Crochet Guild of America Tour of Ireland and Britain March 25 - April 8, 2000 report by CGOA member Pam Oddi

Itinerary

Day 1: Saturday, March 25, 2000

Depart the U.S. from Newark, New Jersey, USA

Day 2: Sunday, March 26, 2000

Arrive at Dublin Airport and drive to Castleblaney

Dinner & Overnight:
Glencarn Hotel, Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan, IRELAND

Day 3: Monday, March 27, 2000

Clones, Ireland for visit and demonstration with Clones Lace Guild at the Cassandra Hand School of Lacemaking. We were welcomed by Maire (Treanor) Connolly and other members of the Clones Lace Guild & Jim Kerr of the Clones Development Committee. We were served coffee, tea and scones.

Carrickmacross for lunch and demonstration/sh opping at Carrickmacross Lace Center.

Dinner & Overnight:
An Grianan Adult Education College, Termonfecken, Co. Louth, IRELAND

Days 4-5-6: Tuesday-Thursday, March 28-29-30, 2000

Classes daily at An Grianan, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Classes and Instructors:
Kathie Earle, Irish Crochet
Sheila Regan, Carrickmacross Lace & Limerick Lace
Veronica Stuart, Youghal (pronounced y'all) Lace

After class and during breaks, ther e was time to walk the grounds of the college and also stroll down to the shore of the Irish Sea. Class got out early on Thursday, March 30th and the group went on a shopping expedition to the nearby town of Drogheda.

Dinner & Overnight:
An Grianan Adult Education College, Termonfecken, Co. Louth, IRELAND

Day 7: Friday, March 31, 2000

Bill the bus driver for Irish Coaches picks us up at An Grianan and takes us to Port of Dublin to catch the Dublin Swift to Holyhead, North Wales.

Chester, England with short opportunity for shopping in the Medieval Rows.

After dinner, 10 members of the Cheshire branch of the British Knitting and Crochet Guild came to the hotel for "Show and Tell".

Dinner & Overnight:
Jarvis Abbots Well Hotel, Chester, ENGLAND

Day 8: Saturday, April 1, 2000

Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham near Burnley, ENGLAND. Tour of the historic home and view the Kay Shuttleworth Collection of textiles. Show and Tell with the Leeds, Yorkshire branch of the British Knitting & Crochet Guild.

Dinner & Overnight:
Jarvis Abbots Well Hotel, Chester, ENGLAND

Day 9: Sunday, April 2, 2000

Colinette Yarns, Llanfair Caerinion, WALES, for a tour of the facility where the natural fiber yarns are hand-dyed and also adding to our yarn stashes at the mill shop. Colinette and Geoff Sansbury were our gracious hosts.

Powis Castle & Gardens, Welshpool, WALES for lunch and tour of the castle and grounds.

Dinner & Overnight:
Mount Sorrel Hotel, Barry, WALES

Day 10: Monday, April 3, 2000

St. Fagan's Welsh Folk Museum, WALES, which has a collection of buildings that display how people lived in the past, including the production of handicrafts .

Cardiff, capital of Wales, for shopping at the Welsh Folk Crafts and Lovespoon Center, across from Cardiff Castle.

Dinner & Overnight:
Mount Sorrel Hotel, Barry, WALES

Day 11: Tuesday, April 4, 2000

St. Clears, WALES, for a "Show & Tell" with Jan Andrews, Librarian of the Knitting and Crochet Guild of South Wales, who arranged for us to view a portion of the collection. There were many wonderful pattern books for thread crochet.

Ferry from Pembroke, WALES, to Rosslare, IRELAND, and then drive to Waterford, IRELAND

Dinner & Overnight:
Dooley's Hotel, Waterford, IRELAND.

Day 12: Wednesday, April 5, 2000

Waterford Crystal Factory in Waterford, IRELAND, a plant tour followed by shopping.

Lunch outside of Cork City, where we unfortunately missed our connection with Veronica Stuart for viewing of the Reserve Collection of Lace at the Cork City Museum.

Stop for shopping at Blarney Woollen Mills Complex in Blarney, IRELAND, near Blarney Castle.

On to Kenmare wher e we were welcomed with a champagne reception, and then invited to an evening of music and singing at Moeran's Pub connected to the hotel.

Dinner & Overnight:
Lansdowne Arms Hotel, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, IRELAND.

Day 13: Thursday, April 6, 2000

Kenmare Heritage Center, Kenmare, IRELAND, for view of the exhibits and demonstration of various techniques of lacemaking.

Lunch and shopping in Kenmare.

Small loop of the Ring of Kerry Tour with stops in Sneem, and at Moll's Gap for snapshots and shopping.

Dinner & Overnight:
Lansdowne Arms Hotel, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, IRELAND.

Day 14: Friday, April 7, 2000

Ring of Kerry from Kenmare to Killarney with stop at Ladies View for snapshots.

Muckross House and Gardens. Short stop for shopping and glimpse of grounds.

Shopping in Killarney.

Lunch in thatched village of Adare.

Limerick City Museum for view of Limerick Lace collection.

Dinner: Medieval Banquet at Bunratty Castle. A grand finale to our trip, where we were entertained like lords and ladies. The only eating utensil was a knife, with which we ate ribs, chicken, and vegetables. Drinks served were honeyed mead and wine.

Overnight:
Bunratty Castle Hotel OR Fitzpatrick's Bunratty Castle,
Bunratty Village, Co. Clare, IRELAND

Day 15: Saturday, April 8, 2000

To Shannon Airport for flight back to Newark, New Jersey, USA

CGOA's 2005 Tour to Ireland

CGOA's 2003 Tour to Ireland and Scotland

Updated:

©2000 Crochet Guild of America. Webweaver: Pam Oddi

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