When would people in Ireland have started going on holidays?
Around 60s or 70s? Or earlier?
I presume it started off with people from the coast heading to cities/towns for work and then maybe returning home for a visit.
When would ski trips and that have started? Late 90s or a bit earlier?
The affluent / middle classes have been heading to the coast from cities since the 19th century… Kilkee once had a train station and many from Limerick holidayed there, that’s really how Kilkee came about for Limerick people … you would have had similar traditional spots all over the country for different counties. To answer your question, leisure became a thing throughout the Victorian period … and that includes the rise in organized sports.
So had lahinch. Finding it another thing to do with your smallie.
I recently read Travellers in the Third Reich. It referenced working class people, shop girls etc going on package holidays to Europe in 20s and 30s. Thomas Cook was about then.
In Ireland foreign holidays were rare enough. From 80s on you would see cars with the IRL stickers from their ferry trips to France. Looking back they left the sticker on as a mark of affluence/status “I’ve been away foreign”
I think Butlins was built in Ireland in 60s
the whole Island had extensive rail - was just using Kilkee as one example…
See edit. Report back
It’s criminal what happened all those train stations when you think about it.
I heard a radio show recently taking about some kind of mystery holiday train, where you could buy a cheap ticket in once of the cities and get on the train not knowing which town or county in Ireland you were going to.
The Limerick lads who ended up in Kerry were like
Is this true?
Well you’re nearly 90% sure you’ll be going through the junction
That ran up until relatively recently
It’s true that I heard it on the radio. Beyond that I can’t confirm
Wasn’t there a line to Wateford, wexford, galway sligo and north?
The way yer man made it sound was like you could as likely end up in bally go backwards as a nice sea side town
Apparently the word would go out as to where the mystery tour was in advance via the usual channels and if it was any use it would be packed out. There was an awful lot more places you could go by rail even 30 years ago than now
Agreed. At least the old lines are being used as the greenways now, at least down my way