Well, I guess we all know who the "Queen of the Castle" will be. I mean, Ross Castle - Abby Ross's birthday -- how perfect. Now, who will the real ruler be??? I bow to the King and the Queen -- I'm not saying who I'll bow lower to though. Can't wait! Sounds like so much fun. Terry

coincidence?

Well, I'm obviously not going to say no to being at the Ross castle on Aug. 2 :) Ahem...
In all seriousness, I think those August dates are good (Betsy Sr. is in China so I am writing for both of us). We should definitely move on getting a place secured as Scott said. Thanks for the research Nate and Jessica!

2 Votes for Ross Castle

Hi all,

Jen and I think the Ross Castle looks perfect, and August 1-8 works for our schedules. I say we go with this option. But we're flexible with dates/locations anytime in late July/early August.

Since our options are limited by having such a large group, I say we act soon to secure a location before these places get booked up. I say we decide for sure on Ross Castle by end of this weekend. Any thoughts?

By the way, thanks to everyone that's been doing the research on places to stay, all the options seem pretty amazing!

Scott

Hi all, we are all for Ross Castle. Looks wonderful. I think it's the time to pick a date also. We like the August 1-8. Any later, and students, teachers probably wouldn't be able to do it. Jumbo and Barb, when is your wedding? We have a wedding as also does Erin on July 25. I don't know if earlier in July would work or what's available then. I know Ross Castle is available August 1-8. Love to you all, Terry

Ross Castle for the Mullaugh Family Reunion?

Hi everyone,

I was doing a little research on places to stay in Ireland and found this one below. I think we are going to have over 30 people in our party so the options are somewhat limited. Let us know your thoughts...

Dear Jessica,

We have the courtyard buildings available August 1st to the 8th. Together there are 17 bedrooms plus a sleeper couch which would sleep 36 in total. (There is also an option of renting the second floor of the castle to sleep 4 to 6 more.) Mrs. Marshall's apartment has the largest kitchen/dining room which can accommodate a large party for dining and the living room of the Mews apartment can accommodate a large gathering for socializing.

The whole courtyard buildings rent for € 8350 for the week. They are self catering with linens, heat, electricity and use of the amenities of the property included. The swimming pool is heated and there is a limitless supply of hot water.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I will be happy to answer them for you.

Kind regards,

Elizabeth McLaughlin

Ross Castle
Rosscahill,
Co. Galway, Ireland
Phone: +353 91 550183
E-mail: rosscastle@eircom.net
Web page: www.rosscastlegalway.com

decisions decisions.......

Since we are trying to get 28 people under one roof, we have a couple of choices:

1) http://www.dreamexoticrentals.com/properties/Europe/vacation-rental-Ireland-kerry.htm
The house and Cottages would be 9,250 Euros per. week. Now that sleeps 29 total.

2) http://www.dreamexoticrentals.com/properties/Europe/vacation-rental-Ireland-bella.htm

You can sleep up to 14 in the main house and up to 12 more in guest cottages and apartments. Which is about 9,500 Euros for everything. Maybe a little less, that is the average for this year.

3) http://www.dreamexoticrentals.com/properties/Europe/irish-country-manor.htm

Sleeps 18 in the main house and the two guest cottages would be sleeping 26 guests in house and cottages. This would be 11,800 Euros for the house and cottages.


Now I am pushing for the first choice, it's the least expensive, holds the most people, and is in western ireland. the others are look great, please check them out.


Luckily with this financial mess the world is in currently the euro to dollar exchange rate is coming back in our favor.

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=EUR&to=USD&submit=Convert

As of right now if 28 people commit our lodging will be 9250 euro's, which is about $12580, equalling about $450/person for the week. A pretty good deal for staying somewhere for a week, especially a huge irish estate.

So the questions are, should we book now or later? Is the Euro going to continue to fall, or rise? Any international financers out there feel free to chime in on this.

Also, when do we want to do this. I am still awaiting to hear back on when the rental starts (friday, saturday, or sunday) It sounds like last week in July, First week in August. I know of weddings July 25th and August 8th, anything else?

Thats all for now: we are 41 weeks away from this. So if you save $11/week the house will be paid off, or something like that.

From Jim with Love...

From Jim:
Is there a consensus on the dates for the trip to Ireland?

Although Barb and I can go almost anytime, the educators may need summer dates. How does the last part of July work for everybody?

From Nate:
I know my folks and sister have weddings on July 25th. Does anyone else have anything going on the end of July and/or the beginning of August.
Side note: we are close to 30 people.

Head count so far.......

McGee's: Brian, Dina, Johnny, Courtney, Tom, Ann, Ellen, and Emily. The Fats are still thinking about it.
Rhode Island Mullaugh's: Paul, Terry, Erin, Nate, and Jessica.
Pittsburgh Mullaugh's: Betsy, Abby, Jumbo, Barb, Scott, Jenn, and Katie.
West Side Ladies: Patty, Betsy, and Cathy.

So far that is 23, not including sean and danny and their clan. Good numbers so far. Who else are we missing that would possibly be interested.

Next step is the date, First week of August?

Making good progress here people, lets keep it up.

OK so either the first or second week of august sounds good to me. i am definitely in!

From Paul, aka Al, aka Dad

I think we should decide on a date, the first or second week of august and then decide upon a place that will accommodate those who are going. maybe the cutoff date for going should be December 15th.

From Nate:
There it is, First we need to see who can go and who can't the first or second week of August

Who is with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

west coast?

From what I heard from my Dublin encounters the west coast is the place to be. I know some folks are interested in staying put and lording over the castle, but for those who want to explore, perhaps we need to take travelling distance into consideration. (Tipperary looks pretty central, which is what made me think of this...)

Also, Mom and I are in, and Dylan and Jenn are most likely out. So add 2 to the count, Nate.

Dates and Availability

Below is a recent email I recieved from my Irish contact. I think we need to figure out how many people and who are interested first, then we can work on dates, then we should be able to nail this puppy down. (The Tipperary house looks like it could be fun) Enjoy bloggers!!

I regret that the house in Clifden, County Galway, property G10, http://www.elegant.ie/g110.html is already fully booked for August 2009. It is available for the weeks of July 4, 11, 18 and 25. Would one of these weeks be possible for your family? The weekly price in July is euro 5700 plus heating and electricity.

The castle wing in County Fermanagh, property FH01 http://www.elegant.ie/fh01.html is currently available in August; the weekly rental is euro 5280 for the 7 bedrooms accommodating 14 guests. There are lovely cottages to accommodate additional guests over 14.

There is another large house in county Tipperary, a castellated manor house, which can accommodate up to 19 guests in 7 bedrooms, property T603. We haven’t mentioned it before because you enquired about the northwest, but that house has availability in August, weekly rental euro 3500 plus heating and electricity. Please see http://www.elegant.ie/t603.html in the castle and manor house section of www.elegant.ie

My first blog!

Hey everyone,
Jen and I are definitely in for Ireland '09..... we unfortunetely do have a schedule restriction though, Jen's work starts up in ~ mid August.

Ciao.

Should we find out which dates are available in August at the places we like and then narrow down from there?

Well done Nate!

So it looks like August is the month we are shooting for?

Mullaugh Familiy Reunion 2009 - Ireland

The Mullaugh's are officially blogging now. So instead of sending emails to all, we can post questions, ideas, concerns, etc.. on this new handy dandy website. It's pretty self explanatory on how to use this, if you have any questions shoot me an email and I can walk you through. Let's see if this bad boy works. Nate