Episode 1 – ROME
When Eilís and Niall Ó Sluain first met in a nightclub in their hometown of Dundalk in 1983, the two teachers-to-be hit it off straight away. Four years later they were walking down the aisle and by pure coincidence their big day shared the same marriage date as both sets of parents! Afterwards they jetted off to the Eternal City, Rome where they spent their first days together as husband and wife. We follow them on their journey back to experience the sights and sounds of the world’s most romantic city and see how they’re feeling about life, love and la bella Roma.
Episode 2 – GLASGOW
Máire and Conall Ó Gallchóir tied the knot when they were little more than teenagers in their native Donegal. They had been living in Scotland before they married and so their honeymoon was a return to Glasgow for a week of pure relaxation. We take them back on that journey to the site of their honeymoon, their home away from home, where every street holds a memory for them, the most poignant being the baby daughter they buried there many years ago. Memories both bitter and sweet come to the fore as they re-experience Glasgow and wonder if they’re the same two people who came on honeymoon here in 19__.
3. THE MEATH COUPLE – Episode 3 – NORWAY – Máire & Mícheál O Ghruagáin
In 1975 Mícheál was acting in and producing a John B Keane play in Dublin. Stuck for a leading lady, he coaxed Mary, a girl he hardly knew (and who had no acting experience!) into taking the part. Less than six months later, they were married and bound for Norway on their honeymoon. We take the trip back down memory lane with the couple as they revisit the Scandanavian majesty of Oslo and make their way toward the spectacular scenery of the Norwegian fjords, where they reflect on their life together.
4. Carmel & Micheál Mac Domhnaill, Feakle, Co. Clare
When Mícheál and Carmel first met in Poldark’s nightclub in Limerick in 1976, he asked her “as Gaeilge” if she wanted to dance. Intrigued by this young man’s novel approach, she accepted and did her best to summon up her “cúpla focal”. Two years later they were exchanging vows as Gaeilge in the church in Carmel’s hometown of Tulla. For their honeymoon they rented a quaint, old farmhouse in Feakle, Co. Clare where friends and family came and went and the wedding party continued into the week, with everything from Joe Cooley to the Rolling Stones spinning night and day on their record player!
5. Caitríona & Daithí O’hÓgáin, Barra Island
Caitríona and Daithí Ó hÓgáin met at an Irish cultural event in Co. Kerry in 19__ where Daithí was giving a lecture on old Irish poetry. Smitten from this first encounter the pair didn’t hang around when it came to making the big commitment! They married in the chapel in UCD (where Daithí was working) just one year later, dressed in contemporary clothing and doing things their own way. Their honeymoon brought them to the idyllic island of Barra in the Hebrides, where their plane touched down on the sandy shore. We follow them back to the wild beauty of this historic island, a place they never thought they’d see together again following Daithí’s very close encounter with death in recent years.
6. Úna & Labhrás Ó Murchú, Sitges, Spain
When Úna and Labhrás met at a céilí in 1966 it was a match made in heaven. She was a secondary school teacher and he was the local tinire with Conradh na Gaeilge and both shared a deep love of the Irish language and all things traditional. For their honeymoon (their first trip abroad together!) they jetted off to the seaside town of Sitges in Spain for a taste of the Catalan way of life. Returning now they find some things have changed but much remains the same as the age-old festival of Santa Decla serves as the spectacular backdrop to their trip down memory lane.
7. Mary & Martin O’Donoghue, The Isle of Man
When two national schools in Emo Co. Laois put out a call for new principals in 1962, little did they know they’d be bringing a future husband and wife together for the first time. But that’s exactly what happened when Mary and Martin O’Donoghue, the two new head teachers in the small town, were thrown together by circumstance. Three years later they were walking down the aisle together and then jetted off on their honeymoon to the Isle of Man, the homeplace of the woman Mary had lived with during her time in Emo and a place she had longed to visit. We join them as they relive their honeymoon journey across the Irish sea to the land where their married life began…
8. Áine & Caomhín Ó Flatharta, Rossknowlagh, Buncrana, Co. Donegal
Áine and Caoimhín Ó Flatharta met and feel in love in London in the late 1970s. Both were keen Irish dancers and when a traditional music and dance show they were part of was invited to perform at the Fleadh Cheoil in Buncrana in 1980 they thought what better way to use the homecoming opportunity than to tie the knot! They had the wedding in Áine’s house in Moycullen, Co. Galway and then set off in their Rover 2000 toward the Fleadh, camping along the way in the beautiful coastal town of Rossknowlagh Co. Donegal. We take them back up north to see how things have changed and to see whether they’ve still got what it takes to hit the floorboards, arm in arm!
