Hi Folks,
I trust that you are all keeping well. Getting ready for Christmas I'm sure. I was having a quick look on the Ryanair website this morning and the flights from Dublin & Shannon to Paris-Beauvais on 17 - 19/04/09 have come down a bit in price. Including tax and bringing only hand luggage the return trip is now approx. Euro 90 - this is down from approx. Euro 110. If you are trying to think of a Christmas gift for the person who has everything it might be a good suggestion!
Keep an eye on the blog that John has set up for news on the trip - http://horkansomme.blogspot.com - I'll put the info above on the flight prices on as well. If I have not included any of the family on the mail could you send me their e-mail address and let them know about the trip and the blog site. It would be great to get a good turnout next year.
All is well up in Belfast - Heather has finished her nursing studies and is working at the moment in the Royal hospital in Belfast as an agency nurse. She has got a full time position in theatres in Whiteabbey hospital (approx. 10 minutes from home) but she is waiting for various checks etc. to go through. She would like to start in her new job by Christmas - we'll see what happens. Katie is getting big - looking forward to Christmas also.
We are planning to head over to the West next May for a week beginning Saturday 16/05/09. We are going to stay in the Harbour Mill in Westport - if you are around we'll have to arrange to meet up. Maybe something for the Friday night 22/05/09 like we did the last time in Castelbar - it was great to see everybody.
That is all my news for the moment - later on I'm bringing some German customers to our factory in Larne and then up to the Bushmills distillery for a visit - I know - tough work but somebody has to do it!
Talk to you soon.
Cheers,
Shane Horkan
horkas@fgwilson.com
A Second trip for the family members to the Somme in France for Granddads 92th Anniversary of his awarding of medals is being planned for of April. Gavrelle in France is where Paddy Horkan was in action when he was awarded the Military Medal. The action was on the night of 28th April and the morning of 29th. It is across the Belgin border in the eastern part of France, near the town of Arras.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Well Done John & Shane
Well done guys - great blogg site - looking forward to the trip already - shane and i will be travelling out in April Keep up the good work
Paraic Horkan
Paraic Horkan
Friday, October 31, 2008
Hi Folks,
Just a quick mail for those who are intending to travel from Dublin in April next year. Would you prefer to travel through Brussels Charleroi or Paris Beauvais? See the flight times on www.ryanair.com or in my previous blog. Perhaps wait and see what the crowd flying from Shannon decide – it’d be good to organise something together on the Sunday.
Whatever airport we fly to I intend to hire a car – probably a 5 seater like an Opel Zafira or Renault Scenic. Does anyone want to travel with me? I have driven on the continent before and am not a bad driver! If a few people travel together the costs should not be too much.
Talk to you soon.
Cheers,
Shane
horkas@fgwilson.com
Just a quick mail for those who are intending to travel from Dublin in April next year. Would you prefer to travel through Brussels Charleroi or Paris Beauvais? See the flight times on www.ryanair.com or in my previous blog. Perhaps wait and see what the crowd flying from Shannon decide – it’d be good to organise something together on the Sunday.
Whatever airport we fly to I intend to hire a car – probably a 5 seater like an Opel Zafira or Renault Scenic. Does anyone want to travel with me? I have driven on the continent before and am not a bad driver! If a few people travel together the costs should not be too much.
Talk to you soon.
Cheers,
Shane
horkas@fgwilson.com
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Flights to France for the trip
Hi Folks,
I hope that you are all keeping well. Ryanair have this morning put the flights up for next April going from Dublin & Shannon to Brussels Charleroi and Paris Beauvais - see below: Both airports are approx. 1 1/2 hours from Arras. Beauvais is approx. 55 miles north of Paris, a small airport like the Charleroi one.
From the flight times below it seems better to fly to Paris Beauvais, especially from Shannon. The flight to Brussels arrives in at 21:30 on the Friday night while the Paris Beauvais flight arrives in at 17:20.
