Over the 2014 May Bank Holiday the Irish Jaguar & Daimler Club joined with friends from the JEC and the JDC Northern Ireland for their 25th annual National Weekend. This year’s base was in Bunratty and 50 Jaguars and 80 people from the three clubs met there on the Saturday morning. The cars ranged from a 1949 Mk V saloon to a new XF, with XK’s, Mark 2’s, E type’s, XJS’ and 20 years of XJ6’s all well represented. After lunch the group travelled to the Foynes Flying Boat Museum. The replica Pan Am Boeing flying boat, Yankee Clipper was a big attraction for the mechanically minded who also enjoyed looking through the radio and weather stations in the old terminal building. Some then went up to the new Maritime Exhibition covering the history of the river Shannon while others took lessons in making Irish Coffee, one of the more unusual legacies of the flying boat era! The group then split up to head back to the hotel with some travelling on to take the Tarbert – Killimer ferry with the rest heading back through the Shannon Tunnel so they could take in the Bunratty Medieval Banquet that night.

On Sunday morning the cars departed on an 80 mile scenic tour of the Burren. En route to Ballyvaughan they travelled through the famous hillclimb and rally stage, Corkscrew Hill. The route back took in the beautiful coast road from Black Head to Doolin. During the gala dinner on Sunday evening every one voted for their favourite car of the weekend. Despite so many pristine restored cars being present it was the well known 1951 XK120 Fixed Head Coupe ‘Blue Growler’ that carried home the Joey Wickham Memorial Trophy.