Party venue with a difference

A party venue with a difference will be on offer in Galway next month — on board the replica of a magnificent 19th century tall ship.The Jeanie Johnston will be at the city’s port from August 16-20, having sailed up the west coast from Dingle in Kerry over the previous three days. Over the weekend of the ship’s stay in Galway, she will be open to visitors, who will get the chance to see for themselves the conditions in which thousands of Irish people would have travelled across the Atlantic to America in Famine times.The three-masted barque will also be available for hire in the evenings as a very unusual private function/party venue.The ship, built near Tralee and completed five years ago, also operates as a sail training ship, which members of the public can join on its short voyages. People of all ages can join, learning all the basics of sailing — including spells at the helm of the great ship.The three-day sail from Kerry to Galway is sold out, but there are still places available on the trip from Galway to Fenit,which will leave the city on Monday, August 20, and sail to Fenit, Co. Kerry, where she will arrive on August 22. This West Coast route is not one the Jeanie Johnston sails as regularly as she does the East and South West coasts — she last visited Galway in Summer 2005 — which is why demand is so high.The 2007 season so far has……………………