HX Report
Irishman in the Middle East
It’s The Weekend
Ballybunion Beach
Ballybunion village and its adjoining beach are called after the Bunyan family who lived in the castle (in pic) in the early part of the 14th century.
The castle was destroyed by Lord Kerry in 1582 when William Og Bunyan (‘Og’ = ‘Young’ in Gaelic) backed a rebellion by the Desmond clan. One Thomas Fitzmaurice, of the same clan as Lord Kerry, then petitioned King James of England and had the Bunyan lands awarded into his possession. MB guesses that if there’s any moral to the Bunyan/Castle story, it’s to never back a loser!
Today, Ballybunion is far more famous as a seaside village on the north Kerry Atlantic coastline possessing one of the most famous links golf courses in the world, founded in 1893. Some followers will already know that MB is famous for his golfing prowess, in addition to his superlative literary skills, and once hit the most perfect 5-iron in the history of the sport, which bounced twice on the front of the green before rolling gently and perfectly to the hole, and dropping for Eagle on a stunning Par 4 facing the ocean.
It was also a famous haunt of the great US golfer Tom Watson in the lead-up to the British Open Championships which were and still are, mostly played on links courses. Watson won The Open five times between 1975 and 1983 and was honoured to accept the Ballybunion Club Captain’s role in the Millennium year (2000). More recently, Watson captained the US Ryder Cup team, but things didn’t work out so well for him against the Europeans, captained that year by Irishman Paul McGinley.
Enough of your golf nonsense MB, move on…..
OK ok lads. Talk of that stunning Eagle 2 on the Par 4 at Ballybunion got MB a tad carried away!
The below shot of Ballybunion beach was taken by MB on his recent trip back home one evening fair. If ever followers should visit the village, then MB can highly recommend taking a hot seaweed bath, which is offered in the little building bottom left of pic.
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