And as no new deaths are reported overnight in Ireland further good news with our Travel industry starting up again.
It will come as little surprise to Hibernophiles (people who love Ireland) that Connacht is to the fore.
Well, as the old traditional song goes The West’s Awake!
The West has a special place in my affections as it was here that I spent my first holidays cut from my Mum’s apron strings.
As I holidayed with my Dublin cousins in Salthill, Co. Galway.
I don’t think it was entirely altruistic as my parents did get a chance to globetrot.
Still as an early teenager I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.
The Wild Atlantic
I dipped my toe in Spidal (quite literally) with my Uncle and cousins avid swimmers.
And I did the same on the dating scene where again I was left hopelessly out of my depth.
We went over the county border too to Co. Mayo and the Marian site of Knock which surely left a mark.
As I have ticked off Lourdes The Lourdes prayer, Fatima Secret Portugaland Medjugorje What’s the story, Medjugorje? Wouldn’t you like to know since.
All of which meanderings brings me back to Hotel Westport’s plans for the revived summer season.
Estate of the nation
Westport Estate stretches to 400 acres – plenty of room for social distancing there. And it is also at the heart of the Wild Atlantic Way https://www.wildatlanticway.com/home.
And it is overlooked by St Patrick’s mountain Croagh Patrick.Which that very same Mum never tired of telling us she walked up barefooted and without a good breakfast when she was pregnant.
I let her off because it was my brother she had on board.
Westport is an ideal set-up to showcase what I believe will be a new direction in how we take our holidays… slow travel.
Carry on camping
Take their Family Bush Camp which will give families the chance to reconnect with nature through bush crafting and survival activities.
Packages start at €79 pps for Bed & Breakfast and bookings can be secured at www.hotelwestport.ie.
The upside of our clamour for more space in our post-lockdown holiday is that we will reacquaint ourselves with all those great country houses.
Where families can run around the corridors to their hearts’ content.
Westport House is an 18th-century manor house also on Westport Estate and just a stone’s throw away from the hotel.
Visitors can stroll through the grounds and enjoy the gardens and take in the 3.5k looped Lakeland and woodland walk.
House about that?
The house itself is open to day-visitors and they will be able to immerse themselves in 300 years of Irish heritage.
Camping and caravan breaks will be in vogue when we all get out on the road again. And you can take advantage too in the onsite 3* park on the Westport House Estate? Visit www.westporthouse.ie.
For those for whom gastronomy is central to their holiday experience. And the Irish food experience is rightly celebrated around the world then here’s some more good news.
The owner and head chef of Cian’s on Bridge Street, Cian Hayes, will be opening a pop-up restaurant experience in Hotel Westport this summer.
If you have been keen to stretch your legs, and you will be fitter than you think with all those laps around your neighbourhood.Then you will be eager to get out on the Wild Atlantic Way.
Ride on!
And for cyclists then Clew Bay Bike Hire have a fleet of two-wheelers with your name on them.
Guests at Hotel Westport can truly experience the wild Atlantic west by hiring bikes on site.And then cycling an exclusive and accessible 10km loop through the estate, the harbour, and the town.
And if you’re feeling ambitious, why not take on the breathtaking Great Western Greenway?
And meanwhile in the Disunited Kingdom
I’ll let the pictures from Bank Holiday Weekend in the United Kingdom.Where England has different rules to lockdown than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland speak for themselves.
And I love all parts of this Disunited Kingdom so when the time is right, and be patient.
See www.visitengland.com, www.visitscotland.com, www.visitwales.com, www.discovernorthernireland.com and http://www.visitbritain.com.