Brittens 2008! Ireland plan dead! Back to the UK!

Disco · Mon 18/02/2008 23:48:00

._./ I'm coming. My flights will be bought very soon so will have to wait until then to be SUPER-definite, now I am just plain definite

Creed Malay · Mon 18/02/2008 23:49:37

me me me me me me me

Jack Sheehan · Tue 19/02/2008 17:05:56

Holy Jesus Christ almighty, we have a whole country and you choose Corofin?!? I mean, its a beautiful place and all but good luck getting a shop within a few miles. I've barely heard of Corofin and I live in Dublin for Gods sake.

On the plus side the burren is very nice but I think a better choice would have been Inis MÃ³are. The biggest of the Aran islands, it has some of the most breathtaking scenery you'll ever see. Plus it's a Gaeltacht area so you can have loads of hilarious incidents trying to speak to the locals. If any of you have seen Father Ted the ship from the opening sequence is on Inis Mor.

I have actually passed through Corofin and It's a rather dumpy little town, Inis Oirr has one of the nicest Coral beaches in Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aran_Islands

http://www.aerarann.com/

I'm serious if this isn't set in stone consider the aran islands, you can even fly with Aer Aran if you hate boats!

Edit it keeps editing M Ã³ are to Moare for some reason.

Tuomas · Tue 19/02/2008 19:19:09

What ever do you mean man, this place looks almost perfect. I would even consider forgetting about Mittens and going to Ireland instead with brits and brats if there was enough room for a polar bear descendant. Also, it would be a lot cheaper and a lot more Irish

And not the same time with uni lessons.

LimpingFish · Tue 19/02/2008 19:45:00

We may have a whole country, but we have to budget realistically. I'd put everybody up in Powerscourt, if I could afford it. Or rent a castle somewhere.

The reason for choosing Corofin is twofold:

1. The cottages are relatively cheap, and each sleeps eight people.

2. It's relatively close to Shannon Airport, handy for people coming from abroad.

Seriously, if I could find a suitable location in Dublin (hell, if it's held in Dun Laoghaire, people could get the ferry -and bring their own cars- from the UK, and I could sleep in my own bed!) I would.

...

Which gives me an idea...

Anyhow, things aren't finalized yet (though we need to set a concrete plan in motion sooner rather than later), so who knows?

EDIT: For those would could drive from the UK, how would you feel about being able to do just that, if it meant nobody has to fly if they don't want to, and accommodation would be significantly cheaper? The catch?

You would be staying somewhere like this. Yes, it's a hostel, but to be honest it looks pretty nice. Plus, it means I could arrange our accommodation in person, far ahead of time, since I live about three minutes away from there!

Dun Laoghaire is full of pubs and whatnot, and has buses and trains, to all major Dublin locales, in spitting distance of that hostel.

It would mean less shenanigans with directions and such, since I'm a native, and no need to worry about being lost in a peat bog.

Shit, why didn't I think of this earlier?!

Anyway, it's an alternative to think about.

Jack Sheehan · Tue 19/02/2008 19:54:57

Dun Laoighre? Fancy that, I'm in Stillorgan, I had no idea there was an AGS community in Ireland. Think seriously about the Islands though, I went there last summer and it was fantastic.

Pumaman · Tue 19/02/2008 21:30:04

I will be there.

As for location, I'm not sure how appropriate a hostel would be to the brittens atmosphere, if you've got random guests getting in the way all the time.
But I think the important thing is to agree a definite place & date soon, because it's only 4 months away now so it won't be long until the flight prices start going up. Anywhere is fine with me, as long as there's a shop and pub reasonably close by that we can pop along to.

AGA · Wed 20/02/2008 06:11:19

I'll be there, as long as it doesn't end up being in a â,¬200 per night luxury hotel.

Emerald · Tue 26/02/2008 19:00:25

Ooh, ooh, I have a suggestion: It would probably be much easier to spot each other in the airports, and around the town if you had a clothing convention. Y'know, like a uniform.

How about black coats and beige trousers?

The locals will adore you...

Layabout · Tue 26/02/2008 20:05:08

Quote from: Pumaman on Tue 19/02/2008 21:30:04
I will be there.

As for location, I'm not sure how appropriate a hostel would be to the brittens atmosphere, if you've got random guests getting in the way all the time.
But I think the important thing is to agree a definite place & date soon, because it's only 4 months away now so it won't be long until the flight prices start going up. Anywhere is fine with me, as long as there's a shop and pub reasonably close by that we can pop along to.

