=94

force majeure

BPKS wrote: »

I stumbled across this thread recently. I felt I had to comment despite saying to myself that I wouldnt originally.
Very amusing I must say - a Ballybunion thread dominated by people not from Ballybunion at all.
And the latest Pizzagate scandal - I bet it'll be the lead story in the Kerryseye next Thursday.

I from kerry and am very very close to old BallyB as its called, mind you never post here, cant think why.:pac::pac:

Blackrocks

Rider2 wrote: »

Well, a lot of places will be closed on Good Friday, like most towns in Ireland. All the pubs and shops will be anyway. Best thing is to come down on Thurs evening and get settled in and see the lie of the land. On GF you can go for a walk on the beach (or a surf, or swim if you are brave enough). Explore the country side or take a leaisurly stroll around town to find somewhere you can go the next day. There will be lots of folk wandering around on the Fri. Do you know anyone in Ballyb? If you do, there is sure to be a session in someones house on GF night, cards, music, drink & craic. Get yourself invited somewhere!

For a good walk try going out to the Golf Course, and there is a lovely walk from the left of the club house (just go under the arch) across to the beach. Or there is an unusual walk from the Cashen Car park (just go straigh on past the Golf Club to the car park at the end), where (when the tide is out) you can stroll across to the dunes and see a man-made rock pool that fills with water when the tide is in. Good place for a dip when its too hot! The Cashen Car park is also home to 2 notable sites of medieval / stoneage significence. I heard recently, that the Cashen was to be the site of the trans atlantic airport, but Dev was from Clare, so it went to Shannon.

Closer to Ballyb, on the mens beach, there is the Black Rocks. When the tide is out (this Easter this is abut 3pm) they are well worth an explore. Just be carefull! They rocks are slippy and sharp ! Opposite the Black Rocks is Yellow Point (look for the remains of a wall by an old concrete pipe). If the sand is washed away, there are great fossils to be seen in the bedrock.
On the Ladies Beach the cliff is worth a good look (if you are a geoligist). Or try the cliff walk (start of this walk is halfway down the Glen road ... the hill road that goes down to the seaweed baths...are these open Easter w/e?). That goes along the top of this cliff all the way around past the 9 Daughters Hole and you can see the Virgins rock (a big arch'ed island in the sea), just near the Nuns Strand. If the tide is out, you can go down to the nuns strand via a steep & wet slope that has a rope secured nearby for assistance. This is not reccomended if you are on your own, or have never done it before. Get an experienced friend to show you!

There is the Runballybunion race on Sat so there will be lots of life around then. I know you are running Qwerty, but others may like to just sit by the side of the road and watch the Half Marathon straggleres come in. After the race there will be great craic in the pubs & clubs (The Golf Hotel nite club Roumers, and JD's & Cashen are good dancing venues too).

Not sure what is on in the theatre that w/e. Will have to check & get back to you (or you can find out on your GF stroll around!). The leisure centre is open, and so is the library & community centre. The library is a quaint old church that was transported brick by brick from nearby Ratoo.

I think a trip to the Golf Club could be good, you never know when someone wants a 4th to make up a team.

Pubs (for thurs sat & sun night)
Railway bar (trad pub with music often)
Mikey Joes (good pub, loved by the locals)
Bunker (music, karakoe, pool table & good restaurant upstairs)
Cashen & JDs (music & dancefloor, good mix of young & old)
Badger Kellys (newly done up & good food too)
Olde Attic (juke box & pool table, younger crows early in the evening, older later .... my local during the summer!)
The Exchange (great pub, lots of life & craic, & smallest beer garden in the world!)
Hartey Costellos (lovely lovely pub...)
Kilcooleys (great trad pub, great restaurant & pub grub, award winning chief, oldest pub in Ballyb?)

Restaurants:
Black Rock Cafe
Kilcooleys
Bunker
The Exchange
Hanrahans

Most pubs will do pub lunches, and there are a few good chippers in town too..... Chineese on East End, beside Country Flavours, an Indian on main st, Marios pizza opposite the Golf Hotel,

Check out Cissie Macs, the oldest toy shop in Ballyb. Or see the Marconi Stone where Marconi sent the first wireless voice radio braodcast across the atlantic.

