To Hell or to Connacht (02-04.03.07)

It was the weekend of Phil Coppeard's Stag Do and the destination was the fine city of Galway in the Irish western province of Connacht.

On the flight from Manchester, an 'older' Irish passenger provided a brief background to the region, including reference to the Act for the Settlement of Ireland whereby Irish landowners were forced by the English to leave more prosperous, fertile land and move to the poorer areas of Clare and Connacht. This re-settlement policy lead to the expresssion "To Hell or To Connacht". Thankfully we chose Connacht!

Putting history aside for a moment and moving forward 355 years to present day, the majority of the attendees landed early Friday afternoon. As the taxi ride to the nearest pub was more the 5 mins away, the inaugural pint of Guiness was taken at AV8 Bar in Galway Airport.

After initially dispersing to various hotels and hostelries to check-in and leave luggage, the group agreed to reunite soon after at Eyre Square. You can see below the unseasonally fine weather that greeted us...



Unseasonal and mixed..





The first port of call was The Skeffington Arms Hotel, or The Skeff Bar, as it's known to the locals.

After a couple of drinks it was time to head off for an early (18:30) kick-off of a Magners League rugby match.

Fortunately, as you can see from this recent map, everywhere in Galway City is within a short walking distance:



The match was between Connacht and Border Reivers at the Galway Sportsground.





Some action from the 2nd half..



Richard wins the bet. As the final whistle blows, a blurry Richard seizes the opportunity to corner the eagle.



Another snap of starry-eyed Richard looking pleased with himself, with Phil looking over his shoulder.



The result was Connacht 20 Border Reivers 17.

After the match, the group retired to a local hostelry for some black stuff.



(l to r) Andy, best man Jon and Colin's back.



The next morning it was time to get the bigger map out..



..as the group headed off for a 'short' minibus ride to shoot clay pigeons at a secret location.


Before firing commenced, a brief instruction by the owner was given to the protagonists.





Unhappy with the company's pricing policy, Colin negotiates a discount with the owner..



After registration, the group take to the field and await their turn at making some noise (l to r) Will, Colin, Andy, Gary, Jon, Peter, with Patrick getting ready to shoot.




Pete shooting out of trap two.



Jon querying whether the owner could provide bigger bullets.



Inevitably the winner was an Australian. Pictured below, Andy receiving the trophy from Jon.



(l to r) Colin, Andy, Pete, Patrick, conscientious objector Richard, Jon, Gary, Phil (seen adopting the shooting position i.e. eyes closed), Will and Jon.



After the parting group shot it was time to head back to Galway for some beer, some football, some more beer, a darts tournament, some more beer and then some more beer.

After watching the football it was off to another pub (with a dart board) for a tournament between 'The Rest of the World' and 'London'.

Pete concentrating



For the record, the winners were The Rest of the World.

Below are some more bar scene photos from much later in the evening.








The group finally called it a day at 4am in the Radisson bar.

The next morning it was time to pack and fly back home. Some parting shots of scenery from around the hotel:









Thanks to Phil for the invitation, thanks to best man Jon for organising the weekend and finally thanks to Richard for being kitty man and booze provider.