APH
Source: Contact Magazine 1981
Athenry and District London Association held their fourth annual dinner and dance at the Penthouse Restaurant, Barkers of Kensington, London, on Friday 24th April 1981. This year the invitation was extended to the Athenry Siamsa to join the local contingent and the tour party consisted of over 50 members in all. In charge were the President and Chairman of the Home Association – Rev C. O’Malley CC, and Mr. Jimmy Somers.
Excitement
Excitement was high as the coach from Dunlaoghaire owned by Mr Peter Sherlock, pulled out from Somers premises on Easter Thursday, April 23rd. Everyone was in great form and we had music and song all the way to help shorten the journey.
Calm and pleasant crossing
We boarded the St Columba at 8.45pm and we had a lovely clam and pleasant crossing. Dinner was served and music, song, dancing and card-playing whiled away the few hours until we landed about 12.30pm. Owing to a slight misunderstanding re arrangements, we had to wait for our coach to London, so we retired to a nice cosy waiting room, where refreshments were available for all who needed them. By 2am we were on our way.
The journey took from 7-8 hours, but we had a break for a meal en route.
Cead Mile Failte
On reaching Kings Cross, we got a hearty Cead Mile Failte from our overseas friends, Messrs Frank Rabbitte, Martin King, Stephen Jordan, to mention but a few. Here we had a parting of the ways, since some went off to stay with friends and relations. The remainder were whisked off to Ilford, Essex where we were booked in to stay over the week-end. Heads were beginning to nod at this stage and after a hasty breakfast we retired to blanket street for a few hours rest and sleep.
Penthouse Restaurant
Seven o’clock found us all together again, heading for the Penthouse Restaurant where the big function was to be held. The meal left nothing to be desired and there, in the heart of London, we re-listed minestrone soup, Roast Sirloin of Athenry beef, served with Boyhill roast potatoes, ClamperPark sprouts, Turloughmore Carrots, sherry trifle and Continental coffee. Who could ask for more?
Toasts and Speeches
Toasts were proposed to Ireland, visitors and guests and to the association itself – glassed were clinked with great enthusiasm. The speeches included those of Fr .Pierce Jordan (representing Fr. J.F. Fitzsimons, who was unavoidably absent), Fr. C. O’ Malley, Mr. Jimmy Somers, Mr. Vincent Shields who represented Junior Chamber, Athenry, Mr Richard Mulkerrins, Chairman of Athenry Community Council, Mr. Sean Casey, President of Siamsa and, of course, the present Mayor of Athenry, Mr.P.J. Molloy. P.J. is a prominent member of the Galway Senior All Ireland Hurling Team, and he performed the ‘Hat Trick’ of producing the McCarthy Cup, which he and his team mates succeeded in taking across the Shannon last season for the first time in 58 years. He got a great ovation.
Shopping, Athenry Emigrants and Mass
Saturday was free for shopping and sight-seeing, and we all went our separate ways to fit in as much as we could. The elements were not too kind as it rained most of the day. That night we had an informal gathering at the Telegraph Lounge in Brixton Hill. Our genial host and proprietor was Mick Whyte from down the road. Here we met a lot of Athenry emigrants who were anxious to hear about people and events at home. We had an enjoyable evening and ended up singing ‘Faith of our Fathers’ with great gusto.
On Sunday Fr. O’Malley said a public mass at St. Bede’s Church in Chadwell Heath, and we had a very impressive liturgy.
Final Goodbyes
All good things come to an end, and final goodbyes on Sunday evening caused a few heartaches as we parted from our wonderful people in London. Kings Cross at 5pm was the appointed meeting place for the group on the first leg of our homeward journey. We had some delay awaiting the arrival of our separated brethren, but our coach finally got under way at 6.30pm.
Broken Fanbelt
Our journey to Holyhead was rather eventful. Due to our late start we cut a few corners as we sped around the winding roads of the Welsh countryside. Suddenly the coach stopped and our driver, Barry Thomas, a Welshman got out to discover we had a broken fan-belt. This seemed to dash all hopes of our catching the boat in Holyhead. Tension was great for a while. Suddenly, some bright spark from the back of the bus piped up ‘Who Killed Cock Robin’. That started off the singing and music again and they continued during the one and a half hours it took to do repair work. The time factor was far more serious now after this set back so Barry stopped at a Police station en route, to get message to the boat to say we could be a little late in arriving. It was hard to speed up at this stage too, since we were driving through snow covered hillsides of Northampton and Birmingham. All praise to our gallant chauffeur for getting us to Holyhead only ten minutes behind scheduled time for sailing.
Choppy Sea
The sea was quite choppy on the return journey and some faces took on a greenish hue. Card playing and purchasing of Duty Free shop on board helped to pass the time and we found ourselves back in Dun Laoghaire at around 8am on Monday morning. There our coach for Athenry awaited us and we gladly took our seats in brilliant sunshine.
Memorable weekend
This was a memorable week-end for all who took part in the tour and we will look back on it with deep gratitude to all those who made our stay in London so pleasant and enjoyable. On their return visit to Athenry in August, we hope to be able to repay them in some small way for all their kindness and generosity.
