Happy New Year

Hi to all our visitors to clonandra cottages and a very happy new year to everybody.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who stayed with us over the years and to let you know how much we appreciate your custom.

To those of you who didn’t come this year I would like to bring you up to date on the changes we have made in the last year.

In April we changed the colour scheme on the outside of all the cottages except the large one and its planned to repaint it this year as well. So far everybody loves it and it was a big talking point with our regulars. We also converted the attic in the three bed cottage and it’s possible to fit four extra beds so now it can sleep up to ten guests.

We have increased our number of boats to 7 and we also have a complete set of fishing tackle and clothing which can be hired out on a daily or -weekly basis for a reasonable rate. Once again we were inspected by Failte Ireland and again we retained our 4star status for 2012 which we are very proud of.

Our plans for this year are to paint the 5 bedroom cottage improve the access to the fishing stands and build an access road to the upper end of the lake so our patrons can drive as it is quite a distance to carry a lot of tackle. We also plan to build a barbecue area as we are getting a lot of groups now who come for a bonding weekend and love to have a barby.

The fishing this past year has been by far way better than any year that I have been involved with Clonandra. It was not exceptional for coarse fishermen to catch up 50lbs of fish in a day and the Garrow Lake would be fished like it was never fished before. One group of fishermen who have been coming to Ireland for 20 years said it was their best year in the last ten years. None of the pike fishermen were disappointed either, two pike fishermen caught 11 pike on New Year’s Eve on the Garrow so the fish are there.

I can’t finish without mentioning a very special guest. He came to Clonandra for a two week fishing holiday 2 years ago and never went home to France. The guest I’m talking about has become part of the Clonandra folklore and I hear all the guests talk about how wonderful he is and how helpful he is:

If you can’t speak English he will translate.

If you don’t know how to fish he will show you.

If you don’t know where to fish he will show you.

If you don’t know where to drink or eat he knows all the best restaurants.

If you need a good laugh or just an ear to listen to your stories a cup of coffee and he is all yours.

The man I’m very grateful to and whom I now regard as one of my best friends is known to you all as Jean Jacques I hope your holiday lasts for a long time in Clonandra

Seasons Greetings to all.

Regards,

Michael.