ONE of the country’s premier golf clubs, which has been through several difficult years and has suffered a marked decline in business, expects to be operating profitably again from 2014.

The many hundreds who turn up to support Waterford Castle, Limerick, Tralee, Cork, Adare Manor, Tramore, Muskerry, Ballybunion, Doneraile and Nenagh in next weekend’s Munster finals of the Irish Senior and Junior Cups and Barton Shield have a treat in store.

150 years ago Victoria made what is undoubtedly the most famous visit by a member of the British royal family to these shores. Ryle Dwyer revisits the eight days that marked the start of a very valuable tourism trade.