MAXWELLS DUBLIN, IRELAND
Visit to Ireland by The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall. Donegal, Ireland.
Pic Shows: HRH The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at Donegal Castle with Junior Minister Joe McHugh.
PIC: NO FEE, MAXWELLPHOTOGRAPHY.IE
In Donegal Castle, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were greeted by Sean McLoone, manager of Donegal Castle and by Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.
Children from Gaelscoil na gCeithre Mástrí (Irish school of the Four Masters) put on a display of traditional Irish dancing before the royal pair went upstairs into the great hall and admired the great stone fireplace decorated with the crests of the O’Donnells.
They chatted with children from the Gaelscoil who were gathered upstairs to play a selection of Irish traditional airs and songs. Camilla asked one boy how long he had been playing the fiddle.
“They’re very good,” she observed afterwards.
The couple then signed the visitor’s book at the Castle before departing for the Diamond in the centre of Donegal town where a crowd of several hundred people had gathered to meet them.
Charles and Camilla spent some time shaking hands and making small talk with local people, who told them they were very welcome to Donegal town.
“We got a good day – it cleared up,” said Camilla.
One woman greeted the couple with a bunch of yellow chrysanthemums.
They were given an official welcome by Noel Cunningham, manager of Harvey’s Point hotel and local celebrity from his regular appearances on TV3, who showed them the monument erected in the centre of the ‘Diamond’ in honour of the Four Masters- the funding for which came from a “well heeled solicitor.”
Afterwards, they paid a visit to McGettigan’s butchers – established in 1952 by Michael McGettigan and still run by his two sons, Diarmuid and Ernan.
They were told how the abattoir was at the back of the butchers. “They come around the back and are taken out the front in a plastic bag,” quipped Diarmuid.
The royal couple were offered samples of five different flavours of McGettigan’s award-winning sausages and Charles chuckled as he was told how the new variety – black pudding with cured bacon and pear – had been devised in his honour.
He inquired if there were ‘chunks of bacon in it’ but declined to taste it – instead opting for the traditional ‘European Championship’ variety and declared it “very good.”
The Duchess, who wore an Anna Valentine dress, was presented with a pink rose and met little Ella Rose McLaughlin – the eight month old granddaughter of Diarmuid. The Duchess played with the baby, hitting her gently on the head with the cellophane-wrapped flower and laughing.
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