Last minute dash to the West.

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At the last minute we decided as a family to head away to Adare, a lovely old world village situated approximately 18 kilometres Southwest of Limerick City, the gateway to the West of Ireland. Due to COVID and other personal reasons we have't had a family holiday in over four years, so a few days away was much needed.

However, no-one told the rain Gods and from the moment we left Dublin, last Thursday 5th August, the rain never really stopped. We had so much planned over the next few days. All that went out the window as we had to rearrange everything to suit the weather. We had brought summer rain coats but we never packed waterproof hiking shoes so we were at an immediate disadvantage.

Adare Village was founded in the 13th Century and today is one of the prettiest villages in Ireland. It is surrounded by old historical buildings and churches and has an abundance of excellent quality shops, bars and restaurants. The village hosts a beautiful range of traditional thatched cottages and is home to one of the finest hotels in the world, Adare Manor.

One of the highlights of the trip was taking my son Arthur Jnr clay pigeon shooting in Adare Manor, for the very first time. Jnr being an avid gamer was excited at the prospect of firing an automatic rifle and shooting a Glock 19 semi automatic pistol. He was somewhat disappointed to learn it was going to be a 12 gauge shotgun. However that disappointment changed when he was introduced to a full sized over and under Browning shotgun. After some excellent instruction he was ready to fire his first round. First shot and 1 clay broken into a million pieces. What a shot. The instructor was excellent and made a big deal in giving Arthur the empty shell casing and telling him what a good shot he was. It wasn't beginners luck either. Jnr took to it, like a duck to water. In fact he was so good he beat his Dad in the competition at the end of the lesson.

Not to be outdone the girls decided to have a go at Falconry and they certainly enjoyed seeing and learning about the many different species of owls from around the world and the different kinds of birds of pray and their method of attack. They were fascinated with the raptors.

I'm not sure that my wife carol was fully trusting of this raptor. I have to say the team at Adare Manor Falconry have an exceptional understanding of their flock and on the day they had over 12 different species of owls and raptors to handle and see flying. Their knowledge was comprehensive and they certainly made the experience extremely interesting for us all.

Overall we had a fantastic day out in Adare Manor and I'd highly recommend a visit to see one of the finest hotels in the world situated on an 800 plus acre estate. The hotel is situated at the entrance to Adare Village with an 18 hole championship golf course, which is hosting the 2027 Ryder Cup.

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