Back to EC

Tomorrow we will be departing Dublin and returning to Elmira College. We expect to be back around 9PM. The last 2 days of the trip have been free days. Although they have not been without some excitement.  Yesterday as the group was walking to dinner.  We witnessed the Queen of England and the President of Ireland pass in front of us. Thanks to all who have viewed this Blog and we hope you enjoyed reading it.

Onward to Dublin..

Tomorrow, we will be on our way to Dublin.  We will have a couple days to explore and get those last minute souvenirs and gifts. On our way to Dublin we will stop at Newgrange , Hill of Tara and the Boyne.  Below is a pic of the group at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Paths of Giants

Sorry for the delay in posting. The Blog site was down for maintenance. So today we are heading to Belfast (2nd largest city in Ireland behind Dublin). Yesterday we visited the Giants Causeway, Bushmills Distillery and a rope bridge.   We got a lot of good photos which you can see above and a group shot of us at the Causeway below.

Northern Ireland

Yesterday, we traveled to Northern Ireland and on our way we stopped at Belleek Pottery and Ulster American Folk Park.  The parked tracked emigration of the Irish to America.  We started in Ireland and by the end of the tour we were in Pennsylvania.  Today we are taking a walking tour of Derry. We will learn about the history of Derry and Bloody Sunday.

Below is a pic of the group at a one room Irish school in Ulster American Folk Park.

Heading North

Today we are on our way to Sligo .  We will spend one night there before we head into Northern Ireland.  We will have to exchange some money (Euros into British pounds). 

Defending the Castle

Yesterday, we went to Athenry Heritage center and learned about life in Medieval life. We also learned the skill of archery and got dressed up in the clothes of the time. We were maidens, princesses, kings, knights, jesters and even a robin hood. We got to view (and experience!!) some of the forms of punishment at the time.  In the afternoon we went to Clonmacnoise (a monastery foounded ~545AD).  Today is a free day and everyone is getting some sleeping and shopping done.  In the afternoon, we will got to the market and buy groceries for our homemade dinner we are making tonight.
Below is a picture of the group at Athenry.

Hanging off cliffs

Yesterday the group traveled to the largest of the Aran island Inishmore.  It was a 45 minute boat ride to the island. Once on the island we traveled by horse cart to Dún Aonghasa a prehistoric fortess on the island.  The group was able to get up to the cliffs edge and peak over (most all chose to do it laying down).  Today we are off to Athenry and Clonmacnoise.

A day off

Yesterday we had a well deserved day off. We caught up on sleep, did a little shopping and explored the city centre of Galway.  In the afternoon, we went to the grocery store and bought food so we could prepare our own dinner.  Amy, Jackie, Joe, Mary, Meagan and Phelim prepared a delicious meal that included a salad, penne pasta, garlic bread, a red sauce, Mary's home made Alfredo sauce (best thing I have had here) and chicken.   After dinner we had a surprise birthday for our two students who have birthday's while we are here (Michelle and Natalie). Today we are off to the Aran Islands (Inis Mor).



Dr. Stilts

Ireland Rocks!!!

Today we went on an adventure and saw (drum roll please)...rocks, in its many forms.  The day started off with a tour of Bunratty Castle.  We were able to walk around and explore the castle on our own, saw the dungeon, witnessed the making of Irish brown bread, found two adorable Irish Wolfhounds, and played on some canons (see below!).  After our castle adventure we headed to the Cliffs of Moher.  As soon as we saw them, they didn't look real; only pictures can capture the pure beauty of the scene.  Next we saw a bird show before going into the Aillwee Cave.  Some of us were able to hold one of the falcons and it flew around the area as part of the show.  After the birds we ventured 200 hundred feet into the earth and got to experience total blackness.  We literally couldn't see our hands in front of our faces...it was awesome!  Our last stop of the day was to the Portal Tomb and a sea of...you guessed it, more rocks!

Slainte!!
Kerri Haley
Katie Place
Meagan Davenport

On our way to Galway

Today we are on our way to Galway and we will be stopping at Bunratty Castle and the Cliffs of Moher.  In Limerick we have a very limited internet connection so no pictures today :(  However, we will catch up once we are in Galway.

A rainy day in Dingle!

Today, we went to Dingle. Located outside of Killarney we took our bus on a little ride. While being in Ireland we have had pretty good weather, but today we didn't have such luck. Today, it raining...a lot! Being on the bus for most of the ride we got to see the scenery and the gorgeous view from the Dingle peninsula as we drove by. We saw the first Catholic church that was built in Ireland and caves where ships would drop off their cargo and return to sail. We ate lunch Dingle in this small restaurant and then headed back to the hostel. We ate dinner at McSweeneys and then called it an early night. Overall the day was fun and pleasant to see Ireland at it's best.

Cheers
Mary Curtis
Karyn Mountain
Marissa Gormel

A ride through the park

Today we stopped at Béal na mBláth the location of the assassination of Michael Collins.  On our arrival to Killarney we were picked up by three horse carriages. They were powered by Rosie, Delilah and Black Beauty.  The ride was about an hour long and through Killarney National Park.  We got back to the city centre and had some free time to go shopping.

Cheers

Natalie Winters
Kristen Niemann

The ride into Killarney Park

Today we took a horse and carriage ride into Killarney Park.  Below is a short video of the ride in:

Animals Everywhere

Today we went to the Cork City Gaol (jail).  We learned that it served as co-ed and womens prison. During the famine it was overpopulated with 2-3 inmates per single cell. It also held some of the prisoners from the rebellion of 1916. On our way beck to Cobh we stopped at Fota wildlife park.  It was fantastic. It was open zoo that allowed most (not all) of the animals to roam free. The cheetah however was behind a fence.  So far the weather has been perfect.  It has been sunny and in the 60's since we have been here. However, we don't feel our luck is going to hold out as its supposed to rain tomorrow.

Cheers,

Liz Stanton
Katelyn Musall
Kristyn O'Rourke

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

Welcome

This is the blog for the 2011 Elmira College Ireland course. Follow us as we make our way around Ireland and we will update you as we go!!