We’ve also taken the top toilet block apart and will be re-tiling and sorting the showers out so that they are as lovely and powerful as the bottom block for next season.

We have also begun work on the outside of our reception building which is very exciting…and the beginning of our 2 year plan for the area. You can see the ongoing progress on our facebook page as it happens so keep an eye. At the moment ( dec 7 ) the windows are cut out awaiting arrival of new ones next week and the old leaking and cobwebbed porch is finally down! Our roof has been completely fixed so bring on the winter rain and snow! Its so exciting to see the development happening and I personally cant wait to get it up and running for the new season 2012.

This, along with our little herb garden that will be constructed by June next year and another few surprises means that 2012 is already shaping up to be a very exciting summer. We’ll be opening from March until the end of September. We will also have the site open for the Halloween Mid Term break in October by pre-booking only, if it doesnt snow by then, I imagine the beach will be a fab place to be for a spooky Halloween party!!

Bookings

Bookings in general for the holiday park will be taken from the beginning of February so if anyone has any queries please email me on info@morriscastlestrand.com and we will be in touch as soon as possible. Booking forms will be sent out automatically to our regular customers at the end of Jan so if anyone would like to be included in this, please email me or send me a personal message on Facebook.
Next year, we’ll be keeping our brilliant value 7 nights for 6 offer and get ready for our extremely exciting special Off Peak Offers which we will announce in January. This is going to make it even better value to stay in Morriscastle in March, April, May and September, ( not including Bank holiday weekends sorry! )

Our new rental home at the bottom of the lane ( right opposite the access to the beach! )will be completely ready by March for renting which will be just amazing, right by the sea and kitted out beautifully. The fact that the sea is visible from the kitchen/sitting room is a bonus that not many people can brag about! As we work on the interiors, I’ll be posting photos, so again, keep checking our website www.morriscastlestrand.com and our facebook page.

Things are moving along and Christmas is nearly here. This year due to Moms passing, we wont be sending out any Christmas cards but we sincerely wish you all a happy time this December over the holidays and into the new year. Thank you to everyone who supported us throughout the year and especially the last 3 months and to all who came to Moms wake and funeral mass. We hugely appreciate all your kind words, cards, emails, messages and hugs.

Ria Darcy, RIP
27.09.11

Happy Christmas and looking forward to seeing you in 2012.

Niamh x

We closed the shop and take-away last Sunday so I wont be seen staggering across to the building at the crack of dawn to make croissants and baguettes again til next June. So from this week, we’ll be running the show from the office at the back of the wooden house again where we’ll be from 9am to 9pm daily.

It’s nearly impossible for me to summarise this summer into one blog, so much happened, so many people stayed in the camping field and in the mobiles. It was surely a busy season which was great. Massive efforts were put into the Kidskamp throughout July and August which culminated in a KidsKamp tour to KiaOra farm (my highlight) and a huge disco on site with snow and visits from Tweetie Bird, Goofy and KungFu Panda (who went on to tour around the site – Lori and Marias highlight ) Please visit our Facebook page to see the many photos from Kidskamp over the summer. Just a brief note here to congratulate Lorraine on her tireless work and continued enthusiasm throughout the months of July and August, we were very lucky to have her here! (I’ll be blogging about Kidskamp in general and the tour to Kia Ora in more detail a little later on in the week but you can check out the photos on our facebook page here. )

We opened our new camping area ‘Beachside’ at the beginning of June to a very positive response and by the end of the summer we had people specifically requesting to pitch up there because their kids could play safely in the centre of the area without having to worry about cars. Hugh, Daithi, Dorian and Dave spent two whole days getting Beachside ready for the June Bank holiday weekend, and they deserve huge acknowledgement for their efforts. On each of the sites we have 10 amp electrics and a 20 x 20 ft space for family tents divided by fencing. Check out the images on our gallery page. Well done guys, everyone really loved their time camping there.

Towards the end of the summer we had a few events for all, a sports day that culminated in a Tug of War between the Camping Field and the mobile home fields (the touring won!) and a really good morning was had by all. The weather held off barely with a few spits of rain here and there thankfully and of utmost importance that you all need to know, I ran my first 100m dash since I was in school (which is a very very long time ago) and I was pipped for first place at the post. I was delighted to win a medal and not die from a heart attack at the 50m mark.

We bought ourselves a fantastic projector and huge screen so we started showing movies in the Club House throughout July, hopefully if the weather is good next summer we’ll start outdoor movies nights for all – I think that could be a really lovely addition to the site for all age-groups, so start praying to the weather Gods now please!

