The Ballybunion thread

snow scorpion · 08-06-2006 8:35am

http://www.ballybunionbachelorfestival.com/index.php

snow scorpion · 08-06-2006 9:49pm

A Blood Donor Clinic will be held at the Community Centre in Ballybunion on this Thursday night June 8thth from 6pm to 9pm.

So where exactly is the Community Centre?

snow scorpion · 09-06-2006 7:13am

I was listening to Radio Kerry today and heard the #1 song in Ireland this week: I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker

It's a great song. I can't stop listening to it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=lZl31jL0Q2E&search=sandi%20thom

Aero · 10-06-2006 5:52am

Hi all...
Just received a few more pictures from my sister. Thanks Ger!

Pics taken on Whit Sunday 2006.

Bye for now...

grizi · 12-06-2006 7:59am

from the Irish Times online http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2006/0612/347941342HM1ENTREPRENEUR.html

The chief executive of one of South Africa's biggest transport companies, Imperial Holdings, has won the Ernst & Young 2006 World Entrepreneur Of The Year award.

Bill Lynch (62), who is from Ballybunion, Co Kerry, emigrated to South Africa with his wife Ann in 1971....

snow scorpion · 13-06-2006 3:58am

Sandhill,

A flying visit to Ballybunion? Where are you gonna land?

And is that the church in the last pic?

For those of you who have Google Earth -and that should be all of you since it's free http://earth.google.com/

You might want to take a look at it again. It was updated today. In Ireland, all the county borders have been added and the major roadways have been labeled. And it looks like the photography has been improved. (Not as good as high-res as the pics of America, but an improvement.)

kyp_durron · 13-06-2006 4:09am

Great pics Aero, been years since I've been there. Ahh memorys. Mostly of been drunk as a teenager.:D

SandhillRoad · 13-06-2006 5:14am

Sandhill Road, but where ?

AERO quoted:Hi all...
Just received a few more pictures from my sister. Thanks Ger!

******************************************************

Wonderful photos of the beach Ger. keep 'em comming !
Enjoy the Summer.
If you see PJ and Meela tell them their cousin in USA says hello . The photo will help with the ID.
Thanks

SandhillRoad · 13-06-2006 5:16am

kyp_durron wrote:

Great pics Aero, been years since I've been there. Ahh memorys. Mostly of been drunk as a teenager.:D

.
My first drunk as a teenager was in Ballybunion. How sweet it was, until I walked home and the door was opened by my mother. My ears are still ringing !.

RiderOnTheStorm · 13-06-2006 9:57am

snow scorpion wrote:

I was listening to Radio Kerry today and heard the #1 song in Ireland this week: I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker

Do punk rockers usually have flowers in their hair? lol

snow scorpion wrote:

So where exactly is the Community Centre?

the community centre is on Lartigue road, the 'lane' at the back of the Golf Hotel, it joins main street with New Road (aka Kit Ahern Road, aka the ring road)

RiderOnTheStorm · 13-06-2006 10:19am

here is a very nice house for sale in Ballybunion. Its on the hill leading down to the Ladies beach. If any of you have not been here in the last few years, you wont recognise it as it has been almost rebuilt from scratch. It is out of my price range!!

http://www.sherryfitzgerald.ie/sf2003.exe?pageref=res_property&propid=MPP00847&pagemode=res

RiderOnTheStorm · 13-06-2006 10:30am

here are some apartments for sale in Ballybunion..... they are on the hill between the lane to the ladies beach and the Cliff house hotel

http://www.sherryfitzgerald.ie/sf2003.exe?pageref=res_property&propid=MPP00755&pagemode=res

RiderOnTheStorm · 22-06-2006 9:52am

sorry for the continuing lack of pictures, folks. My camera is playing up again. I hope to have it sorted soon.

News about town:
The International Bachelor Festival started last night. I didnt see any of it, but I read in the Kerryman that it was starting. There was very little advance warning around town about it! Maybe 'cause I am still a blow-in I am not partial to this sensative info ... lol Maybe everyone who needs to know about it already knows about it. I will try and get some info and photos before its over. For those of you who dont know what the Festival is...... bachelors from around ireland (and for last several years from around the world) enter into the Ballybunion version of Miss World .... except its guys, and the emphasis is on drinking rather than looks. There are tasks and trails over a 5 day period for the bachelors to complete, and organised events at night. Its good craic really.

