Loughshinny BBQ 24th July

On the 24th of July John and Cathy O'Connor graciously hosted a BBQ at their mobile home in Loughshinny North County Dublin. The BBQ was preceded, by a quick scramble to erect a number of tents of various shapes and sizes and then, of course, a dive off Lambay island.

The weather was lovely and sunny and, after a number of attempts most of the tents were assembled and looked as though they might even withstand some wind or even a shower or two. There was one exception of course to this tent building excellence- Mark's effort! He had been generously lent a tent by Gerry O'Dowd, this was a tent that had cost anywhere between 11.99 and 14.99 in Lidl, the dimensions of which were approx 2 feet wide by 6 feet long and 18 inches high. During the time the women had managed to put up two sizable tents Mark was still pondering over this little green specimen which seemed to flop a bit in the middle.

There was, however no time to dwell on the tent assembly as it was soon time to go diving.We launched the boats into the picturesque harbour at Loughshinny and after some ferry duty by John O'Connor we headed across the sound to Lambay Island. It is hard to believe that there is such a peaceful place so close to Dublin city and also that this idyll, with only the sound of bird to be heard, it is the scene of one of the most tragic shipwrecks in Irish history when almost 400 people lost their lives when the White Star's Tayleur sank in the 1850's. We found our dive site and did our buddy checks and then into the water. The visability was a bit disappointing but most people enjoyed their dives. Unfortunately there were some problems with the fuel line and the engine cut out a couple of times, but thanks to Kathy Brickell and some cable ties we managed to get the engine running proberly again. It was time to head back for some refreshments.

John and Cathy had put together a fantastic spread of salads, potatoes, burgers and all sorts of other bbq goodies. There was wine and beer galore and, in true Curragh style, there was plenty of craic around the fire which was to become in very handy as a heater once the night chill began to set in.

The men of the Curragh showed great hunting abilities as they arrived from somewhere out of the dark to provide wood for the fire once the charcoal had burnt out. I must add too that some of the women also gathered their fair share of wood for that same fire (see picture above). As Mark heads into his last few months of bachelorhood the opportunity was taken to begin his stag party.

The following morning after a good night's sleep everyone had a leisurely breakfast, took down the tents and kitted up for another trip to Lambay. This time we weren't lucky enough to dive as the wind blew up and there was a quick scramble for land. All arrived back safely and after packing up there was just time for a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake in the O'Connors before we all headed off for home.

It was a lovely couple of days and, as John has already communicated, we were very grateful to Mark for having his stag night with us, and the women particularly were very impressed with his derring do and his roughty toughty ability in the wild.

Many thanks to John and Cathy for arranging the night and providing such a fantastic spread. We all appreciate the effort and work involved in organizing an event such as this.

Thanks also to Peadar for providing the photos of the weekend.

Jean

 

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