We had a Cheese and Wine on Sat night and a Coffee Morning on Sunday so thanks to all who came and contributed to our efforts for the Irish Cancer Society. Throughout the summer everyone has been very generous in supporting our Book Sale where donated second hand books are sold on for €2 each and all proceeds go to Charity so I want to say thanks to all of you who have read so much over the summer, the ICA appreciates every cent. We’ll sort out a cheque for them with all the fundraising through the summer and keep you posted.

For any of you who havent seen our aerial video footage taken by a customer in our camping area at the start of the season, you can take a look at it below. It’s brilliant and so amazing to be able to see how the site looks from the air. We’ve been very lucky this year to have been able to get up flying over the site at Easter and then to have this video come along,

Thanks to Rachael and her Dad again for organising the flight, and to Robert for the video. We’re currently updating the gallery page on www.morriscastlestrand.com so very soon you will be able to see all our aerial shots and summer photos.

I’d like to say a big thanks to all our customers in both the touring and the mobile homes. We really hope you all enjoyed your holidays with us and we hope to see you all again in 2012. Remember booking is essential, from early Feb 2012. We had many new guests who came on their first ever camping trip to us and we hope your first experience was fun and that we’ll see you back at some stage.

AND… finally, thanks to all the fabulous, fantastic, slightly crazy people who got us all through this summer on the campsite. To our wonderful staff; Evie, Sophie, Lorraine, Maria, Maria, Daithi, Dorian, Aga, Lisa, Alan, Boss Hugh & Big Boss Ed.

That’s all for the moment, I’ll be back to update you on our new house to rent and all the upgrades and work that we’ll be doing over the winter months!

Thanks!

Niamh

We have Magic John coming to the site on Saturday and some Beach fun on Sunday so we’re all really hoping for good weather for the weekend. If you’re around, come on up to the reception and we’ll bring you up to the show. Its planned for about 4pm in the Marquee in front of the Wooden house.

Really looking forward to being amazed and astounded at Magic Johns tricks!!!

Niamh

The boys worked really hard to all hours last week to get the new camping and parking areas ready for the Whit weekend and thanks to all these late nights and early mornings we were able to use the new Beachside area with its 16 camping pitches for the whole weekend. Everyone seemed to enjoy their time there and it was fab to see the new space being enjoyed by all. We decided to have the parking a short distance from the pitches themselves and this also worked out really well. I visited a friend of mine who stayed with her family in Beachside on Saturday night and it was great not having cars around the tents.

As we dont have our Kidsklub up and running we thought it would be a nice treat for the kids on site over Whit weekend to be entertained by some Bouncy Castles and a Magic Show. Although I missed most of the day due to the ‘busy-ness’ in the shop and the Reception, I got feedback at the time that it was all a great success. I’m delighted that we were lucky enough to get MagicJohn to perform with us here and look forward to his next show on site (keep an eye in the reception for dates).

So, we’re moving rapidly into July here. We’re working away on getting our fantastic house ready for renting so if anyone is interested in spending a week with us during the months of July and August, get in touch by email info@morriscastlestrand.com (Photos to follow, keep a close eye on our website and facebook account) The house is located at the end of our lane and is a brand new 3 bed bungalow located 20 seconds from the beach – IMAGINE!!! When you rent it out for a week, you are entitled to use all our facilities on site including the KidsKlub, tennis courts and Astro Pitch.

Thanks to everyone who stayed with us over the June Bank Holiday weekend, we hope you all enjoyed the weekend as much as we did.
Don’t forget, sites are going quickly for the months of July and August, so please contact me as soon as you know your dates so that we can organise your holiday with us in the Sunny South East

Happy Camping everyone!!

Niamh

April 16th, 2011
‘My Father bought the land here 43 years ago and developed it as a campsite. As kids we spent term time in Ballinteer and school holidays down here. We just loved it, and even now some of my best friends are people I met as a child at the campsite. Today my brother, Hugh, and I run it.
During the summer season, we live on site in the manager’s house and work a seven-day week. I’m up at 7.30am and into reception to put on the bread, the croissants and the coffee machine, ready for when doors open at 9am.
I’ll then spend the rest of the morning meeting and greeting guests as well as looking after deliveries for the shop and takeaway.
We have 150 mobile homes here which are privately-owned and not rented out. Then we have a further 150 sites for visitors, whether in tents, camper vans or caravans.