The highlight IMHO is the bar-mans race and the terrier race. In the barmans race, local bar staff race down main street with pints on a tray (pints of water) and the first back wins! (not sure what the story is if the 2nd to cross line has more water in glasses than 1st)
The terrier race is for local dogs (terriers usually, but any mongrel is accepted....no greyhounds allowed!) where they race down main street. An old car is placed at the end of the street, and then its jacked up and one front wheel is taken off and replaced with a wheel with no tyre (if you get me). Then a very long piece of string is tied around the wheel and the other end of the string (at the other end of town) is tied to a sack. Upon command, the car is put in gear and revved, and the wheel winds in the string and pulls the sack and the dogs chase it. It is fantastic! There are crowds on both sides of the street and the Bachelors have to act as bouncers / security to keep people back off the road when the race is on. And the poor guys are usually wrecked / poisoned from nights and nights of drinking and dancing and singing.
I think I have a 30 second video of the race.... I will dig it out and see if I can post it here.

Hotel:
The $25million dollar hotel is progressing! Millionaire Tom McEnery (former Mayor of San Jose) said in the Kerryman yesterday, that they expect work to start on the new hotel within 60 days! I think this is great news for the town. This hotel-saga has been running for years, and I think the town will profit from having a new first class hotel. The plans are to build it on the site of the an old hotel (almost opposite Golf Hotel) and have a promanade or deck going down to the Ladies Beach (near the Sea Cliff Rescue buildings). It looks very impressive.

RiderOnTheStorm · 22-06-2006 10:23am

here is link to the terrier race of 2005
If you watch closely, you might see the Bachelors dressed in drag!

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

there were a couple of heats in the dog race, they have all been shoved together in this video

snow scorpion · 22-06-2006 8:33pm

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

Do punk rockers usually have flowers in their hair? lol

the community centre is on Lartigue road, the 'lane' at the back of the Golf Hotel, it joins main street with New Road (aka Kit Ahern Road, aka the ring road)

When I think of punk rockers I think of The Ramones. I can't really see Joey Ramone with flowers in his hair.

(It's a catchy song though.)

"back of the golf hotel" .......... I think there's a picture somewhere in the thread taken from the back of the hotel. Hmmm.

But "back of the golf hotel" OK, I know where that is.

Thanks, Rider

snow scorpion · 22-06-2006 8:41pm

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

here is link to the terrier race of 2005
If you watch closely, you might see the Bachelors dressed in drag!

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

there were a couple of heats in the dog race, they have all been shoved together in this video

VIDEO of Ballybunion?!?!?

Thanks, Rider!

I was just at YouTube last night (watching Elvis and Suzi Quatro singing - not together

) but I didn't look for any videos with Ballybunion tags. I used to do that, but there were never any results.

Rider, where is that sky blue wall? I've seen it before in some picture.

RiderOnTheStorm · 23-06-2006 3:03pm

that blue wall (about 45 - 50 seconds into the video) is the side wall of the Garda barricks (prob wall of the back yard of station)

Did you see the 2005 Bachelors in drag? they are there about 12 seconds into the video..... very nice 'girls'! lol

I am actually listening to the Ramones right now! I Wanna Be Sedated and Baby I Love You are my fav's .....
no, I cant see Johney wearing flowers..... maybe some black ones!

SandhillRoad · 26-06-2006 1:56am

Lots of shirts and ties and not a thong in sight.

It had to be a HOLIDAY WEEKEND for this crowd to be there

Cherry Tree · 26-06-2006 7:14pm

Could it be August 15th, traditionally the big day out. What year though?

SandhillRoad · 27-06-2006 1:49am

Cherry Tree wrote:

Could it be August 15th, traditionally the big day out. What year though?

CHERRYTREE ,
Not too sure ,probably late 50s or early 60s. No date on reverse of card. Looking at the clothes and haircuts it is not later than the mid 60s..

Dr. Bill · 27-06-2006 2:00am

Who is the sexiest person from Ballybunion/Listowel???

snow scorpion · 27-06-2006 5:05am

Cherry Tree wrote:

Could it be August 15th, traditionally the big day out. What year though?

