Kissing a Legend

Today we went to see the Blarney Castle and kissed the Blarney Stone (except for Joe, he is a but superstitious).  We walked around the grounds, climbed into dungeons, walked through a poisonous garden and saw a witches kitchen.  We saw the last port of  the R.M.S Titanic and Lusitania. We also saw St. Coulombs Cathedral that towers over our hotel.  Today we are onto the Cork City Gaol (Jail).

Cheers,

Joe Kelly
Kara Maison
Michelle Fontaine

On our way to Cobh

Top of the morning to ya! Today we left Dublin and made our way to Cobh with a few stops on the way. The first stop was Glendalough, which is a monastery of St. Kevin, in which he hid from the Vikings. It was very interesting and is still used as a burial site today. One of the many attractions is The Round Tower, which is 35m high and only 1m underground, it is still standing due to the placement of the door which is 3m above the ground. Legends say this was one of the hiding places from the Vikings, but some of the locals don't believe that because it made them susceptible to attacks by the Vikings. The exact burial site of St. Kevin is unknown. The next stop on the trip was Kilkenny to see the Kilkenny Castle, and we found the moat surrounding the castle. The third stop was the Rock of Cashel, which is a castle built on a rock, which was under maintenance. We took a picture at the Castle, which can be seen below. We walked around the Castle since we could not go inside and spotted sheep at a close distance. After seeing the Castle, we continued our journey to Cobh and had dinner at the Commodore Hotel, which is where we are staying and has a beautiful view of the water.

Darcy James
Jackie Johrden
Paige Kent

Irish Dancing

Meagan, Kara and Darcy showed off their dancing skills at the Arlington Hotel in Dublin on Wednesday night (Apr. 27th).

Dublin Day 2!

Today was the day that all members of the Ireland trip were looking forward to; the infamous Guinness factory trip. Seven floors of the exploration of beer. At the top, after pouring your own pint, we reached the gravity bar; a 360 degree view of Dublin, perfect for picture taking. After the Guinness factory, we headed to the beach in Bray where we were able to stick our toes in the ocean and walk up along the beach. This little town was so beautiful and on such a sunny day was the absolute perfect place to be. Finally, that night we headed to a nice dinner and musical show, including a live Irish band as well as Irish dancers. Overall, yesterday proved to be another exciting day in Ireland. It can only get better because today we are traveling to Cobh and along the way will be stopping at the Rock of Cashel and Kilkenny Castle.

Love,
Amy Meyers
Jessica Larson
Shannon Mott
Breen Loney

Our First Day

We all arrived safely (although a little sleep deprived). Our first day we visited Trinity College, St. Stephens Green, Howth as well as walked around the city centre.  We should be updating this page on a regular basis (as time and internet connections permit).  This is a group shot at St. Stephen's Green.

Our Itinerary

ARRIVE APRIL 26^th

 

April 26^th-28^th DUBLIN- O’Connell Street, Government Post Office, currency exchange, TrinityCollege ( Book of Kells), Grafton Street, St. Stephen’s Green, Temple Bar, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Kilmainham Gao

April 29^th- May 1^st COBH- Glendalough ,Rock of Cashel, Blarney Castle and Gardens, Queenstown Experience, Tour Cork City and environs, St Colman’s Cathedral

May 1^st -May 3^rd KILLARNEY- Baile na Blaigh, Killarney National Park , Dingle Peninsula

May3-May 4^th LIMERICK- Adare,  Bunratty Castle and Folk Park

May 4^th –May 10^th GALWAY - Galway –The  Burren, Ailwee Caves, Pulnabron, Cliffs of Moher

Aran Islands ,Athenry, Clonmacnoise , Connemara, Kylemore, Celtic Crystal, Clifden, Free Time             

May 10^th–May  11^th SLIGO - Belleek ,  Ulster American Folk Park

May 11^th–May 14^th DERRY - Bloody Sunday, Derry Tour , Giants’ Causeway, Rope Bridge, Bushmills

May 14^th– May 16^th BELFAST– Tour Belfast Area

May 16^th–May 18^th ARMAGH- Navan Center , St Patrick’s Trian, Cathedrals, Boyne, Tara, New Grange

May 18^th –May 20^th DUBLIN- Free Time

DEPART MAY 21^st