Availing in Belfast

[Barry]

I visited Belfast for a couple of days this week - I used to travel there regularly in the 80s, but this is my first visit since. I noticed that the phrase 'avail yourself of ...' seemed to crop up an awful lot. A notice in my hotel room informed me that there were 'tea- and coffee-making facilities to avail yourself of ...', and a couple of waitresses in restaurants used the phrase when talking about salad bars and such.

Is this something Belfastians/Northern Irelanders have always used, or is it recent? It sounds archaic and convoluted. Anyone know anything/had a similar experience?

[Tone]

>It sounds archaic and convoluted.<

Tone uses it quite often, in both speech and writing.

>Anyone know anything/had a similar experience?<

Have I had an "auto-experience"?

Tone