To our favourite people, near and far
ORLAITH WOODS & NIALL McDERMOTT
23 · 04 · 27
TOGETHER WITH THEIR FAMILIES
request the pleasure of your company at their marriage
MONALEEN CHURCH, LIMERICK
on Friday the twenty-third of April,
two thousand and twenty-seven, at one o'clock
and afterwards, properly, at
THE WOODLANDS HOTEL & SPA, ADARE
Postage for one wedding. The rate drops by one every morning.
Monaleen Church, Castletroy, Limerick
Doors from half twelve, ceremony at one o'clock. Monsignor Dan Neenan presiding, with music by Jessica Brett.
The bride arrives by 1960 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. She will not be kept waiting, so don't you be late either.
Church in MapsEverything after the ceremony is the working plan. Final times come printed on the invites, January 2027.
The Woodlands Hotel & Spa, Adare, Co. Limerick
Half an hour from the church and you're set for the night: drinks, dinner, the dancing, all under one roof. Rooms upstairs for the wise.
Booking a bed? Ring the hotel directly and say you're with the wedding.
Hotel in Maps
A basketball game in Limerick. Niall gave Orlaith a thumbs-up across the hall, and he still calls it smooth. Later that same night they properly talked for the first time in Shake Dog, over chips, after a night out. That was that.
Printer's proof · the couple's own wording to follow
Orlaith is Limerick, proudly. Niall is Derry, prouder still. Two counties in one household, which explains both the slagging and the convoy coming down the M1 next April.
She teaches small people. He runs coach education for Basketball Ireland. Between the Eagles and the Huskies, there is basketball in the house seven days a week.
Orlaith lived in Dubai for two years and loved it: sunshine, family close by, a whole second life. Niall flew out five times. Five. Long distance never stood a chance against that sort of stubbornness.
Her favourite place in the world since she was small: childhood summers, the sea, the cliffs of Clare. So that is exactly where he asked. She said yes before the wind could carry the question off.
Printer's proof · full proposal story once the groom dictates it
The best man: to be confirmed.
A line of type stands ready for him. Two surnames are still at the foundry too; all of it arrives in the next impression.
the couple, in twelve frames, submitted for approval
Printer's proof · live with the invites, January 2027
the reply card does the work: thirty seconds, done
Your reply is set in type and standing ready. When the real card goes live with the invites, it will be this exact thirty seconds.
You'll be missed on the day and toasted in your absence. If April frees itself up, you know where we are.
Replies by 1 March 2027 (to be confirmed on the invites)
No form? The old ways work: tell any of the wedding party.
From the North: the M1 to Dublin, then the M7 the whole way down. Four hours from Belfast, the guts of five from Derry. Half of Derry travels Thursday night: join the convoy.
Flying in: Shannon is the smart one, thirty minutes from Adare. Cork is about an hour and three quarters; Dublin around two and a half by motorway.
On the morning: the church is in Castletroy, on Limerick's east side. Coming from Adare, give it a solid forty minutes.
Plenty at the Woodlands. Church parking notes come with the invites; car pooling never hurt anyone.
Local numbers come with the invites. The hotel front desk will sort you at the end of the night.
Ireland in April: four seasons before the soup. Everything that matters is indoors; bring a coat for the photographs.