Great to see all that my childhood town has to offer! Best - ABSOLUTE BEST PUB LUNCH is at The Bunker - on the corner opposite the Golf Hotel - two take-aways just below it, Zzapps has great chicken wraps (mmm!) and Mario's is a newer one doing pizza - not to disagree but opposite those is the very oldest toy/gift shop - was always called 'The Souvenir Shop' and amazingly I'm told is still run by the same family - its been there since pre 1950., guaranteed to find something different there - I hear they haveamazing shells there - good for a stroll around. McMunns frequently have brilliant music there - it would be wonderful if they had their upstairs open air mezzanine area open as pub or bistro - the views would be amazing. Now that I'm back again, all Ballyb needs is a warm sunny summer - best beach ever and now the surfing is class to watch! Enjoy - oh and dont miss the dolphins - met somebody recently who had beautiful wooden hand-carved dolphin that they bought in Ballybunion. , but watch out for our real dolphins in the waves!

Lola87

Is the coastal rocks festival on again this year? And if so what dates??

Irishkid

Have they started work on those new flats on the beach?

air

Irishkid wrote: »

Have they started work on those new flats on the beach?

No.

RiderOnTheStorm

Blackrocks wrote: »

ABSOLUTE BEST PUB LUNCH is at The Bunker ..........very oldest toy/gift shop - was always called 'The Souvenir Shop' ...... dolphins

The Bunker ..... +1 , yes, very good food
Is the Souvenir shop that old? I stand corrected ... & it is a great little place with something for all pockets
How could I forget dolphins as an attraction? I love to see them in the summer. Often a pod of 4 or more. Had the pleasure of being in a boat a couple of feet from one as he chased a fish out of the water. Lovely animals. They are often seen close to the shore too, so keep an eye out when you walk along the beach!

TargetWidow

Blackrocks wrote: »

not to disagree but opposite those is the very oldest toy/gift shop - was always called 'The Souvenir Shop' and amazingly I'm told is still run by the same family - its been there since pre 1950.,

Cissy Macs is 110 years old this year. They went into the toy business between 1920 and 1930 according to the memory of Alicia, the niece of the original Cissy, who is still running the shop today, and remembers getting toys there as a toddler herself, and remembers her brother 12 years older making little bird toys to sell there.

A ceiling in the house collapsed there this week, and when they went to pull down the old bits left to replace them, they found a fabulous antique child's toy drum dating from the 1920's. Before selling toys, they had the first outlet in Kerry selling ice-cream and postcards in Ballyb. And before that Cissy was renting the building from Scottish Provident and sold vegetables there until she had made enough money to buy the building outright. Cissy Mac was an amazing business woman for her time.

And +1 on The Bunker. If Jack is behind the counter himself, see if he can be persuaded to do a ham and cheese toasty... they are the best!

Blackrocks

Just checked with grandparents and when the Souvenir Shop opened, it was run by O'Keeffe family though owned by that lovely Fitzgerald man, God rest him, he was a gentleman. When Mr. O'Keeffe was there it was a jewellers and giftshop and really unusual and SissyMac as she was known then was a great character turned her front room into a shop. A lady called Miss Hawney opened her guest house 'hotel' to the Christian Brothers and from there the storys are endless. Fitzgeralds were first shop, they started their family there apparently and SissyMac used to come across the road to Mrs to get her perm done. I know the above is true fromchecking archives but if anybody knows any more stories it would be great to hear them. I believe the West End - I believe this may be Miss Hawney's had a great 'dinner gong'!!
Bring back the old days Ballyb - Wouldn't it be great to see a seaside like this where all support each other in business and a great community spirit would evolve?? Anybody agree?:):)

snow scorpion

A movie called "My Brothers" is showing at the Tribeca Film Festival. And the reviewer is describing it as "highly recommended."

From the producers of last year's award-winning The Eclipse, My Brothers is a beautiful and heartwarming road movie set during the Halloween weekend of 1987. The eldest of three boys, 17-year-old Noel has always been the reserved, serious, and responsible one. When he accidentally breaks his dying father's wristwatch that he won from an arcade in the town of Ballybunion, he "borrows" his boss' bread van with his two younger brothers—11-year-old Paudie and seven-year-old Scwally—in tow.

The young man then decides to "borrow" the van that he delivers bread in, and drive it down to the seaside arcade where "Da" got the timepiece in the first place. The brothers end up tagging along; car troubles and unfortunate encounters ensue, as do the expected flare-ups and fights.

