Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Today is a full day of packing and flying back to our homeland. What an incredible month. Thank you to all family, friends, staff, parents and especially Garry for giving us an incredible month in Ireland.

Until next time...

The Irish Experience 2011

To the Mountains!

   

Glendalough

Today we had an amazing adventure! We headed up to Glendalough, which means "Glen of Two Lakes". It is located in a beautiful glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland. Glendalough is renowned for its Early Medieval monastic settlement. It was founded in the 6th century by Saint Kevin, a hermit priest. Sadly, it was destroyed in 1398 by English troops. The students had a chance to walk through the beautiful grounds, go inside the cemetery and stroll along the beautiful path on the lake. After enjoying the lovely afternoon in Glendalough, we went to Powerscourt.

Powerscourt is an Irish Estate located near Enniskerry, County Wicklow, Ireland. It is famous for its incredible mansion and beautifully landscaped gardens. Today it occupies forty-seven acres. The house was originally a 13th century castle but was altered during the 18th century by a German architect. It is now owned and run by the Slazenger (British sports brand) family. Today the students were able to enjoy the incredible view and beauty of the Powerscourt golf course, Avoca Handweavers restaurant, the incredible hotel, gorgeous gardens and the Triton Lake. The sun was beautiful today in the Wicklow mountains.

Tomorrow students will be studying hard for their final exam. After the exam it's our big end of the term Gala! Stay posted...

Rural Ireland, natural beauty, homemade scones, peaceful tour and delicious soft Irish icecream...

Glendalough Tower

Cemetery in the Moutains, Glendalough

The Irish Experience!

Glendalough

Irish Bagpiper, Glendalough Entrance 

Powerscourt!

Everyone together in Powerscourt

Castle "House" in Powerscourt

Taking in the Sun at Powerscourt

Flying Across the Gardens of Powerscourt

Dublin Adventures

The Beautiful Grounds of the Museum

Yesterday's group visited the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail). It is one of the largest unoccupied gaols in Europe.  it was involved in some of the most heroic and tragic events in Ireland's history and its emergence as a modern nation from 1780s to the 1920s. Over the 128 years it served as a prison, its cells held many of the most famous people involved in the campaign for Irish independence. 

Children were sometimes arrested for petty theft and held in the prison, the youngest said to be a seven year-old boy. Many of the adult prisoners were eventually deported to Australia after their stay. Men, women and children were imprisoned together, up to 5 in each cell, often with only a single candle for light and heat. Most of their time was spent in the cold and the dark as each candle had to last the prisoner for two weeks.

Kilmainham Gaol was closed as a prison in 1924, by the government of the new Irish Free State. Following lengthy renovation, Kilmainham Gaol now hosts a museum on the history of Irish nationalism and offers guided tours of the building. ( http://www.tourist-information-dublin.co.uk/). Students had the afternoon to tour the Gaol, ask questions and learn about the life during the 18th and 19th centuries. 

The second group today visited the Irish Museum of Modern Art. It is known for its leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. The Museum presents a wide variety of art and artists in the country. The students had the afternoon to explore the beautiful grounds of the Museum and enjoy the beautiful sunshine in Dublin.

After a busy afternoon of exploring, we had dinner at the Thunder Road Cafe and went to Riverdance at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin! Words can not do justice to this spectacular show. The dancing, music and acting was incredible. It was a magical two hours in the Gaiety theatre. (Due to copyright, no photos or video were taken. See http://www.riverdance.com/ "The Journey" - this is the one we went to!)

Petty theft, modern art, imprisonment, delicious food, and Irish culture, Riverdance...

Mastering the Dublin Transportation

The Entrance of Irish Museum of Modern Art

Fish Eye View with Ben!

Relaxing Before Dinner

Inside the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin

RIVERDANCE!

Models of Dublin

Churches of Dublin

Christ Church Cathedral Dublin

Today half of the students went to see St. Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church. The remainder went to visit Dublin's Kilmainham Gaol. A blog will be on the Gaol tomorrow.  

St. Patrick's Cathedral was built in honour of Ireland's patron saint. Saint Patrick's Cathedral is right beside the famous well where Saint Patrick baptize converts on his visit to Dublin. In 1191 Saint Patrick's parish was granted collegiate status and then in 1224 was raised to a cathedral status. Today's building dates as far back 1224. Saint Patrick's Cathedral is now a National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland.

After visiting Saint Patrick's, we head to Christ Church Cathedral. According to the earliest manuscripts, Christ Church was present as early as 1030. Dúnán, the first bishop of Dublin and Sitriuc, Norse king of Dublin, founded the original Viking church, which was probably subject to the archbishop of Canterbury. By 1152 it was incorporated into the Irish church and within a decade the famous Archbishop Laurence O’Toole had been appointed. This future patron saint of Dublin began a reform of the cathedral’s constitution along European lines and introduced the canons regular of Saint Augustine forming a cathedral priory, which was to survive until the Reformation following the liturgical use of Sarum (Salisbury) in England. (http://cccdub.ie/)

Christ Church

Smiles of Dublin

Entering Christ Church

The Gals

Reverence 

Saint Patrick's Cathedral

Beautiful, old, historical Dublin, and Saints...

