Chiff and Fipple Forums

I've got everything lined up for my July trip to Ireland--I hope. I was looking at reports of dublin airport on twitter. Wow, just wow. The line stretched back to O'Connell square, practically. I have a rental car reserved. I hope.

The nonstop from Dulles in DC gets into Dublin at @5 am, and in the past lines have not been bad. Flying back to the US from Dublin is unpleasant because there's both Irish and US strip-search/cattle chutes to be shunted through, plus customs. I generally try to get there very early and just read a book, but twitter tells me a lot of the problem at Dublin airport was people arriving early.

My fingers are crossed that the Willie Clancy goes as scheduled. I'm signed up for the week

My fingers are crossed that the Willie Clancy goes as scheduled.

Escalation of war, pandemic or that sort of thing aside, Willie will go ahead. I'd worry more about your rental car, was just talking to someone who was quoted €700 for two day and the radio is awash with horror stories : someone just called in saying they were quoted €5-7K for four days (in fairness for a seven seater people carrier to take a family with four children). And you may find quotes changed, doubled in same cases, on arrival, that's happened to people as well. It's a hot topic at the moment.

Yep, heading over this Thursday evening and it'll be the first trip in a long while that we haven't rented a car, simply because the rates were ridiculous. We're staying with family and mostly hanging around Cork City so lodging and transport will otherwise not be a problem, but I can't imagine anyone trying to do the tourist thing around Ireland at the moment. At least anyone not named Gates, Musk, or Bezos!

Escalation of war, pandemic or that sort of thing aside, Willie will go ahead.

Well, that's what I said nearly two weeks ago and while I still have no doubt the Willie week will go ahead, Covid cases are rising again and there's talk of a rising summer wave fuelled by the highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants B.A.4 and 5 and waning immunity.

I have been to seven or eight well attended concerts so far this June, mostly unmasked affairs, and always noticed a few people coughing loudly (and at this stage you cannot help being fairly alert to that sort of thing) and each time it made me ever so slightly uneasy. I had a second booster, so four jabs in the space of a year. Not too worried and the majority of cases reported as relatively mild. But it's clear it hasn't gone away and there's no telling what's next.

I would ditch the rental car, take the train from Dublin to Athenry, transfer to Ennis, then take the bus to Miltown Malbay.
You could do that for well under 100 euro, and wouldn't have to fight the traffic and unfamiliar terrain.
Once there for the week, a car shouldn't be necessary.
If you're planning on travel after that, take the bus or train. You'll save a lot of money and headaches, and actually see the country rather than stare at the road.

Gumby is right that the next wave of virus should be in force by July. Where I live there have been 10x more cases than in the early days of the pandemic, but because most people are self-testing, and there are no official reporting protocols, it seems there aren't many cases. I have all the jabs and was just down with it for the 2nd time.

Best of luck.

Public transport fares were reduced by 20 % recently, so there's that. Part of the Green agenda.

The Willie week is a packed, highly transmissible environment for any virus. I ended 80% of past Willies with a bad cold, if that's anything to go by. I have, over the years, come to see that as part of the experience.

"The Willie week is a packed, highly transmissible environment for any virus. I ended 80% of past Willies with a bad cold, if that's anything to go by. I have, over the years, come to see that as part of the experience". Mr. Gumby.

Yes, I imagine Miltown will indeed be very packed this year, as it's a jubilee year, with probably hordes of people longing for the festival after a two year absence. We were also worried that prehaps some pubs may also have closed. We don't do classes, but we'll miss the concerts, sessions, and meeting people. We hope to go 2023 when hopefully things and costs have calmed down.

The high costs of traveling to Ireland from Sweden, two weeks camping, and a hire car caused us to choose instead the Irish festival, Rencontres Musicales Irlandaises de Tocane, in the small French town, Tocane Saint Apre, south east of Bordeaux, this year. Much cheaper flight, camping, and hire car costs ( A Fiat 500 = €657 for twelve days ,whereas in Ireland a VW Up! would cost €2005).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4u3wqaYU84

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3grUayJQ-o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycccOgVTSO8

Steampacket wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 3:57 am
Yes, I imagine Miltown will indeed be very packed this year, as it's a jubilee year

Does that mean Lizzie will be there? Charles was trying out the bodhran a couple months ago...

Don't know about herself but it wouldn't surprise me if Michael D. turned up, the year that's in it and all that.

Does that mean Lizzie will be there? Charles was trying out the bodhran a couple months ago... bigscotia

No, Willie Week clashes with the Stonehaven Festival in Scotland and Betty is headlining there. Andy will be at Willie Week though taking a class in fiddling so beware.

Jubilee year was prehaps an unfortunate choice of words. It's officially "The 50th Willie Clancy Summer School"

Quote: Andy will be at Willie Week though taking a class in fiddling so beware.Endquote

I thought the class was going to be Diddling.

Bob

A week to go before the Willie week. The countdown is on.

The first signs of pop up music shops setting up in empty premises appeared during the week.

Opinions are divided, on one side there's the expectation, after two years of online only events and it being the 50th WCSS, this year will be huge. There's, on the other hand, also talk of scarcity of accommodation and people, not just Steampacket above, cancelling bookings or deciding to go elsewhere because of the skyrocketing cost of travel, car hire and accommodation .

Places to sit down for coffee and something to eat are very limited also, compared to the last Willie, with businesses closing or having changed hands. I can see a problem there. And we can only hope for half decent weather (today it's 11°C, high winds and lashing rain).

[Thread revival. - Mod]

So...we are well over a year later. What's the consensus? How did Willy Week go last year? How about this year?