17/04/09
Shannon depart Brussels Charleroi arrival
18:50 21:30
19/04/09
Brussels Charleroi depart Shannon arrival
21:55 22:35
17/04/09
Shannon depart Paris Beauvais arrival
14:40 17:20
19:50 22:30
19/04/09
Paris Beauvais depart Shannon arrival
17:40 18:20
17/04/09
Dublin depart Brussels Charleroi arrival
08:00 10:35
18:35 21:10
19/04/09
Brussels Charleroi depart Dublin arrival
07:00 07:35
18:30 19:05
17/04/09
Dublin depart Paris Beauvais arrival
06:30 09:05
10:30 12:55
19/04/09
Paris Beauvais depart Dublin arrival
13:55 14:25
22:50 23:15
John,
Can you check with the crowd who would fly from Shannon and see what destination would be best? For the people flying from Dublin there is not such a huge difference.
Can everyone pass on the information to other members of the family who might be interested in coming? I'll update the blog as well. If anyone is thinking of a nice Christmas present for spouses, partners, family members etc. a wee trip to France next spring would be a nice treat!
I hope that you are all keeping well. Ryanair have this morning put the flights up for next April going from Dublin & Shannon to Brussels Charleroi and Paris Beauvais - see below: Both airports are approx. 1 1/2 hours from Arras. Beauvais is approx. 55 miles north of Paris, a small airport like the Charleroi one.
From the flight times below it seems better to fly to Paris Beauvais, especially from Shannon. The flight to Brussels arrives in at 21:30 on the Friday night while the Paris Beauvais flight arrives in at 17:20.
17/04/09
Shannon depart Brussels Charleroi arrival
18:50 21:30
19/04/09
Brussels Charleroi depart Shannon arrival
21:55 22:35
17/04/09
Shannon depart Paris Beauvais arrival
14:40 17:20
19:50 22:30
19/04/09
Paris Beauvais depart Shannon arrival
17:40 18:20
17/04/09
Dublin depart Brussels Charleroi arrival
08:00 10:35
18:35 21:10
19/04/09
Brussels Charleroi depart Dublin arrival
07:00 07:35
18:30 19:05
17/04/09
Dublin depart Paris Beauvais arrival
06:30 09:05
10:30 12:55
19/04/09
Paris Beauvais depart Dublin arrival
13:55 14:25
22:50 23:15
John,
Can you check with the crowd who would fly from Shannon and see what destination would be best? For the people flying from Dublin there is not such a huge difference.
Can everyone pass on the information to other members of the family who might be interested in coming? I'll update the blog as well. If anyone is thinking of a nice Christmas present for spouses, partners, family members etc. a wee trip to France next spring would be a nice treat!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Peace Park opens in Castlebar on 7th Oct 08
Mayo Morial peace park Open in Castlebar
which is dedicated to honour the memory of all those from Mayo, who served and died in all wars worldwide and conflicts of the past century, with the Allied and Commonwealth Forces, a forgotten generation who were written out of local history until recent times.
It remember those who served or died in all wars worldwide and it especially remembers all those Mayo born Irish Army soldiers who served and died on UN operations.
The President of Ireland Mrs Mary McAleese will perform the official opening of the Mayo Peace Park, Garden of Remembrance in Castlebar , County Mayo, at 2pm, on Tuesday the 7th of October 2008.
http://www.mayomemorialpeacepark.org/eventsoctober2008.html
which is dedicated to honour the memory of all those from Mayo, who served and died in all wars worldwide and conflicts of the past century, with the Allied and Commonwealth Forces, a forgotten generation who were written out of local history until recent times.
It remember those who served or died in all wars worldwide and it especially remembers all those Mayo born Irish Army soldiers who served and died on UN operations.
The President of Ireland Mrs Mary McAleese will perform the official opening of the Mayo Peace Park, Garden of Remembrance in Castlebar , County Mayo, at 2pm, on Tuesday the 7th of October 2008.
http://www.mayomemorialpeacepark.org/eventsoctober2008.html
Well done Shane
Shane. It will be great to go to France again. I will be booking the weekend off and getting the castlebar gang on trip. talk to you later . Regards John Horkan.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Trip to Arras 17 - 19/04/09
Hi Folks,
I really enjoyed the trip last year and am thinking about organising something similar for next
year. We will definitely celebrate the 100th anniversary but waiting 8 years is just too long to get everyone together. I checked my calendar and the 29/04/09 falls on a Wednesday. I was thinking of going on a weekend near to this to enable as many people as possible to make the trip.
