By Olivia Tracey
While California may be suffering an energy crisis, there was no problem with the festive energy among Ireland’s travel trade, who just celebrated Irish Travel Agents Appreciation Week with a five-day whiz from Ireland to Boston, through New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago and, finally, Los Angeles. I joined all 43 exhibitors at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where, in the nearby dining room, proprietor Merv Griffin just happened to be doing lunch with none other than Nancy Reagan.
While I, unfortunately, didn’t get to meet Merv or the former first lady, I certainly reveled in encounters of the Irish hospitality kind with the travel troupe in the Grand Ballroom. Ah yes, summer has indeed arrived.
And as always, I’m ripe for temptation. So charmed was I by the hearty handshakes, the welcome smiles and the rich array of Irish world-class hotels that I’m putting my money where my mouth is by foregoing my Southern California summer for a two-month feast of Ireland. As Fiona Cooke, head of promotions at Bord Failte put it, "Ireland is foot-and-mouth free and open for business." With very little arm-twisting, I’ve already been talked into a trip to Cork’s ultra luxurious Hayfield Manor Hotel by sales manager Susan O’Mahony; the Sand House Hotel in Rossnowlagh, Co. Donegal, where, managing director Brian Britton tells me, surfing is the in sport; a dose of much welcome and wanted pampering at Woodlands House Hotel Health & Leisure Spa in Adare, Co. Limerick, whose proprietor, Mary Fitzgerald, just happens to be the first woman president of the Irish Hotels Federation, and just in case I really misbehave and the mammy throws me out, I’m taking comfort in the fact that I’ll have a room in Charles Synott’s Brooks Hotel in my own Fair City; and finally, if things get really out of hand I can always hide out, so to speak, in London’s Hyde Park Ryan Hotel, thanks to David Bunworth, business development director of Ryan Hotels plc. and former marketing director at Aer Lingus.
Mind you, believe it or not, this is just for starters. I can’t pass up the opportunity to visit John Fahey, the gregarious general manager of the Limerick Inn Hotel, while on route to my relatives in Kerry. Having first met John back in 1984 on a Miss Ireland bridal fair modeling stint, it was a truly pleasant surprise to run into him on California soil at the Irish Tourist Board lunch. In fact, the same Mr. Fahey has quickly acquired quite a taste for the best of California soil with a golf day at the prestigious Pebble Beach course in Carmel.
I encountered another blast from the past in Carol O’Gorman, proprietor of Ashfort Guest House in Charlestown, Co. Mayo. Again, the modeling days were the setting when I used to do fashion shows for the delightful Ann Killoran in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo. And of course, a tourism lunch would not be complete without the sparkling company of Attracta Lyndon, doing a fine job as always in representing Dan Dooley Rent A Car, and looking tres elegante altogether in a mint green suit. Oh la la!
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Also in our group was the hilarious Hilary Finlay of Ireland’s Blue Book; ETM Travel’s Deirdre O’Neill, who was especially enthusiastic about their forthcoming golf trip to Ireland in October; Diane Baker of Aer Lingus; Francis Brennan of the Park Hotel Kenmare; Niamh O’Shea of the Killarney Park Hotel; Brian Moore International Tours’ West Coast sales manager, Jim McKay, looking especially sharp in blue shot-silk tie; the darling Stephen Dombo of Sceptre Tours; the gracious Paul McDonagh of the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, and, of course, the Irish Tourist Board’s ever-endearing Tom Heneghan, who tirelessly worked the room making sure that everyone was happy. Believe me, we were.
In fact, so happy were we that we joined in an on-stage sing-along with the talented and, might I add, handsome musician Ken O’Malley and the Twilight Lords. Michael Breen’s Irish Dance School put on a lovely performance, and festivities were in high gear with happy birthday greetings for Louis Flynn of Waterford Glass and for Aer Lingus, celebrating their 65th birthdays on May 26.
As for me, the entire luncheon was truly a delicious dose of Irish hospitality at its best, leaving me nicely primed for my forthcoming visit to the Old Sod and all geared up for the long weekend. So, of course, how could I resist an invitation to what turned out to be the best piece of theater I’ve seen in a long time? It was The Black Dahlia’s production of Austin Pendleton’s "Orson’s Shadow," set in the competitive domain of Orson Wells and Lawrence Olivier in 1960s Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, and Royal Court Theater, London. The show is impeccable on every level, with stunning performances from a consistently superb cast that includes Irish actress Geraldine Hughes, doing a fabulous job as Joan Plowright; powerful Irish-American actor Robert Machray as Orson, and equally impressive Jeff Sugarman as Olivier (Larry). The charismatic English actor Andrew Ableson, son of renowned singer Frankie Vaughan, is truly captivating as famed theatre critic Kenneth Tynan. Not surprisingly, the production has just had its third extension until Sunday, July 1, with Irish actor Bryan Glanney taking over from talented actor/producer Steven Klein as Sean. So, if you’re out L.A. way, you can’t miss this one, even if it means going on a waiting list. The show runs Wednesday to Saturday, at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15. For reservations call (323) 525-0070.
Alternatively, or perhaps as well, you might want to catch Geraldine Hughes in her next role as Valerie in Martin McDonagh’s "The Weir" alongside Tim Murphy and Kevin Kearns at the Santa Barbara Ensemble Theater this summer. Yes, looks like Ms. Hughes is really going places, while Mr. Murphy is coasting along just as nicely.