Nenagh - an Irish wedding

"Pace yourself" was the sage advice from the taxi driver as he drove us from Shannon airport into Tipperary for my friend Andy's wedding. By my reckoning he was the sixth of my ex-trainees to have invited me to their wedding. But this was my first Irish wedding. And Irish weddings are known for the craic. Which might be loosely translated as "alcoholic excess".

Andy and Orna just had the most luck with the weather. Friday and Monday were wet, but the actual weekend of their wedding was dry with blue skies. Which is a lot to ask for from Ireland in late October. It wasn't a church wedding but rather took place at Ashley Park House, a beautiful venue in the middle of the Tipperary countryside. As you can see.

With a lake at the front - Lough Orna - fitting for a bride called Orna!

Now I should say despite the fact that this entry is about a wedding, there are almost no wedding photos. For good reason, the bride and groom asked for no photos of the ceremony. And frankly I didn't have the heart to ask them to pose for the billionth time for a photo. After the professionals had their go. So I settled for a couple of long range shots of their professional shoot.

And this is where the ceremony actually took place - a glass and wooden lodge overlooking the lake. Would make a great birdwatching spot too.

I had time before the ceremony started so wandered around taking some shots of the grounds and gardens without getting in anyone's way.

Drinks in the house after the wedding while the reception was set up

And the reception venue. This place clearly did a lot of weddings!

The tables were themed according to gigs the couple had particularly enjoyed over the years.

I didn't take photos of the reception when it got underway. And let me just say I failed utterly to take my taxi driver's advice. I did not pace myself. Wine glasses were constantly filled and then people kept bringing me drinks from the free bar. Let's just say that I safely got back to my B&B, but I only knew that because I woke up there. I have no recollection of how I arrived!

Anywhere here I am with the groom and another ex-pensions trainee, Jess.

Cruelly when I showed this photo to another of my mates he said "You really need to get shorter friends". But looking at this, he has a point!

So next day I walked from my B&B to the pick up at Abbey Court (which I would move into for my last night)...

...for a boat rip organised by the happy couple. Fortunately another nice day. A lot of people looked pretty hungover even for a midday departure.

But we all piled onto a boat tour down the Shannon. There was a beautifully dramatic sky.

Then back to the wedding hotel for a barbecue. Again with time to kill I took another spin around the walled garden with other guests.

Next day and I was staying the night in the Abbey Court hotel just outside Nenagh. All official entertainments over I had decided to take a late afternoon flight home to allow me to take a look around the historic town of Nenagh. Unfortunately the weather had now turned, but nevertheless I left behind the warm grandeur of the hotel to walk into town. Fully clad in my waterproofs.

So what does Nenagh have to entertain a tourist? Well there is a ruined abbey (hence the hotel name "Abbey Court"). This would have looked nicer against the backdrop of blue skies.

And Nenagh has a castle

Although in practice it is really just one tower of a castle. And it was closed because it was a Monday.

Churches of course. This is Ireland

And a museum. But it was closed. Because it was a Monday.

The law court was an impressive classical edifice.

With an interesting group of statues at the front, dedicated to local Olympic athletes, although when I say local some are only of descent from people who were locals as the rather lengthy marker stones explain. 

My plan had been to finish up with lunch at a gastropub in the town before my taxi. But sadly it was just so wet I cut my losses and trudged back to the comfort of the hotel to dry off!