In the past couple of years staycationing has taken off, so our Irish visitor numbers have surged, which balances out the fact that UK visitor numbers have fallen off dramatically. People seem to be staying in their own country more. We’re 30 metres from the beach here, which is a huge attraction.
The job is very full on in summer but I love it. I don’t think you could do it if you didn’t. I’ve a team of people working with me and I’ll be in and around the reception building for most of the day, helping campers find the right spaces.
For lunch I’ll grab a sandwich on the go. I rarely get off site at all between mid-July and mid-August.
In the afternoon I’ll help out with the kids’ clubs. It’s very much a family-oriented campsite, so we run a load of events for children.
By 4pm I’ll help start prepping for the takeaway, which opens from 5pm to 10pm, and if that’s busy I’ll help out serving there too, or I might be running music nights, table quizzes or the teen discos.
We have cheese and wine evenings some Sundays and all proceeds from all our events go to charity.
Reception closes at 10pm but by the time I’ve cashed up and finished it will be 10.45pm. At that stage I’ll be looking forward to a glass of wine.
I’m very lucky though, it’s very busy in summer and we’re only open six months of the year, so I get some time off afterwards. It’s a great life’
Niamh Darcy is manager of Morriscastle Strand Holiday Park, Kilmuckridge, Co Wexford, morriscastlestrand.com’

We were included in the Times Go Ireland supplement the following week, Sat May 28, 2011. Sandra O’Connell did a round up of some of the best home grown camping destinations selecting Morriscastle Strand for County Wexford. Click on the image for the full article.

And then last weekend,Sat May 28, there was an article on five breaks to take in Ireland for the June Bank Holiday Weekend and we were the only campsite mentioned! Click on the image for the full article.

So after all this press, we’re going to focus on our Holiday Park for the June Bank Holiday weekend and make sure its the best weekend ever for everyone who visits with their tent, campervan, touring caravan or comes down for the weekend to their mobile home – we’ve got a Bouncy Castle extravaganza on Sunday with John, the Magic Man visiting for a show on Sunday at 4pm and I have it on very good authority that the weather in the South East will be absolutely perfect for your seaside holiday with sunshine and little cloud on Fri, Sat and Sunday of this weekend! Our shop will be open so when you need that caffeine fix, 99 ice cream or wind-breaker for the beach, drop on in and say hi!

Niamh

Thankfully, our new office in the wooden house was a huge success and worked out well so we were able to book everyone in from there and give out local information on new walks in the area and tourism hot-spots. Wexford is full of brilliant tourist attractions, and now that the flowers are blooming, places like The John F Kennedy Arboretum and Curracloe Forest are fantastic destinations!

I’ve never been to an Easter Egg hunt before, let alone organised one, so when I spent 4 hours wrapping chocolate eggs in little bags with pink ribbons on Easter Saturday, I really thought I was ready for the big event the next day. Of course, I didn’t consider that there was a possibility that over 150 kids would turn up and join the Egg Hunt!! Not to be outdone we improvised and everyone got a bit of what the Easter Bunny left!
We had the coolest Easter egg tree that we set up beside our off-peak Reception from which we hung a whole load of smarties eggs and we had our little chick on the top. There was such a brilliant atmosphere around the park all day and quite a few chocolate faces too!! Thanks to all our little ( and big ) Easter egg hunters that took part and of course to all my helpers on the day.

A little later on in the day on Easter Sunday I got a call that I had been eagerly awaiting. It was to get up in the air and shoot Morriscastle Strand aerial style! I’m not the best flyer these days as many of my friends will know, so I was a little nervous, but once I got up there it was the most peaceful and relaxing experience. Being on site in Morriscastle pretty much all the time when the season starts ( March to Oct ) I wouldn’t spend all that much time away. So it was really special to get up there in the air and see the beauty of the countryside that surrounds us. The coastline is absolutely fantastic from the air, as you can see in the shot. We all know its the longest beach in Europe, but it really brings it home as to how amazing that is when you can see it for yourself. I was even allowed to take the controls and fly the plane for about 10 minutes on the way back! What an experience! Thanks to Rachael and her Dad for getting me up there and for the fantastic opportunity to get the images of Morriscastle in this our 44th year.

The May weekend was quite busy too and rounded off the midterm nicely, so thank you to everyone who camped and toured over the past two weeks, we’re looking forward to welcoming you all back again this summer! Don’t forget, if you’re thinking of coming to camp, caravan or stay in your camper on Morriscastle over the June Bank Holiday Weekend, please call to reserve ( main reception number isn’t open until June, so call me on 087 7737637 or 053 91 30212 ).

Happy Camping!

Niamh

We’ve been open since the beginning of March and the camping and caravanning side of Morriscastle has been ticking along nicely. Its the first time we’ve been up and running 100% so early in the season. Friday was the start of mid-term and Easter holidays so it saw a big gathering in the touring fields for the weekend which was very exciting! We’ve just finished our new off-peak office which is based in the wooden house behind the reception building (I put up loads of chalkboard signs giving directions) – so this weekend was our first time to welcome visitors to Morriscastle and book them in there, very exciting! Its the little things I get excited about! I even managed to get the lovely new Ikea cushions on the welcome bench! That’s the office that we’ll be using until the beginning of June and again for September so drop on by to get info or to book in.

