Dungarvan Maritime Festival

This weekend will be the first annual Maritime Festival in Dungarvan! My roommate and I were lucky enough to be asked to join the crew of a tall ship as they sail into the bay for the festival! Yesterday, the two of us woke up nice and early and hoped on a small pontoon boat to head out to the Celtic Sea. I haven't been on a speed boat in almost a year so I felt like the happiest little kid!!

Once we reached the Keewaydin tall ship, Emily and I climbed on board! We met the crew and got to explore the 100 year old ship on our own. It took about an hour for the ship to sail into the bay, and then everyone on board helped to tie it off to the dock. As we sailed in, crowds of people lined up the docks to watch. It was really strange having so many people take pictures of the boat which we were on! Some locals were even ringing bells and cheering!

Sailing in on such a large ship was the best possible way to spend my first day of summer! It was also the first beautiful, spring day in Ireland :) I had such a fun time!!

The Ring Gaeltacht

As soon as I finished my Ethics final on Wednesday morning, summer had begun! It was my last test, and now junior year is over! After the final, Tom Keith took us on one last tour around County Waterford. This time, we went to the other side of the Dungarvan Bay- an area called the Ring Gaeltacht

This peninsula in the Dungarvan Bay is an all Irish speaking town. We toured their TV station, the College (and were welcomed with tea and scones!), the Famine Graveyard, and the peninsula itself. The views on our tour were beautiful! Endless green fields cover the hills which overlook the bay. Once we toured the area, we ended the night at a local pub called the Marine. Here, we had a delicious dinner of lamb stew and some Guinness  The owner even brought out his guitar and we all sang along to some Irish songs

Wait, a study abroad trip involves studying?

With all the fun we've been having around Ireland, reality is about to set in as we take finals :/
Ethics final is on Wednesday, but first we need to survive an Irish language final on Tuesday at Waterford Institute of Technology. This past weekend, most of us have been trying to speak Gaelic to prepare ourselves for this test. The professor will be testing us on everything possible. Sections if the test include language comprehension (a conversation in Irish in front of the professor and then answering random questions he asks you in Irish), writing an essay entirely in Irish, spelling what he reads off, and so much more. With only 6 classes to learn all this, it's definitely going to be tough

Wish me luck!
(And yes, I did write this just to procrastinate studying)

Weekend in the West

Our weekend in the west has come and, unfortunately, gone. This was our chance to get a tour of the "real Ireland" and see a side of the country that most of us had never been to before. 

Like all of our trips, we were up bright and early on Friday to board out bus. On the way to Galway, we stopped at Cashel and had a chance to take some pictures. 

After Cashel, we went to the site I had been dying to see since I arrived.... The Cliffs of Moher!! We were extraordinary fortunate with the sunny weather; however the typical coast line winds were there as promised. The cliffs were an absolutely breath taking view! Just standing at the top of them made me feel so little as we looked out onto the Atlantic Ocean. 

Next stop on our trip was Poulnabrone where we learned how dogs are used to herd sheep. The dogs are trained to bite the sheep in the butt, so that they are afraid of the dog. The dog can then run in a semi-circle behind the sheep, making them go in any direction which he pleases. To make it even more practical, the header trains the dog with a whistle... Certain sounds will tell the dog whether to run left, right, straight, or stop. The whistle can even make the dog run with the sheep or walk. 
The owner then demonstrated this! It was so cool to see how just by simply blowing a whistle, he could control anywhere that the sheep went in the giant field!
I also got to pet a sheep... Strange Ireland goal accomplished!

After the long day, it was finally time to get to the city of Galway and check into our hostel. We got our crazy 10 person room and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner cooked by Carmel (Tom Keith's wife) and her daughters. I cannot thank them enough for taking the time to make us a home cooked meal!!

Before we all went to sleep, we had some exploring to do in Galway! A few of us found a traditional Irish pub and enjoyed the live band. It was a great end to an awesome day!!

Saturday was spent entirely on the Aran Islands! (Blogged about in previous post)

Sunday was the last day of our trip. It wouldn’t be a complete Tom Keith tour, however, if we didn’t tour any castles! We left Galway early in the morning and drove to the Athenry Medieval Town where we toured the castle and went to Mass. After that, we concluded our trip with a stop at the Bunratty Castle. It was such an amazing weekend, but I’m glad to be back in little Dungarvan J

The Aran Islands

This past Saturday, the Mercyhurst students spend the day on the Aran Islands! To be honest, I had never even heard of these islands before our trip, but I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw when we arrived!

It took a 45 min ferry from Galway to get to one of the three Aran Islands. Once we arrived,we grabbed some food at a pub and ten started our adventure! 7 of my friends and I took a guided your to see all of the island. Below are a few facts about the main Aran Island itself:

- 9 miles from Galway

- 9 miles long
- 2 miles wide
- 800 residents

- the Islanders use the Irish language everyday
- 3 churches (but only 1 priest)

Since the island is so small, we were able to see just about the entire island. A few sites included seeing seals, horses, a lighthouse, old church and graveyard, a cliffs. The cliffs were definitely my favorite part. The driver dropped us off and we had to hike up a huge hill until we couldn't go any further! The view was breathtaking!

I am so glad the school took us to this place!! There's no way I would have found it on my own, and it was an experience that cannot be missed! This island was different from any town or village I've ever seen before. With such a small population, there's no crime and everyone knows each other. It was nice to see such a small community where everyone is looking out for one another!

The Blarney Stone

I have officially checked off the number 1 item of my bucket list..... KISS THE BLARNEY STONE!

Saturday, April 20, my four friends and I took a bus from Dungarvan to Cork. We explored Ireland's second largest city and did tons of shopping! The center of the city is filled of endless streets of stores, farmer's markets, and entertainment. We were fortunate enough to have beautiful weather, so we walked around and checked out the local shops.

After the city center, the five of us took another bus to get to the Blarney Castle. I have always wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone, so I was literally jumping up and down once we arrived! I practically ran up the 120 spiral staircase to get to the top and was the first to kiss the stone! With all the adrenaline I had, I wasn't even a little bit nervous! I laid down on my back, leaned my head over the edge, and gave the stone one giant kiss! Now I have the "Gift of Gab" =D

Once the five of us kissed the Stone, we ran around the gardens and found beautiful spots to take some pictures. The Castle is surrounded by flowers and little paths through the woods. We climbed down to a river and just had fun checking out the area on our own.

An hour or so later, the gardens closed down so we headed off to dinner! Near the Castle there was a huge Irish pub where we enjoyed traditional Irish food and beer. That same pub had live music at night which we all loved! The band played Irish music for hours and everyone in the pub was dancing! To make the pub experience even better, we were the only tourists there! All the locals LOVED our accents and were amazed that we were from America. We spent the whole night talking to each other and enjoying the atmosphere!