Did the boys get as far as Ballybunion to film some scenes for the movie?

stormwatcher

Can anybody tell me what are the best pubs in ballybunion going there in a few weeks on a hen party and have been looking for names of pubs,iv been told the Badger kellys is a good spot.

Blackrocks

Mikey Joe's probably the best. best atmosphere. Exchange, Bunker and Railway good too.
or the Feale. Try them in that order!! Have fun!

Cherry Tree

I took this photo this morning.
Hopefully the car will soon be cleared away and the culprits brought to justice.

jezzag

Cherry Tree wrote: »

I took this photo this morning.
Hopefully the car will soon be cleared away and the culprits brought to justice.

What idiots....

Irishkid

Hi All,

am thinking of buying one of those apartments at the beach, if anyone is passing by there with a camera could you take a pic of the view standing in front of the current houses, then one from down the beach a bit showing the current dwellings (minus the burntout car (muppets))

Many Thanks

Vipermax55

Hi All
Can anybody tell me if there is an abundance of holiday rental
accommodation ( houses and apartments ) usually available for
the summer months in Ballybunion ?. Or is it quite hard to
find somewhere unless you book well in advance ?.
Thanks

ladybird2010

Vipermax55 wrote: »

Hi All
Can anybody tell me if there is an abundance of holiday rental
accommodation ( houses and apartments ) usually available for
the summer months in Ballybunion ?. Or is it quite hard to
find somewhere unless you book well in advance ?.
Thanks

Friends of mine, came to ballybunion recently and used this website site (http://www.holidayhomesdirect.ie/) to view and book their accomdation. Found it great

TargetWidow

I would know a couple of nice places that might have some availability depending on what you wanted and dates etc. Let me know the dates by PM and I will try to put you in touch with them.

virginrock

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

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FarmerGreen

http://www.youtube.com/user/Folternsgarten#p/a/u/1/eikESbu7JbU

AnBealBocht

Fireman wrote: »

I was asked to do some photos for the Half marathon/10K road race by the committee so I put this together and posted it on you tube, Click on the link below


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvfPmsD9X14

' Ballybunion's Flight of the Mighty at the Marathon 10K '.

Thanks, great vid.

Vipermax55

TargetWidow wrote: »

I would know a couple of nice places that might have some availability depending on what you wanted and dates etc. Let me know the dates by PM and I will try to put you in touch with them.

Hi TargetWindow

Thanks for your reply .
I am looking at this from the other end . I am considering doing up a
house with a view to renting it out for the summer season and spending
time myself in it during the winter . I am just tring to get a feel for the
demand for summer accomedation in the town . I know it depends on price , location , standard of the house and especially the weather ect but just trying to get an idea .
Thanks

TargetWidow

Ah sorry Viper! (sez Targetwidow, totally holding the wrong end of the stick as usual) :rolleyes: Good luck with that then.:)

On another note, I read today that the Ballybunion Coastal Rocks mini-festival is on again this year! Wohoo! Can't wait.:D

useurename

Hoping to get some information from the locals.Just wondering what the new estate called the links is like.i think its on the road by the golf course and close to the irish college.they seem to be good value and i was just enquiring what people from ballybunion thought of it.

RiderOnTheStorm

TargetWidow wrote: »

On another note, I read today that the Ballybunion Coastal Rocks mini-festival is on again this year! Wohoo! Can't wait.:D

Yes, I just found out yesterday on Facebook.

The Coastal Rocks concert is on Fri 25th & Sat 26th June, and will feature the Coronas and Hothouse Flowers.

really looking forward to it (again)! It was great last year !!

TargetWidow

useurename wrote: »

Hoping to get some information from the locals.Just wondering what the new estate called the links is like.i think its on the road by the golf course and close to the irish college.they seem to be good value and i was just enquiring what people from ballybunion thought of it.

hi useurename.... personally speaking I don't think the time is right for investing in the type of property the links represents and Ballyb prices are still way too high. Just because they have dropped a bit doesn't mean they represent a bargain.,.,.

Heres a link to a guy who holds similar opinions and is far more qualified than me to hold them!:D My advice is hold tough, bargains will be had in time.

http://www.davidmcwilliams.ie/2010/04/21/the-great-property-scam-is-back-to-rip-us-off-again

lollsmc

Was just wondering if there is buses running from tralee to ballybunion for monday night maddness?