Between Friday, March 1st and Sunday, March 3rd 2019, a group of twenty seven students from fifth year and three teachers from Scoil Ruain travelled to England for a school trip.
It all began very early on Friday morning, around five o’clock, when 30 tired heads hopped onto a bus outside the school yard, too groggy from only a few hours sleep to even remember where we were going in some cases. With Timmy at the wheel we chatted and laughed our way up the motorway to Dublin Port, where we were greeted by the ferry that was to take us to Holyhead in Wales.
After checking in our bags, we boarded the ferry and immediately made a rush for the restaurant for a massive full Irish before we set off. We spent the sailing exploring the ship, up on deck watching land fall away behind us, and messing around in the cinema area.
After arriving at Holyhead, we picked up our bags and got onto another bus that was to be our transport for as long as we were on British soil. We began the long drive to Manchester, passing through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. The sun shone the whole way, and after refuelling with a McDonalds, we finished out the journey and arrived at Old Trafford. We did the full stadium tour, and it was nothing short of amazing. The amount of history along the walls and even in them, the immaculate pitch, the stands that even when empty radiated energy that can only be felt in a place with such pride in their club, however this energy was nothing compared to what was to come upon our return the following day.
That evening, After the stadium tour, we made the short journey to the nearby town of Wigan, where we checked into our hotel, ate dinner, and soon started walking through the town towards the bowling alley where we were to spend the evening. We all played a round of bowling, the craic was great but the skills weren’t. We then spent the remainder of our time around the arcade, playing pool, as well as the other games that gave us great entertainment. We then began walking back to the hotel, and Wigan was hopping, although there were a few goings on that made Mr. Corcoran a little bit worried – we’ll say no more!
After a late night and an early morning, we were surprisingly alert on Saturday as we got back on the bus to Manchester. We spent the morning shopping in a shopping centre that was more akin to the Taj Mahal than Dunnes in Thurles. We all had a good browse around and bought a few bits and pieces, but the main event was yet to come, as the bus took us back to Old Trafford.
We arrived back to the stadium well in time for the Manchester United v Southamton match, so we spent over an hour out in the cold just to catch a glimpse of the team buses as they arrived. We then made our way up into the very top of the Sir Alex Ferguson stand, and the atmosphere was just electric. Even as the teams were warming up there was a feeling of anticipation throughout the crowd as to what was to come.
The match was brilliant, and with United coming out as winners with a 3-2 victory, all the shouting, cheering, beating the back of the stand, and laughing at the odd lad a few rows over, seemed so worthwhile.
True to form, nothing ever goes exactly according to plan, so we ended up arriving late back to the hotel after the match for our dinner. This caused us to miss our slot for trampolining, which was disappointing, however between them the teachers found a roller skating rink which we decided to try out. Unfortunately, this too was just finished as we arrived, and Ms. Gubbins wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of going to the all-night rave which started immediately after, so we ended up spending the remainder of the evening back at the arcade in the bowling alley.
When we arrived back to the hotel, we were greeted with half a big zoo worth of people dressed up in animal costumes, (aswell as a few other costumes not to be mentioned)! Animal onesies at every turn as the local Darts Society had their annual fancy dress social!
The following morning – Sunday, there was a bittersweet taste as we left the hotel for the last time, however that turned out to just be the orange juice from breakfast. We saw the same beautiful countryside as we did on the way over on the return journey to Holyhead, but we also stopped in the small Welsh town of – wait for it – Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, try to pronounce it, I dare you! While there, we visited a shop where we picked up what was to become the mascot of the trip, a massive parsnip.
The parsnip followed us as we got back on the ferry at Holyhead and stayed with us as we made the return journey across the Irish Sea, and after a brief stent in a bin, and with a bite taken out of it, it remained with us as we were stranded at the ferry terminal for several hours due to the bus not being able to make it to Dublin because of snowy weather and traffic.
We spent the time in the terminal joking, messing, and playing “spin the parsnip” – we really can make a good time out of anything – and when the bus finally arrived, despite our disappointment that Timmy wasn’t driving, we were still glad to be making moves towards home. After a snack box and a brief late-night snowball fight at Junction 14, we finally finished our return journey outside the schoolyard at half eleven on Sunday night.
This trip was an amazing experience for all involved. We all had a great time and we have memories and stories which will last a lifetime. Huge thanks to all those who helped make this trip possible.
Sean Prendergast.