When I was a kid, the entire family would go into the village "to see the 15th." When my brother and I asked what "the 15th was," my uncles told us it was a monster/creature that stuck it's head out of the sea.

snow scorpion · 27-06-2006 5:09am

Hey! We got a new kid to the thread.

Dr. Bill! Hello!

Sexiest person in Ballybunion or Listowel?

Well, that is a puzzler.

RiderOnTheStorm · 27-06-2006 11:34am

is it me?

RiderOnTheStorm · 27-06-2006 11:38am

Well, the Bachelor Festival came and went .... it was quick! It used to be a longer affair, but for the last few years it starts on Wed and finishes on Sun! I am sorry to say that I missed it all! It was poorly advertised (posters and banners going up the day after it started! that a great way to get tourists into the town, eh?) .... and due to illness I did not get out to take pics.

*hand on heart*
I PROMISE TO GET SOME THIS WEEKEND!

....any requests?
....and 'no', I will not get pics of the sexiest person in Ballyb! She has gotten a court order baring me from doing that again! lol

snow scorpion · 27-06-2006 2:38pm

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

*hand on heart*
I PROMISE TO GET SOME THIS WEEKEND!

....any requests?

How about a few of Doon Road? I used to walk along there regularly ... not that I would recognize it today.

And the view coming into town from the upper road. That's a great pic you took for post #499 on page 25. When I would walk into the village I usually came along the upper road (post #495). I wouldn't mind seeing what that view looks like today.

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

....and 'no', I will not get pics of the sexiest person in Ballyb! She has gotten a court order baring me from doing that again! lol

Ahhh, she's just playing hard-to-get.

RiderOnTheStorm · 28-06-2006 8:36am

no prob, Snow.

Doon road has changed in the last year! so I think it will be very diff from what you remember..... i will take a few pics.

i wonder if i can make a video of the road into town from Ahafona? (as passenger in car, of course!....safety first!) This new digi camera can take short videos, but I havnt tried it yet. The dog race video I posted before was on prev camera, but that started to act up ..... one of the reasons I havnt posted pics in a while (the other reason is that I am bad at time management and a wee bit lazy too!)

snow scorpion wrote:

Ahhh, she's just playing hard-to-get.

you think her brothers have forgotten that incident with the wet-suit, baby-oil and Mexican 4 piece guitar band? maybe I should go for it again, so ...... ;-)

SandhillRoad · 28-06-2006 11:00pm

Can you imagine sitting behind him in church??...

It also glows in the dark!!

snow scorpion · 29-06-2006 12:25am

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

no prob, Snow.
Doon road has changed in the last year! so I think it will be very diff from what you remember..... i will take a few pics.

An uncle of mine (since passed away) built two of the homes on the west side of Doon Road. I doubt I'd recognize them, but maybe something will ring a bell in the back of my mind. I seem to recall a few stores on the east side of Doon Road ... painted a mustard yellow ... and a red gas pump - or I guess I should say petrol pump not far from one of the houses. But I can't remember if it's up the road from the house or down the road.

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

i wonder if i can make a video of the road into town from Ahafona? (as passenger in car, of course!....safety first!) This new digi camera can take short videos, but I havnt tried it yet. The dog race video I posted before was on prev camera, but that started to act up ..... one of the reasons I havnt posted pics in a while (the other reason is that I am bad at time management and a wee bit lazy too!)

That was you that posted the dog race?! Very cool! I've been looking for some way to download some of the videos from YouTube, but so far no luck.

I've heard that digital cameras can record something like 30 seconds of video! I've got to get a digital camera! Still cameras that shoot video .... phones that take still pictures ... listening to radio in foreign countries over the computer ... text messaging ... electronics are advancing so fast it's just a matter of time before we have Star Trek stuff (transporters, holodecks, etc. Come to think of it, cell phones look just like the communicators on Star Trek.)

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

you think her brothers have forgotten that incident with the wet-suit, baby-oil and Mexican 4 piece guitar band? maybe I should go for it again, so ...... ;-)

Rider! I didn't know you were a romantic!

The Ballybunion thread

Comments