Conference tallis::celt

    I seem to remember that there is a boat connection between north
    Wales (Isle of Anglesey) and Ireland.  Perhaps someone alse would
    be able to give you more info on this (or your travel agency).
    Best regards
    Anne.

    
    There are two sealink ferry routes from Wales to Ireland.
    
    Hollyhead (Angelsey, north wales) to Dunleary (near Dublin)
    
    and 
    
    Fishguard (South Wales) to Rosslaire (couple of hours south of Dublin)
    Sailings from fishguard twice a day.
    
    I only use the fishguard route, its usually a good idea to book before
    hand in the summer, but they have just put a new boat on the route
    which is about twice the size of the old one so that may not be a
    problem anymore. Your best bet would be to get in touch with any
    Sealink office (I did have the number but it got lost in the last
    office cleanout).
    
    nigel 

	Thanks for all the replies.
	
	I guess I was a little too vague in my base note.  Since  I  was
	kind  of  in  a hurry between two customer visits, I didn't take
	enough time to enter more details.  I really appreciate it, that
	you guys took the time to give me some information anyway.

	With your information and some infos from my  travel  agent,  my
	wife  and  I were able to make some more detailed plans.  Here's
	what we're planning to do:
	
	I'm booked for a course in Reading July 9-18.  I'll  be  driving
	to  Reading  in  my  own car, bringing my family with me.  Right
	after the course we want to head for the Republic of Ireland and
	spend a two week vacation there.  We have booked a Eurocamp tent
	at Eagle Point campground near Bantry for  July  24-31.    We're
	thinking  of  taking  one  of the afternoon sailings from either
	Pembroke or Fishguard to Rosslare on either the 19th  (Thursday)
	or the 20th (Friday) of July.

	On the trip back we'll be leaving Bantry on  Tuesday,  July  31,
	heading  for Rosslare.	After an overnight stay at/near Rosslare
	we want to catch the  morning  sailing	to  either  Pembroke  or
	Fishguard and then continue on home via Dover/Calais.

	Since this trip will be  our  first  trip  to  the  Republic  of
	Ireland,  we  don't have any idea of what to expect and a lot of
	questions.  Here are some of them:

	o  From .4  I learned that it's advisable to make advance reser-
	   vations for the ferries.  Since I'd hate to make the reserva-
	   tions before arriving in Reading  (we'd loose too much money,
	   if the course  would be  rescheduled, making it necessary  to
	   reschedule  or cancel the reservation),  will 10 days in  ad-
	   vance be enough time for a ferry reservation?

	o  How long will it take us to drive from Reading to Pembroke or
	   Fishguard?

	o  Do any of you Irish have some suggestions as to what a family
	   with a 7-year-old boy could do or see in Ireland the 4/5 days
	   before we get to Bantry?  Is Dublin interesting to see?
	
	o  Are there any suggestions for hotels for those nights?   Does
	   Ireland have recommendable chain hotels like in the States?

	o  How about day trips from Bantry to........?

	o  Can anyone suggest a pension/hotel close to	Rosslare harbour
	   for the return trip?
	
	
	We're very excited about our first trip  to  Ireland  and  we'll
	really appreciate any information you guys have.  With a German/
	American son named Patrick you just have to go to Ireland ;-).


	Vinzenz

    Hello,

    Can anyone help me?   I am going over to Galway in a few weeks, and would
    really prefer to go by Rail and ferry if possible.    However I have been
    trying with very little success to find out about through connections, and
    in particular if anyone does a through fare (if you add together the Brit
    Rail fare and the Irish Rail fare it makes flying look cheap!).

    Does anyone know of a company that will take care of the through service
    for you?

    Thank you for the help.

    Ali

	Hello, I'm sure you can probably get a better deal than the standard 
        rail fares but I don't know exactly how cheap it would be. If price is
	your main bother then the cheapest way to get to Galway is by coach.

	There are plenty of coaches from London and the other big towns to
	many destinations in Ireland. I would imagine it's around 50 pounds
	return from London to Galway. It's a very boring way to travel 
	though.
	
	Here are the telephone numbers of two London agencies specialising in
	travel between the UK and Ireland; they would be able to put you
	right on planes, trains and coaches for the best deal at this time of
	the year.
	
	Tara Travel 	071-625-8601
	
	Erin Travel	081-451-5578
	
	John
                 

Re coaches to Ireland - there is one to Cork run by Slattery's of Cork that 
actually stops in Reading (by St Mary's Butts church). Or at least it did, 
about a year or so ago. Reading Transport used to sell tickets as agents.

From Cork you should be able to get up to Galway fairly easily.

So saying, I never travelled by this coach. I ended up flying instead as 
Aer Lingus had a fly-drive deal that made the whole package much cheaper.

John

    re -.1
    
    It's Slattery's of Tralee......
    
    	- Robin

    It looks as though we will take the train to Holyhead, and from there
    take the ferry to Dun Laoighre.  The price is approximately the same as
    flying on a cheap fare, when you take into account all the toing and
    froing between the airport and civilisation....  I also much prefer the
    train.

