Good Craic

No Mom, I’m not doing drugs. Craic = fun in Gaelic! This is just one of the many things we’re learning in our classes. Classes here are quite a bit different than home. Each day, we have 1 class that lasts just three hours. Mondays are for Irish History, Tuesdays are Irish and Gaelic Culture, and Wednesdays are Irish Literature. All of these classes are taught by a professor that comes from the University at Galway to Park Lodge and teaches that one class! Then on Thursdays, Marta, our group leader (and a retired recreation professor of mine!), teaches our International Studies course. This is a combination of our blog posts, community connection projects (more details to come), class trip planning, and ensuring that we’re pushing ourselves to experience and grow as much as possible while in Ireland. 

This week, we went on our first class trip. Each week, we will be galivanting across Ireland to visit places of historical and cultural significance to gain a greater understanding of the country we get to live in. So back to Dublin we go! 

Dublin Day One: 

            Before its excavation in 1962, Newgrange likely looked like a bump on a hill. This passage tomb is nearly 5,000 years old, making it older than Stonehenge and the pyramids. Its age was especially impressive to me considering the feat of engineering it required to make its defining feature: the roofbox. On December 22, Winter Solstice, this east facing window aligns perfectly with the rising sun; transforming a completely dark chamber into a sun soaked marvel. Thousands flock to Newgrange each year to watch the sun rise on the shortest day of the year and celebrate the triumph of light over darkness. But only a lucky few chosen by lottery get to sit inside the chamber to experience this feat of astronomy and architecture.

No pictures were allowed inside the chamber but another stunning feature was the carving of the triple spiral. It seemed to have been carved as one continuous line. It also had nearly perfect round curves and smooth edges which, again, is impressive considering this was made with stone on stone. 

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            As we got closer still to Dublin, we made a stop at Trim Castle. This was definitely one of my favorite places we went as a class on this trip. This castle was built by the invading Normans and is one of the oldest and largest in Ireland at 800 years old and 3 acres of land. Despite sections of the castle being ruins, it was easy to imagine how it had once looked. We took a tour of the keep to see the remains of the whitewashed walls and learn about the layers of history that lay inside as the keep grew up and up. This was the first time that I really noticed how exciting it was to connect things we were learning in classes to the places we visited on trips. 

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Dublin Day Two:

            On our free day, we all banded together for a tour of the Guinness Storehouse. The Guinness brand is very deeply imbedded into Ireland and especially into Dublin. The Storehouse had seven floors, each very different than the others, surrounding a glass atrium shaped like a massive pint of Guinness. We learned how Guinness is made, its history, and even learned how to pour our very own pint of Guinness! They take the quality of their beer very seriously; every brew is taste tested 23 time and analyzed 251 more times by their team of scientists and brewers.

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            Following this, myself and several other girls split off to see the National Botanical Gardens. We wandered through massive greenhouses, ducking between a few to avoid the spontaneous hail storms. All the exhibits were absolutely beautiful and refreshing after being in the city for a couple days.

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We then met our Irish literature professor at the National Gallery of Ireland to further connect the works of Thomas Yates and his family to the readings we’ve done thus far in class. While there, we also connected our history class to the painting, The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife, portraying the beginning of English rule in Ireland. 

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            Our final order of the night was the play, The Lieutenant of Innishmore. It wasn’t a play about war like I was expecting; it focused a lot on a man, his cat, and the Irish Republican Army. This was the first time I felt that I was on the outside due to language barriers. The whole play was done in English but they spoke much quicker than I could interpret their words through their accent. So, there were several jokes that the crowd laughed at while I sat there still trying to figure out what was so funny. 

Dublin Day Three:

            When we arrived in Dublin before the program began, we visited the courtyard of Dublin Castle but weren’t willing to pay for the tour. This time, the whole group took part in a tour of this Dublin landmark. The interior of the building was terrifically ornate but the President’s Room was the most beautiful to me. This is where the President is inaugurated every 7 years as well as where important state functions are held. Three large paintings covered the ceiling and the walls were painting a deep blue color used for all important ceremonies in Ireland.

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            We also toured the Leinster House but weren’t allowed to take pictures. This is where the parliament of Ireland sits. I’m still working to understand the Irish government because they have a parliament, president, and numerous political parties; it’s actually pretty intense. Our Irish and Gaelic Culture professor described it to us as a “spectator sport” and mentioned that she and her family stayed up until 3 AM during the general election to see who would be “voted off.” This building was less ornate than others we had visited and seemed to be more about getting to the crux of the matters at hand.  

Dublin Day Four:

            On our final day, we began the trek back home with a stop at Kilmainhaim Jail. I can’t really say I “enjoyed” this tour because it was a bit more depressing and sobering than other sites we had visited. We talked extensively about the Easter Rising, a rebellion during Easter Week in April 1916.  Ireland as its own free country has not existed for long having just become a true republic in 1949. The Easter Rising, though unsuccessful, was a pivotal time in which the Irish people turned against their British overlords and pushed the fight onward for true independence. Following their surrender, 15 leaders of the rebellion were housed in Kilmainhaim and 16 were executed there. This was another great connection between what we had learned in class making an appearance in our trip. I always enjoy when this happens because it takes a statement and makes it more of a reality. When you’re actually walking through the places these people stayed and died, it’s much more sobering than just hearing about it or reading about it in a book. 

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            The Clonmacnoise Monastery was our final stop on the way back home. Sitting directly next to the River Shannon and along the main crossroads from Dublin to Galway, this monastery was at the center of religion and trade. Most notable were the high crosses. These massive crosses depict scenes from the life of Christ on all four sides. Replicas can be seen outside while the originals have been moved inside to shelter them from the onslaught of Irish weather. After being in Dublin for several days, it was refreshing to walk around an open, natural space and just relish the tranquility of a place that has been holding steady for thousands of years. 

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And on the home front, life is calm. Minor blip this past week when our precious gas fireplace ran out of gas; that was a cold night in Cottage Four. Most of our afternoons and evenings are spent napping, planning out our free weekends and spring break, exploring, movies, and card games. Signing off until next time, 

                                                                                                Kylee