The Trek to Newgrange

Welcome to Newgrange! 

The passage and chamber of this incredible structure was built approximately around 3200 BC. This Megalithic Passage Tomb covers one acre and is beautifully decorated with megalithic art work. The Megalithic mounds entered Irish mythology as fairy mounds. Newgrange was to be home of Oenghus, the god of love. It has been calculated that Newgrange would have taken 20 years to construct. The passage and chamber of Newgrange is famous for the what happens during the Winter Solstice. The interior is illuminated by the sunrise. A beam of sunlight shines through the top of the entrance and penetrates all the way until the end of the passage. Since it was not winter solstice this weekend, we had a simulation of what it would look like. It was incredible to see how the small shaft of light illuminates the entire chamber. This event will last for seventeen minutes at dawn on the Winter Solstice. Each year Newgrange has a lottery for people to be entered to receive a spot in the chamber to watch the phenomenon. 25, 000 people apply annually and, there is only room for 50 people to be chosen. 

Bottom of the Mound

Entrance for the Light to Come in During Winter Solstice

Blue Skies. Sunny Skies.

Ready for Flight

Full Speed of...fun!

In addition to the incredible tour that we had at Newgrange, we also had a tour guide on the drive to and from Newgrange. She was incredible and provided us with thousands of years of history. After leaving Newgrange all the students had the chance to watch their first Gaelic football match. 

Gaelic football is played with teams of 15 on a rectangular field with H- shaped goals at each end. The object of the game is to score by kicking or striking the ball with the hand and getting it through the goals. The team that has the highest score, wins. You are also allowed to carry, soloing (dropping and then toe-kicking the ball upward into the hands), kicking and hand-passing to your team-mates. Gaelic Football can be compared to a combination of rugby, soccer and basketball. Here, take a look!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEAbWrdB9XU

Gaelic Football Photography: Jenn Piersma

Gaelic Football, Dublin

Devoted North American Fans

Number One Canadian Fans

North American Fans!

Megalithic, Fairy Tales, Irish Stadiums, Sun...

Back to the 1800's

Dublin in the Night

We had a busy and exciting day in Dublin. We visited Trinity College Dublin and toured the beautiful grounds and had the chance go into Trinity College Library Dublin.

Trinity College Library Dublin is one of the world's great research libraries, holding the largest collection of manuscripts and printed books in Ireland. Since 1801 it has had the right to claim a free copy of all British and Irish publications under the relevant copyright acts and has a stock of nearly three million volumes housed in a total of eight buildings. There has been a library since Trinity College was founded by charter of Queen Elizabeth in 1592. The earliest surviving building, the Old Library, was built between 1712 and 1732 to the design of Thomas Burgh.

At the same time, we got to see the Treasury for the display of Irish medieval gospel manuscripts, principally the Book of Kells, the Book of Armagh and the Book of Durrow. We learned how the manuscripts were created and the minerals they used to bring such vibrant colours to their work. It was incredible. 

Outside the Museum

Two of Our Wonderful English Teachers
Trinity College Dublin

For dinner we were treated to the lively and delicious Thunder Road Cafe in Temple Bar. To finish off an amazing day we went to see Translations by Brian Friel at the Abbey Theatre. The Abbey Theatre was founded in 1903 by W.B. Yeats and Lady August Gregory. Its precursors were the Irish Literary Theatre and Frank and Willie Fay's National Dramatic Society. With patronage from Miss Annie Horniman, premises were purchased on Old Abbey Street and on December 27th 1904, the Abbey Theatre opened its doors for the first time. (http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/)

Thunder Road Cafe!

So Hungry and Happy!

Translations is more than thirty years since it was first produced is now regarded as a modern masterpiece. Subtle and resonant, it's political drama, an historical tale, a funny and clever play about language and a tender love story. 

Outside of the Abbey Theatre

James Joyce

TRANSLATIONS by Brian Friel

Amazing Seats!

Excited for the Show to Begin

Gaelic, Book of Kells, History, Thunder Road Cafe, Lots of Laughs...

Dublin from Above!

Dublin, Ireland

Here we are. Dublin, Ireland! We had our first day of classes here at University College Dublin. Everyone is excited to be a part of the big and bustling city of Dublin. We had a wonderful tour of Dublin on a our own double decker bus. 

Here we had the chance to see all the incredible architecture, statues, the place where 2.2 million pints of Guinness are daily manufactured, the river Liffey- personified and immortalized by James Joyce as Analivia in Ulysses, beautiful churches and of course The O2 (U2 were the first band to play in the venue, when Bono and The Edge performed"Van Diemen's Land" and "Desire" to a private audience).

Campus life, ISP's, Bono, Temple Bar Street, tourism, the big city...

View from the Top!

Garry and the Gang

Double Decker Day

Thumbs Up for Dublin

Dublin City Tour

Historica Dublin Monument: Daniel O'Connell

Enjoying the Hustle and Bustle of Downtown Dublin

Learning Our Way Around...

The O2 for U2