If you want to be taken for a ride, you’ll get
the ones of your life here. And you’ll
wonder where your heart, tummy, and
voice are after you’ve been on their rising,
plunging, screaming roller coasters. These
are the two outdoor thrills. Just wait till
the kids go inside for the other rides.
The ‘Cyclone’ whips up a real storm inside
you, the ‘Carousel’ is a gentler carnival, which
readies you for the clammy experience of
the ‘Ghost Train’. Take a ‘break’ with the
‘Dodgem’ cars, which the children actually
love banging into. And then summon the
courage for the most hair-raising, shrieking
ride of all, ‘The Experience’. It literally turns
you upside down.
None of this is surprising considering that
ƒ””›ǯ• ™ƒ• •–ƒ”–‡† „› ˜‡Ž› Š‹’’‡”ϐ‹‡Ž†ǡ
from a family of touring entertainers, and
Francesco Trufelli, director of the Royal
Italian Circus, and a former trapeze
Š‹‰ŠǦϐŽ‹‡”Ǥ ‘ ™Š‡”‡ †‹† –Š‡ ƒ‡ Ǯ ƒ””›ǯ•ǯ
…‘‡ ˆ”‘ǫ ‡ŽŽǡ Š‹’’‡”ϐ‹‡Ž† ™ƒ• –‘‘
long, and Trufelli was too ‘foreign’, so the
…‘—’Ž‡ ƒ‡† ‹– ƒˆ–‡” –Š‡ ϐ‹”•– †‡Ž‹˜‡”› ˜ƒ
which rolled up; it had ‘Barry’s’ painted
along its sides.
Despite these high-tech rides, there’s a
wonderful old-world charm about this
arcade. Way back in 1925, it was the idea
of the Portrush Railway Company which
had invested heavily in the station, and
wanted to attract holiday crowds. Its
original motto was, and still is, ‘Fun for all
the Family’. In its 80-odd years it has
certainly lived up to its promise.
Barry’s Amusement
Park, Portrush
www.barrysamusements.com
16 Elington St, Portrush, Co. Antrim.
T: +44 28 7082 2340
Easter-June: Sat 1.00pm-10:30pm; Sun 11am-10.30pm;
July-August: daily 1.00pm-10.30pm.
If you want the thrill of taking a boat into
the deep, dark heart of a network of caves
hung with stalacitites, stalagmites and
awesome limestone formations, book this
tour. Three streams gush down the
Cuilcach mountain, unite underground in
these caves, and then emerge as the
Cladagh river. The actual Marble Arch is,
at 9 metres, almost two stories high. It
stands imposingly outside the cave
complex in a scenic glen, and if you listen
carefully, you can almost hear the rustle
of fairy wings above the rush of the river.
You are underground, away from sunlight,
so do take along sweaters. It’s a rare and
memorable adventure for the kids,
straight out of their story books.
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