An Ireland Experience

May 21, 2012



From March 7^th – 15^th, a group of 16 Penn State students and faculty members went to Ireland for a class trip. This trip was a chance of a lifetime and a great learning experience and our coach driver, Murt O’Shea was full of knowledge about the history of Ireland. Our trip began in Dublin then continued into Ennis, which was followed by Kilarney and Kilkenny and ended in Malahide (which is right outside Dublin) for our last night. Throughout the course of this trip, we saw many historical sites as well as landmarks that were breathtaking.  From the group dinners to pubs to a medieval meal, we always had interesting food and boy do the Irish love their potatoes! Potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner; I don’t know how they can eat so many servings of potatoes a day.

The first two days of the trip, we were in Dublin where we stayed at the Burlington Hotel. On the first day we walked around the city as a group, exploring St. Stephen’s Green, Trinity College and The Book of Kells, Dublin Castle/Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, and the last stop was to the Post Office. After our last stop as a group, Sarah, Anna, Katie and I walked around Dublin and did some shopping on Grafton Street, a very popular place for tourists to shop. That evening the entire group went to the Brazen Head Pub for a night of food, folklore and fairies. Johnny, a friend of Murt, told many stories about fairies and told us it was our decision if we believe in them or not. The next morning we went to the Guinness Storehouse, where I tried Guinness beer and quickly found out that I am not a huge fan of that particular beer. An interesting fact about the company is that in 1759 when Guinness was established by Arthur Guinness, a 9,000 year lease which stated they would pay 45 pounds a year.  After Guinness, we traveled outside of Dublin to explore the Hill of Tara (a place where the high kings of Ireland used to be), and Knowth (which is a heritage site that dates back roughly 6,000 years and is a place of one large mound with several satellite mounds).

The third day in Ireland, our first stop of the day was to the National Botanical Gardens which was established in 1795. There are over 17,000 species and cultivated varieties from all over the world and is a very pretty place to walk through. The second stop was to the Kilbeggan Distillery Experience where we got to try some Irish whiskey, which I wasn’t a fan of. Throughout this course, I have been posting information about peat and peat bogs in Ireland, as well as around the world. Unfortunately, the only time we went past peat bogs in Ireland was when we were on the bus and it was hard to get any clear pictures. The National Museum in Ireland had artifacts and bodies on display, but we did not have enough time to visit this museum. An interesting fact about peat though is that at the Kilbeggan Distillery (Locke’s Distillery) used peat to heat their facilities. We continued to travel to the Old Grounds Hotel in Ennis, where we would stay for two nights. For dinner that evening, we went to Bunratty Castle for a medieval dinner, where there would be no utensils. For dinner we enjoyed vegetable soup, Bar-B-Q ribs, chicken with vegetables (squash, broccoli, carrots and potatoes), and a strawberry dessert. The meal was absolutely delicious!

 

The fourth day was a very interesting day because Murt talked to us about the Potato Famine during the 1840’s that took that lives of so many people and caused a huge portion of the population to emigrate. The stories he told about families being evicted from their homes and found dead in a hedge row somewhere or parents putting their children on cargo ships hoping they would be lucky enough to survive the trip to America and start a new life in the land of opportunities. When Murt was discussing landlords evicting tenants, he also talked about how Workhouses were created, which were practically concentration camps. Families would go into these workhouses, where no work would actually be done, and they would never see their loved ones again. We stopped at the Workhouse Monument and it was difficult to experience because of how many lives were lost during this time frame. On a happier note, the next stop was to the Cliffs of Moher, which was one of my favorite tour sites of this trip. Some of the cliffs are 700 feet high and are breathtaking. Murt said when he was younger, he would sit on the edge of the cliffs to get a thrill, I could never do that because I am deathly afraid of heights! We traveled to The Burren, which is a national landmark made of limestone rocks. It was a very pretty view and the flowers that grew between the rocks were gorgeous. The last stop of the day was back at the Bunratty Castle and Folk Park. We got to explore the castle and got the chance to climb to the very top, which was a pretty view!

 

The fifth day we traveled to one of my favorite places on this trip, Dingle Peninsula.  Words can even explain how beautiful this journey was, clear blue skies, the water splashing onto the cliff walls and the many different shades of green that covered the landscape. I also got to sit on a donkey while we were in Dingle, which was very exciting. That afternoon we got to the hotel in Killarney and had plenty of time to shop and explore the city.

On the morning of the sixth day, we went on a horse carriage ride to the Muckross House which was located in Killarney National Park.  This house was built in 1843, and millions of dollars were put into the house and landscape for when Queen Victoria came to visit in August of 1861. It was a gorgeous house and the gardens around the estate where very pretty, especially the rhododendrons and azalea bushes. The Rock of Cashel was our next stop, which was once a seat of the over kings of Munster and dates back to the 4^th century A.D. That afternoon we arrived in Kilkenny and went out to Lanigan’s, a local restaurant/pub for a delicious dinner and to listen to some good music.

The last and final day of the trip was spent at the National Stud and Japanese Gardens, Powerscout Gardens and Glendalough.  All three places were full of information and interesting facts about Ireland and its culture. The National Stud houses Invincible Spirit, which is one of Europe’s top 5 race horses. Powerscout Gardens had many different gardens within the site itself and contains several rhododendrons bushes in shades of pink, red and purple. Glendalough, the valley of two lakes, is renowned for its early medieval monastic settlement that was founded in the 6^th century by St. Kevin. After Glendalough, we headed back to our hotel where a group of us went to take a walk on the beach before dinner. Our last dinner as a group was delicious but was sad since we were leaving Ireland in the morning. This trip was a chance of a lifetime and I feel so blessed that I got the opportunity to go. I make some great friends and learned a lot of interesting facts about Ireland and its culture!