A visit to Athlone

This is a really overdue blog post but better late than never. A few weeks ago meself and himself headed to Athlone for a rare night out.

Lucy had recommended Jesus Christ Superstar performed by the Athlone Musical Society and it’s one of our favourite musicals. I also don’t think seeing it 6 times by the Fun Company in Sligo was nearly enough. Anyway off we went to Athlone.

We stopped on the way in Roscommon Town which is a really nice town with a massive Tesco if that’s your kind of thing. I absolutely love the Time Pieces shop, it’s a real treasure trove of a shop – the kind of shop you could spend hours in and still not see everything. I’d love to go back and spend longer in Roscommon to check out Roscommon Museum and the Derryglad Folk Museum.

The musical was on in the Dean Crowe Theatre in Athlone. It was the first time we’d been there and it’s a great venue. We loved the way it had been decorated with the theme of the show. Now on to the musical itself. It was set in the modern day which was a new one on me because I’d only ever seen the traditional one. The lights went down and a masked guitar player took to the stage followed by a rowdy mob and riot police – I had shivers down my spine. It was a brilliant show, I have to say well done to all the cast and crew, the musicians, lighting and set design were all fantastic. The actor who played Jesus was outstanding and also the actor who played Simon – what a fantastic voice, but I suppose the highlight of the show for me was Donald Trump as Herod – this was just inspired and had the crowd in fits of laughter.

After the show we went to Sean’s Bar which is the oldest pub in Ireland. This is a fantastic pub and a must visit if you are in Athlone. There was a great atmosphere, live music and the sawdust on the floor added to the charm. There’s also a quirky snug room at the back that’s worth checking out and a lighthouse in the smoking area! Not that I’m a smoker but I had to go for a nose.

Before I drove home we had a quick walk by Athlone Castle and along by the river. It was a really lovely night and did me the world of good.

It’s about a two hour drive home and we got stopped twice at police check points. I was breathalysed at the first one and had my tyres checked at the second one. I wasn’t drinking and my tyres were grand so all was good. We rolled in at almost 1am like a couple of teenagers but it was great! Mind you the next day I felt like I had a hangover but it was worth it.