After a week of watching World Cup games and working hard for our placement, we were excited to have to opportunity to go down south to Dublin. While normally we wouldn't be allowed to travel outside the North, one of placement leaders, Kate Laverty of the Centre for Health and Well-Being, agreed to take us on an immersive trip through Dublin in order to further our understanding of how Northern Ireland and the Republic came to exist. We woke up early, and took a cab to the train station in order to catch the 6:50 A.M train. The ride to the city was uneventful, as we were mostly all asleep for the whole two and a half hours.
Upon arrival, all of us first time Dublin-goers were very impressed with the liveliness of the city at 9 A.M. on a Saturday. We got traditional Ulster fry's for breakfast: bacon, beans, sausage, egg, toast, tomato, and for the bolder ones, black and white pudding (you can google that). After breakfast we were off to see the historic parts of Dublin.
After struggling to figure out the bus system, we arrived at our first historic stop of the day, Kilmainham Gaol. This jail was in use from the 1780s until the 1920s, and is most notable for it’s incarceration of political prisoners around the time of the Irish Civil war. It was during the tour when I realized that I wish I knew more about the history of the Republic.
From there our site coordinator, Sarah, led us on a walking tour. The seriousness of our stop at the memorial garden was altered because we were actually in Dublin on the day of the Pride Parade. Kids and adults were dressed in all sorts of fun and rainbow colored outfits, and were all over the city. We walked past the General Post Office, or GPO for short. It was there that the rebellion actually started. In front of this historic building, James Connolly read the Proclamation of the Republic and the Easter Rising Rebellion began in 1914. There are still marks on the columns in the front of the building from the bullets that were fired during the fight for independence from Britain.
We visited Trinity College next, and were able to see the Book of Kells, which is a very old illuminated transcript. I wasn’t particularly impressed, but after seeing the Book we went upstairs to the Old Library, which was much more impressive. There were rows and rows of old books, and it was what I imagine the library of a 18th century castle would look like.
From there we were free to explore for a little bit. Some of the girls went to museums, the boys went to a few places that were frequented by James Joyce, and others decided to just walk around.
We met up at the end of the day for an Irish meal, and we watched as Brazil won the match during penalty kicks. It was a beautiful day.
Jane Kaufman
Trinity '17
Upon arrival, all of us first time Dublin-goers were very impressed with the liveliness of the city at 9 A.M. on a Saturday. We got traditional Ulster fry's for breakfast: bacon, beans, sausage, egg, toast, tomato, and for the bolder ones, black and white pudding (you can google that). After breakfast we were off to see the historic parts of Dublin.
After struggling to figure out the bus system, we arrived at our first historic stop of the day, Kilmainham Gaol. This jail was in use from the 1780s until the 1920s, and is most notable for it’s incarceration of political prisoners around the time of the Irish Civil war. It was during the tour when I realized that I wish I knew more about the history of the Republic.
From there our site coordinator, Sarah, led us on a walking tour. The seriousness of our stop at the memorial garden was altered because we were actually in Dublin on the day of the Pride Parade. Kids and adults were dressed in all sorts of fun and rainbow colored outfits, and were all over the city. We walked past the General Post Office, or GPO for short. It was there that the rebellion actually started. In front of this historic building, James Connolly read the Proclamation of the Republic and the Easter Rising Rebellion began in 1914. There are still marks on the columns in the front of the building from the bullets that were fired during the fight for independence from Britain.
We visited Trinity College next, and were able to see the Book of Kells, which is a very old illuminated transcript. I wasn’t particularly impressed, but after seeing the Book we went upstairs to the Old Library, which was much more impressive. There were rows and rows of old books, and it was what I imagine the library of a 18th century castle would look like.
From there we were free to explore for a little bit. Some of the girls went to museums, the boys went to a few places that were frequented by James Joyce, and others decided to just walk around.
We met up at the end of the day for an Irish meal, and we watched as Brazil won the match during penalty kicks. It was a beautiful day.
Jane Kaufman
Trinity '17