    We'll probably book through Sealink or Tara Travel, both of whom offer
    return deals through from London to Galway.

    I could not interest anyone else in taking the coach, but if anyone is
    interested, Slatterys offer a convenient service from London through
    Reading, to many destinations in Ireland.  The cost varies from 44 sterling
    to 59 sterling, depending on when you go!

    Ali

    Re .1 - .8
    
    Thanks for all the replies and mails I received.  With all that
    tips and info we really enjoyed our trip to Ireland.  We've
    concentrated on the south and south west of the Republic of Ireland.
    We especially enjoyed Connemara and the Cliffs of Moher area.  We've
    spent a few days here.  And the V was just beautiful.  Thanks for
    the tip, Sean, we've spent two nights in a B&B in Cahir.
    
    Now that I'm back home since almost two weeks, I noticed what I
    miss most:  That's the Irish radio stations.  My wife and I really
    enjoyed listening to the music the Irish stations used to play,
    while driving around the country.  Back to Germany means back to
    radio stations, which don't seem to have upgraded their record
    inventory since the late 60s.
    
    Vinzenz
    

    Does anybody have information on a ferry between Belfast and Liverpool? 
    
    Does it run this time of year?  
    
    What's the fare?  With cabin?
    
    How often do they run?
    
    How long is the trip?  
    

    I'm in urgent need of the times and prices of 1996 Stena Line ferries
    between Wales and Ireland. If anyone has access to a fax machine, and
    is willing to photocopy and fax (DTN) them to me, please mail me at the
    above address.
    
    Many thanks, Laurie.

    Re -.1
    
    Come on Laurie! make your mind up! Do you want info on ferry schedules
    from England or Wales?
    
    Perhaps you believe like many Southern-British people that Wales and
    Scotland are regions of "England" like Yorkshire and Humberside etc..
    
    Ed.

    I'll assume a smiley there, Eddie. I meant what I said.
    
    Would you prefer I started a new topic? I will if you like. I made a
    decision, and it wasn't too difficult, to ask about ferries between
    Fishguard-Rosslare, and Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire in this topic. Both
    those ports-of-exit are in Wales unless things have changed rather
    dramatically since I was at school.
    
    HtH, Laurie.

    I'll be travelling Larne-Stranraer ferry and travelling on to Glasgow
    in the near future for the purpose of visiting Parkhead to watch Celtic
    play. Can anyone give me the address of the stadium or better still
    give me directions on how to get there having arrived in Glasgow?
    
    thanks
    Tomf

    Can anyone give me the address of the stadium or better still
    give me directions on how to get there having arrived in Glasgow?

I think that "Celtic Park, Glasgow", would be enough for mail to get there!

Seriously, how are you planning to get from Stranraer to Glasgow?  Train?  Car?
Let me know and I'll try to give you directions.

regards,
//alan

    Alan
    
    I'll be travelling by car..
    
    many thanks
    Tom.
    

    The good news is that further to my earlier request, I now have a copy
    of the '96 brochure, so you can all stop scrabbling around and losing
    sleep on my behalf (especially you Mike, thanks).
    
    The bad news is that I will, once again, be doing my best to improve
    the sales from Murphy's Brewery in Cork, during the last week in July,
    first week in August.
    
    Cheers, Laurie.

    Lozzer, me and Jane are thinking about a hol in the Republic this year.
    
    Any recommendations?
    
    
    CHARLEY

Tom,
    
Celtic Park is in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, which is to the east of the
town centre.  I'm not sure where you'll be approaching the ground from (east
or west), and nor do I know the details of exactly where you can park in the
area.  Here are directions from the M74, if you're coming another way let me 
know and I'll see if I can do better.

If you're coming from the M74 you'll reach a fairly complex junction at
Baillieston/Mount Vernon which  gives you the option of staying on the M74,
going onto the M8 or going north on the M73.  STAY ON THE M74.  This is the
recently-opened part of that road, and it finishes in a roundabout.  Turn right
here, and you'll very soon  hit a set of traffic lights (about 20 yds).

At these lights, turn left.  This is London road - observe the speed limits
all around here.  Within about three miles you'll see the ground on your left.
I guess it'll be pretty obvious where all the other traffic is parking.

regards
//alan

    RE: .24
    
    Because we have children, we're staying at Trabolgan Holiday Village
    near Cork. If I were childless, looking for a holiday with the good
    lady, I'd take my car over, and have a driving holiday, grabbing B&B
    as I went. I'd visit Dublin, Cork and Galway, and all the good places in
    between. Most holiday brochures have recommended routes to follow, and
    the stuff from the Irish Tourist Board certainly does.
    
    It's  great place to be if the weather's good!
    
    Cheers, Laurie.

    Re .25
    
    Alan 
    
    Many thanks for the information. I will be coming in on the A77 from
    Kilmarnock but I guess I can pick up the M74 and follow your
    directions.
    
    Again, many thanks for taking the time to reply.
    
    Tom.