My holidays

GENEIEVE CARBERYspeaks to Seamus Moran

What's your earliest holiday memory?

I remember the excitement of my first time in a caravan at the age of six or seven. My dad borrowed it from a friend and I remember getting a spin in the back. It was a tiny little thing with two beds. It seemed like every year we went to Lahinch in the caravan and I remember it raining a lot. The caravan park was not like they are now with multi-facilities. There was a shed with a Formica table, a coin and two cones to play table football. But we thought it was great!

It was only when we were older we realised that the holidays coincided with two weeks of open golf in the Lahinch course at the end of August every year.

What was your worst holiday?

We've been lucky that we've had no major disasters. On one trip to Majorca there were a few very troublesome families that added stress to our holiday and they also deprived us of a lovely local rooster!

What was your best holiday?

The best holiday of all was to Port El Kantaoui in Tunisia. It was one of our first foreign holidays as a family. The weather was fantastic, and the hotel and the food were fabulous. The people were amazing and couldn't do enough for you. My son was about seven and my daughter was about 10, which was a great age and they made friends there. Everything about the holiday was perfect.

If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?

If I'd no restrictions at all I would do a round-the-world trip including Australia and Thailand. It would definitely be a dream as I had no desire to travel at the age most people do it. But everyone says the best holiday is a cruise, so I'd also like to spend a month on a Caribbean cruise.

If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?

It would be lovely if I could go on a cruise with just my wife. My eldest is in college and the next is in fifth year, so they could look after themselves.

What's your favourite place in Ireland?

Either Sligo or Kerry. We've had lots of fabulous holidays in Kerry. Even when the weather wasn't great you'd still go to the beach and go swimming - the difference between the temperature in and out of the water wasn't dramatic.

We often visit my sister who lives in Sligo. It's got great scenery and lots of stuff to do such as play golf. It is one

place we've talked about moving to when the kids have grown up.

Your recommended holiday reading?

The Secret Scriptureby Sebastian Barry is a slow burner and a fabulous book, but not a great holiday read. Let the Great World Spinby Colum McCann blew me out of the water and anyone who hasn't read it should definitely bring it on holidays.

Where will you go to next?

I'm a freelance actor so I'll probably holiday in Ireland, but I might go back to Italy if all else fails.

Actor Seamus Moran plays Gary McBride in Ros na Rún every Tuesday and Thursday at 8.30pm on TG4