Actually I'd say a hostel would have the similar privacy as a campsite, except indoors. It doesn't look like the biggest place, so if it were booked in advanced, there would be a chance that it would be mostly agsers, and the odd random backpacker. The place looks nice, and it is within distance to dublin, which is where everyone really wants to go. If it were near dublin, i would go.

Three words would sell it for me.

Guiness Factory Tour.

We couldnt do that if we were over the other side of the country.

I vote Dun Laoighre

And emerald, most of us know what each other looks like. We don't do uniforms. Although I may wear a silly hat.

Radiant · Tue 26/02/2008 22:01:18

I'm afraid I won't be able to make it to both Mittens and Brittens, so I'll have to pass on the Irish one. Sorry

Pumaman · Sat 01/03/2008 22:38:39

Ok, as we're still dithering I think we need to summarise the options and make a decision:

Option 1: Rent cottages in the countryside (eg. Corrofin)

Advantages: Peaceful setting, no interruptions, can just do our own thing. Relatively cheap at E85/person maximum.

Disadvantages: Would probably need hire cars and may not be much to do in the area.

Option 2: Stay in a hostel in Dublin

Advantages: In the town, no need for hire cars, etc -- lots to do and see, places to visit, etc

Disadvantages: Relatively expensive (most hostels seem to be about E25/night, which would be E175 each for the week, though that would include breakfast), though this would be partially offset by cheaper transport costs being in the city

I guess it depends on what we want out of Brittens. Personally I'm fine with both options, and with less than 4 months to go now I think we just need to make a decision and book it before everywhere fills up.

jetxl · Sat 01/03/2008 22:59:06

Cottage!
I don't think the locals will like it if we go into bohemian rhapsody mode at 2 o'clock at night.

m0ds · Sun 02/03/2008 16:26:15

I'd love to go to a cottage but, thinking realistically, this is far too expensive for me. I was under the impression it was at "someones house" again but looking back over the original page I guess I miss-read it. So, I'm going to have to say no, and save my pennies for mittens.

LimpingFish · Wed 05/03/2008 22:45:44

Well, there you have it.

With only half a dozen or so definite attendees, it just isn't feasible to hold this years Brittens in Ireland. I've been contacted by a few possible attendees who, like m0ds, would otherwise attend but feel that there's too much money involved with what is usually thought of as the "cheap" Mittens alternative. Had it been in somebody's house, or a campsite, they may have been swayed, but otherwise no.

The hostel plan clearly wasn't going to pan out when I made inquires in person. They did indeed have ten-bed dorms to offer, but larger parties would have to be split up among these, and spend alternating nights in other rooms, as the hostel played, Tetris-like, with it's bookings. So, hardly the best place to hold a get together.

The cottage plan would only work if we got twelve or more paying attendees, and seeing as we struggled to get five, it's best to shoot it in the head and be done with it.

I'm sorry to have left us without an alternative so late in the day, but it seems that in the end the UK would make more logistical sense.

Thanks to everybody who said they would come, and those who expressed an interest in doing so.

I guess it's back to Pumaman or AGA.

Tuomas · Wed 05/03/2008 23:00:55

Then I guess we shall meet the rest of the adventurous Brits at Lapaset next summer

Layabout · Thu 06/03/2008 14:58:30

Oh well, looks like we will have to camp at woodhenge.

Disco · Fri 07/03/2008 16:00:20

As much as I was looking forward to visiting the land of (apparently*) half of my ancestors, this announcement saves me the pain and anguish of dropping out since I am moving shortly after Mittens. I am now looking at scaling back to 5-6 weeks instead of 8

I will hopefully be making visits for the few weeks after arrival in the UK, but if Brittens were to be organised for mid-July-ish, I could probably still go

*When half your family tree describes great-great and great-grandparents as being "Scot-Irish", I'm not sure what to believe. Does anyone know out of Scottish and Irish which gene is dominant and which is recessive?

AGA · Fri 07/03/2008 19:23:19

The Scots were also an Irish race, maybe it means those?: "For the Scots, an ethnic group of the late Iron-age, the historical people of Dalriada, a Gaelic-speaking kingdom in north east Ireland and western Scotland, see Gaels and Scotti"

Pumaman · Sat 08/03/2008 22:18:13

Aw, thanks for trying anyway Fish.

So what do we want to do for Brittens this year? It's too late now for my backup plan (all booked up for the summer) so if people are looking for a free/very cheap option, I'm not sure that we have many choices...