LAUNCHED recently as a niche reality tourism initiative, Oddball Tours’ has been set up by Galway girl Jennifer Condon, who aims to focus her tours on recapturing the ‘essence of Ireland for a new generation’. The tours are designed to create experiences and highlight aspects of Ireland that are normally overlooked by travel guides.
Some of the tours on offer include:
The Craggy Island Tour, Blindfolded Walking Adventure, Urban Safari – Neighbourhoods, Whiskey Business Bar & Brewery Tour,
The Foodie Tour for Coeliacs, Bog Snorkelling All-Ireland Championships, Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, 10th World Ghost Convention.
The idea essentially is to offer alternatives to the traditional Irish tour format. “Thinking outside of the box, the tours concentrate on the fantastical, bizarre, unusual and downright odd sights and attractions Ireland has to offer ”, Jennifer told the Limerick Post.
Designed for both tourists and locals alike, Oddball Tours aims to provide “a new pair of eyes” through which to view and explore Ireland.
Suitable for people of all ages, in fact anyone with a good sense of humour and an open mind will find the tours have something for everyone.
The company organises private tours catering for visiting tour groups, stag and hen parties, mystery trips for student bodies, corporate days out and any private groups interested in trying something just that little bit different.
Jennifer said, “Once established, we hope to schedule weekly and bi-weekly trips, so individuals and smaller groups of people can also enjoy the Oddball experience”.
Jennifer spent the last couple of years travelling around the world seeking to find some truly bizarre tour experiences. She climbed slag-heaps in post-industrial Belgian towns, camped out in a Hogan on an isolated Indian reservation in Mormon-country Utah, got lost and spent Halloween night with some friendly policemen in an NYC subway station…wearing a tutu.
Prior to focusing her attention on Ireland Jennifer’s travels included attending a story-telling session in a Beijing shantytown, she even enjoyed a frankly sacrilegious graveyard tour in the Deep South’s New Orleans. She took part on a tour exploring Art Deco in Eastern Germany and spent time trawling London for the most recent graffiti paintings of elusive street-artists.
Based in Galway, Oddball Tours have initially set out to highlight, publicise and co-ordinate tours and trips focusing on the west of Ireland. They will also arrange buses to quirky festivals all over the country.
To begin with, the company will cater for private group bookings, but the long-term aim is to gain and provide access to unorthodox attractions at reasonable prices on a mainly scheduled basis as opposed to a private. Find out more about their unusual tour ideas at www.oddballtours.com
