TRAVEL ADVISORY
If you plan on spending any part of your journey in the United Kingdom (including Northern Ireland), you will need to apply for an Electric Travel Authorization — essentially an e-visa — even though there is a common travel area between the Republic and Northern Ireland and no border checkpoints. The ETA requirement was implemented for all travelers from the United States (and most of the world) effective November 2024. You can view the U.S. State Department’s Advisory here. You can apply for the ETA via app or this website (both accessible from this link). The cost is £10 and the ETA is valid for 6 months.
Again, while there is no border check between the Republic and Northern Ireland, it’s always possible you could be asked to produce your passport while in Northern Ireland (especially if you’re traveling from there to other destinations in the UK), and it would be advisable to have the ETA.
It’s a long way to Tipperary, but that’s not going to stop us! The Cleary Family is coming together in the place where the family journey started: Nenagh, County Tipperary, Ireland. Save the date and start making plans to join us June 20-22, 2025.
DRAFT WORKING AGENDA
Friday:
Arrivals in Nenagh for those staying locally. Visit the Nenagh Castle/explore the townFriday afternoon/evening: impromptu happy hour
Saturday:
10a/11a: Bus tour of Nenagh and the outlying parishes where Michael Cleary and Mary Quigley lived and farmed (including 20 acres that the Clearys rented in the 1840s). Tour will be led by Paddy Williams, a descendant of the Reeves family and distant cousin by marriage .
Evening:
6:30pm Banquet Dinner at the Abbey Court Hotel
Sunday:
TBD – Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception outside Nenagh (this is the parish — though not the exact building — where many of the Clearys would have been baptised and where Michael Cleary and Mary Quigley would have been married.
Cost per person is inclusive of coach rental and dinner. Leftover funds will be carried forward for future reunions or, by consensus, put toward the care of Cleary gravesites at St. Mary’s Cemetery.
Recommended Accommodations:
Accommodations are on your own. The Abbey Court Hotel & Liesure Centre is the only real hotel in the town of Nenagh and will serve as the base of operations for the weekend.
Other Accommodations
The Lakeside Hotel and Leisure Centre (located in Killaloe, about a 25 minute drive from Nenagh)
Anner Hotel (located in Thurles, about a 40 minute drive from Nenagh)
THINGS TO DO IN NENAGH
Nenagh Castle
Nenagh Castle was built by Theobald Walter (the first of the Butlers of Ormond) around 1200. To this day the cylindrical keep adorns the town and like most keeps it formed part of the perimeter of the fortress.
- Opening Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 1pm and 2pm – 4.00pm (last admission at 3.30pm)
- Free admission and free guided tours in English (length of tour: 30 – 40 minutes)
- Entrance to the Castle is located on O’Rahilly Street, and it can be reached via Banba Square
- Contact details: Nenagh Heritage Centre – +353 (0) 67 33 850 e-mail: [email protected]
Nenagh Golf Club
For those inclined to hit the links while in Ireland, the Nenagh Golf Club is located about 10 minutes north of Nenagh. For more information and greens/buggy reservations, see: https://nenaghgolfclub.ie/