 and it's described as an imaginative way to explore town cities and villages across Ireland with a self-guided themed walk. So I decided to just do a bit of exploring and to see what it was all about and apparently the way it works is there's a route that you follow it says on the website that it's an easy to follow route and you get some clues you have to crack the clues and all the way then taking in some sites and scenes and then by solving the clues you can work out who done it or find the location the buried treasure or whatever so it sounds like a great idea especially if you've got children and you know you're off in a new town or even if you want to find out more about your own town I suppose and it's a way of energizing them and sorry capturing their imagination and doing something together as a family. Well I'm glad it now the co-owners have managed to track them down Pat and Karen Gillick and they're joining us now and we're streaming as well so on the radio and online and good afternoon folks. Thanks very much for having us on John. Not at all it's good to sort of delve into this mystery and find out a little bit more. As a dad of three now they're getting a wee bit older now so I'm just wondering what would the what's the optimum age group for this? Okay so we've our three team trails basically cover anyone from six to a hundred and six I know it says murder mystery but they're actually Miss Marple mysteries more than CSI it's a fun way to explore towns and villages as you eloquently put it there. Every town we found has a story to tell and it's telling that story not just the tourist traps but every little village town in Ireland and the idea is good treasure hunts, mission impossibles or murder mysteries. All right and Karen it's suitable for all ages in so far as the murder mysteries to obviously don't go into too much detail and it's all about you know solving the crime or be a bit of fun and suitable for all the families the most but most suited to families with children and having a bit of fun for a family day out. Yeah we do find that families are take up on the mystery trails an awful lot. I'm about saying that a lot of couples would do it as well if they're away for a weekend it's a good way to see a place you know on a Saturday morning when you have much to do or go out and get all your exploring done before you hit the pub or whatever you're going to do in the afternoon so we find that and we also find schools take us up a lot transition years language students you know it's a great way to learn so you're giving your directions and it'll bring you to the clues a little bit of figuring out to do so they're finding that we're getting great feedback from the language students. Sneaky learning as well. Sneaky learning is the way I would put it for the kids and no screen time and three or four hours or three or four kilometers covered and they don't even know it it's kind of it's kind of sneaking them into and exercise adventure imagination really and like yourself but we have four kids I know they're growing up now and thankfully they're still they were still at home with us there for the last year but and that's it stemmed from that when I worked shift work and weekends and our Sundays became Mondays and we take the kids and we had them you know a bucket to pee in so we were on a shoestring budget and we got the kids out exploring and these were things we did so we find that they're great value they're only 9.99 you're downloading and go this afternoon two hours of entertainment and buy them an ice cream after and you'll have a whale of a day it's great my my wife will be well impressed because she's always looking for new ideas and and thinking about well you know the kids you know what what do the kids want what's their needs and how could we come up with something that that you know that would catch on and and you've done just that and it's I suppose it's from the needs and you're you're out with the kids or you're away somewhere with the kids and they're bored and you want to keep them off the screens and and this takes the boxes yeah yeah and the slogan we have is turn your everyday walk into an adventure so if you decide this afternoon you're going to take them for a walk and we all know they make a face and then you're going to take them out and they'll get three or five three to five kilometers walked no phones on their on the piece of paper and a pen and they're you know learning as they're going as well and it's outdoor fresh air you know it's everything we're being asked to do at the minute so for 10 years and it's 10 years for your whole family you know it's not and our best advocates are the parents because they want it to be a good day out so the imagination starts with the reading of the story and we have a free tech service no trail goes unsolved there's a motive for the murder at the end you get and we finish everything off the devil is in the detail my wife is an Irish dancing teacher so she's a knee under the table there she taught me that the devil is in the detail so the treasure you'll find out where it is no no clue if you need help or they're at the end of the phone and with a free tech service road works can't stop you every adventure will be finished on the day so you're right so you won't be stumped you won't be stumped and and you could be at the other end of the country in a town that you've never been in before yeah and you'll still be able to follow the clues you don't have to have any knowledge of the local area not a bit this is this is not a map this is easy to follow start to finish directions we lead you every step turn left turn right turn right at the next traffic lights every direction you need to get you to that clue and when you get there then there's a bit of solving out you might need a pen and paper we stayed old-fashioned pen and paper we've had offers to go up you know we've had interest even as far as the irish times they're interested turn it into an app and we have no interest in we want old-fashioned pen and paper walk and healthy and fun and family bonding time you know i hope i'm hitting all the buzzwords yeah no you definitely are pat but i would imagine that you'll find it hard to resist over time to develop an app or to to also have it available on an app but either either way it's it's a brilliant idea and three to five kilometers in distance and available you just go online onto your website and there's there's the locations all around the country including four here in Donegal that's right yeah we have a recently the letter Kenny murder mystery and the photographer there from the town miss polaroid is was over in a flash from Miss Polaroid there in town and we have a treasure hunt in Bunkrana Mission Impossible Donegal town and another treasure hunt in Bondor and the Verona brooch treasure in in Bondor so the the chief inspector in the case in that a Kenny is either an inkling inkling very good yeah now we have many there's many mistakes there are a bonding bunch of kudos inspector kudos but then there is a bonding thanks to my wife here she comes up with their names but uh lovely yeah yeah well they're i mean it's up to people to sort to sort them all out wherever they are but it's uh it's it's it's a brilliant idea and you've brought it to fruition and just go to the website mysterytrails.ie and and the way it's done is you print out there's there's four sheets back and front yeah yeah yeah you print it off at home yeah we can send you on for anyone that doesn't have a printer as you know i'm sure you know that the ink is more valuable than gold at the moment so there are 15 yours to be posted through the post that includes postage but 999 to download yourself you print off the kids each a copy each and off you go have a nice cream at the end you only find the location of the treasure just in case we've had we've had customers that rang us to say why isn't the treasure or you said it would be um for 999 thank you okay well just to remind people it's mysterytrails.ie want to check it out and you know this is when they're on on holidays maybe but not just that it can be in a local town as i said there's there's four here in Donegal and there's locations all around the country and in a way it's just suitable now at this time of the year as it is during the summer because during the summer you can get a bit distracted maybe if the weather's good you head off to the beach or whatever it is but uh you know we're always as you know the families and couples and whatever always a lot of things to do if we're in a you know a town wherever it is and don't let the price fill you this is great value you are going to have a ball and the customer the only the us the customers we have come back and back for more and we're on a shoestring budget to get our name out there and thanks to yourself for picking us up but people will not be disappointed at this product yeah well as a family is always looking for ideas and things to do just it's caught my attention it's the mysterytrails.ie check it out to Pat and Karen Gillick thanks so much John thank you thank you appreciate it thanks