I sent a quick mail to the hotel that we stayed in Arras - the Holiday Inn Express - the weekend of the 24 - 26/04/08 is booked out (the same in a few other hotels in Arras that I checked with) as it is the anniversary of the Battle of Amiens where the Anzacs fought valiantly and which is remembered every year - see below
"The German High Command had determined that if they could capture Amiens,
the major city in The Somme, then drive to the coast, they would split the
Allied Forces. They saw this as an opportunity to finish the war in their
favour. Australian and British troops halted the German advance, and on
24/25 April, 1918, Australian troops recaptured Villers-Bretonneux and
forced a German withdrawal."
The town seems to be booked out with Aussies / Kiwis for that weekend. I thought that the weekend of 17 - 19/04/09 might be a better idea - hotel availability does not seem to be a problem.
I have got in touch with Simon Godly - one of our guides last year who I have kept in touch with and he is available to show us around. A lot of the family who could not make the trip last year were very interested in seeing Arras, Gavrelle etc. I have checked with Mum and Heather and they are both on to go so my visa has been stamped! As soon as the flights are up on Ryanair I'll be booking our flights.
People have plenty of notice - don't forget husbands / wives / partners etc. - it would be great to see as many as possible.
Regards,
Shane Horkan
I really enjoyed the trip last year and am thinking about organising something similar for next
year. We will definitely celebrate the 100th anniversary but waiting 8 years is just too long to get everyone together. I checked my calendar and the 29/04/09 falls on a Wednesday. I was thinking of going on a weekend near to this to enable as many people as possible to make the trip.
I sent a quick mail to the hotel that we stayed in Arras - the Holiday Inn Express - the weekend of the 24 - 26/04/08 is booked out (the same in a few other hotels in Arras that I checked with) as it is the anniversary of the Battle of Amiens where the Anzacs fought valiantly and which is remembered every year - see below
"The German High Command had determined that if they could capture Amiens,
the major city in The Somme, then drive to the coast, they would split the
Allied Forces. They saw this as an opportunity to finish the war in their
favour. Australian and British troops halted the German advance, and on
24/25 April, 1918, Australian troops recaptured Villers-Bretonneux and
forced a German withdrawal."
The town seems to be booked out with Aussies / Kiwis for that weekend. I thought that the weekend of 17 - 19/04/09 might be a better idea - hotel availability does not seem to be a problem.
I have got in touch with Simon Godly - one of our guides last year who I have kept in touch with and he is available to show us around. A lot of the family who could not make the trip last year were very interested in seeing Arras, Gavrelle etc. I have checked with Mum and Heather and they are both on to go so my visa has been stamped! As soon as the flights are up on Ryanair I'll be booking our flights.
People have plenty of notice - don't forget husbands / wives / partners etc. - it would be great to see as many as possible.
Regards,
Shane Horkan
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Wellington Quarry Arras France
Hi Folks,
Hope that you are all keeping well. I was having a look at Simon Godly's (one of our guides last year in the family trip to Arras) website - www.webmatters.net - and came across the attached article on the Wellington quarry in Arras. They were tunnels built by the New Zealanders during WW1 and used to store supplies, house troops etc. Perhaps Paddy Horkan even stayed in them during his time in Arras.
They were opened recently to the public and seem a good attraction if you are ever back in that part of France. If the regimental anchor monument is moved sometime perhaps we'll have to organise a return trip. I really enjoyed the trip last year, great to meet up with everyone and celebrate the life of such a great man.
From Shane Horkan
Hope that you are all keeping well. I was having a look at Simon Godly's (one of our guides last year in the family trip to Arras) website - www.webmatters.net - and came across the attached article on the Wellington quarry in Arras. They were tunnels built by the New Zealanders during WW1 and used to store supplies, house troops etc. Perhaps Paddy Horkan even stayed in them during his time in Arras.
They were opened recently to the public and seem a good attraction if you are ever back in that part of France. If the regimental anchor monument is moved sometime perhaps we'll have to organise a return trip. I really enjoyed the trip last year, great to meet up with everyone and celebrate the life of such a great man.
From Shane Horkan