So it’s now Sunday evening and we’ve had quite a busy weekend which was great. What was really nice over the weekend was catching up with many of our mobile-home families who I haven’t seen since the end of the summer last year. I remember Dad (Ed) saying years ago how grown up all my friends would seem at the start of each season and I never really paid 100% attention to him, until the time came and now I’m seeing it with all the kids here. Time really does fly!

I spent some time today planning out Morriscastle’s new Herb Garden which will run by the new path heading into the top of the camping field and is going to be fantastic! It will be a nice little extra for anyone who will want to have fresh homegrown herbs on their dinner. I know I’ll be picking away any time I have enough time to cook up throughout the summer.

On Friday I ordered the fridge and freezer for the new kitchen in the main block and we’ll be adding the microwaves and other bits and pieces for any campers who might like to keep their food fresh and their ice blocks frozen. The tables and benches will follow as soon as they’re made and that will be the campers kitchen sorted. Now that we’ve divided the kitchen into a dish washing end and a cooking/eating end, the room will hopefully be more functional for all.

Don’t forget, If you’re thinking of going camping in Morriscastle for the Easter weekend, or anytime over these two weeks, make sure to give me a call on 087 7737637 to make a reservation. Everyone’s coming down to hunt for the Easter Bunny!!
Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Niamh

Niamh with Tony Lenehan from Failte Ireland and Con Quill, ICC Vice chair and President of EFCO.

In my capacity of Chairperson of the Irish Caravan and Camping Council, I was delighted to be asked to take part in the EFCO meeting last week. EFCO is the European Federation of Caravan and Holiday Park Organisations and they meet formally twice a year in different countries. It was great to spend time at the various meetings and presentations with the members from across Europe.

The Vice Chair of the ICC, Con Quill, is now the President of EFCO and co-incidentally it fell on Ireland to host the gathering in March. We had a meeting on the Thursday afternoon after everyone arrived and headed up to the famous Guinness Storehouse where we learned how to pull and drink pints of the Black Stuff! The tour of the building was very interesting and the fact that Guinness is synonymous with Ireland, everyone knew the product already and all were very interested to see the processes and hear the story ( and drink the pints of course!! )

Fridays meeting went very well in the Alexander Hotel but the highlight of the day came with a trip to Glendalough, which included a walk around the stunning area to take in all the views and the waterfall of course. We arrived in Wicklow, in the village of Redcross where we ate well and learned how to Irish dance courtesy of the Williams family in Mickey Finns pub. Everyone was kicking their shoes off and doing the Baile na Limni by the end of the night! Fantastic fun was had by all.

Niamh

I had been in Wexford shooting the bridge and town by night a few weeks ago so I reckoned the best idea was to fight the crowds and get back to the same spot to set up for the Skyfest Fireworks. Got the gear ready and stood in the rain and wind for the next 45 minutes waiting for the explosions to start. Longest 45 mins of my life. By the time it all began I could barely use my fingers to take the photos!

Anyway, it was a beautiful, mesmerising, stunning, spectacular show. I always try to remember to look at the event away from the camera lens at the same time as I’m shooting it just to appreciate whatever it is in real-time and this was no different – it really took my breath away. Hope my photos portray this!

Straight after the fireworks had stopped lighting the whole town up, we were off and speedily walking back to the car, still in the rain and soaked through, but despite the weather and the tailbacks out of town, it was well worth the effort to see the natives, all the visitors and the Media enjoying what the South East has known for a long time, Wexford is a fantastic town!!

Niamh

The Irish Caravan and Camping Council ( CampingIreland ) decided to do something a little different this year and we set up the stand completely differently to other years. Instead of having a regular stand with pull-ups and guides, we went with a stand made more or less out of balloons, our big ‘be a happy camper’ banner as a backdrop and a magician and face painter on the Sat and Sun.

It was a brilliant success so we’re all hoping that anyone who’s holidaying at home this year, aka ‘Staycationers’, will think about coming to the many brilliant campsites and holiday parks around the country.
We had an amazing Magician through the weekend, who mesmerised kids and adults alike – The Magic Man, John Gerard [www.themagicman.ie] is a brilliantly talented magician. I’m still trying to figure out how he did his tricks!

I’d like to say thanks to all the team that helped over the weekend both on and around the stand, Sam, Ashley, Con, the Rafferty girls, the Quill girls and especially the Kenneallys who kept me full of caffeine for the weekend!

Thanks!

Niamh