Category: Ireland

My number one tip for anyone studying abroad is to take classes outside of your major. If you’re studying in a new country, why not take the opportunity to fill your head with some fascinating country specific knowledge to word vomit back to everyone in the states?

This is the approach I took when making class selections for my semester at NUI Galway. While three out of four of my classes are pretty random, I’m still able to get Linfield credit for them! So really, I’m having the most culturally enriching semester of my university career, and I’m still on track to graduate on time. 

With that being said, my favorite class this semester has been The Development of Castles in Medieval Ireland. Not only was it fun to attend lectures about castle history in Ireland, England, Wales and Scotland, but we got to go on a field trip as well! 

The field trip took all day and in total we visited three different castles: Pallas Tower House, Cloonburren Motte and Bailey, and Dunamase Castle. 

Pallas Tower House was our first castle of the day. It’s located about an hour away from campus in what appeared to be someone’s backyard. The castle was still in mint condition for having been built in the 15th and 16th century. It was accompanied by a bawn wall and the remains of a house. We were able to climb all the way to the roof of the five storey tower to enjoy the view. 

Our next stop was Cloonburren Motte and Bailey in County Roscommon. While surrounded by livestock, farm land, and the Shannon River, it is also positioned right behind someones house. 

Mottes are a unique type of castle as they appear as a hill or even just a lump in the ground. However, the height of a motte is what makes it a naturally defendable site. We were able to hike to the top and imagine what it may have been surrounded by back in the 13th century. 

Our last stop of the day was at Dunamase Castle, located east of Galway toward Dublin.

Dunamase was probably the least aesthetically pleasing in photos, but it was definitely the most impressive castle of the day. It’s the largest castle in Ireland which meant the entirety of it couldn’t be captured in a single picture. In person it was absolutely magical, especially since we explored it as the sun began to set.

Dunamase is positioned on a tall limestone outcrop and while in ruins, you can still tell this castle would have been just as impressive on the inside in its late 12th century heyday.

This field trip was something I’ve been looking forward to since I registered for classes in January. In the end, it lived up to my high expectations and was an amazing experience. 

In the next two weeks I plan to travel outside of Ireland during the break before finals. I’m really looking forward to visiting two new countries and sharing my experiences here. 

Best,
Laney Green

Hello from Galway, Ireland! 

March here has been a whirlwind of activity from everything like assignments, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, a dance showcase, and many local adventures. When it came to celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland, I was a bit lost on what to do for the holiday. We asked our roommates from Ireland what the day usually consisted of, and they filled us in on all things Paddy’s Day. We started the day out by donning our green clothing and set out for the parade through the city center.

The Parade was packed with people celebrating and displayed a beautiful blend of cultures who had Irish pride. We got to see some traditional Irish musicians play on floats, folk dancing, and all of the cool clubs and businesses that participated in the parade as well. After the parade we headed to a place to grab a bite to eat before the night got busy and exciting.

Later that night we went out to a couple of different pubs to celebrate the holiday with drinks and dancing. This exciting day had everyone in a festive mood and allowed us to feel closer to Irish culture by getting in on the celebration.

Another fun thing that happened in March was the dance showcase. My roommates and I dance back at Linfield in the showcases that are put on every year, and this semester we were missing the feeling of being a part of something like that. Zell found that open classes were offered through NUIG, and we signed up right away. When we went to the classes, we found out that they were holding a showcase at the end of the four weeks. This month worked hard on learning our routines and participating in dance at NUIG.

I unfortunately was not able to perform due to an old injury acting up, but I was able to watch Zell and Haley perform in the showcase and have a wonderful time working with the other dance students. It was very cool to still be able to do something we love from Linfield while we were abroad.

Lately the weather around Galway has been wonderful, and we have been filling the days with walks to the beach and studying outdoors.

Finals are in our near future now, but we have had the best time this month in Galway.  

Best, 

Isabel Brown 

I survived Saint Patrick’s Day in Ireland! What I learned from the experience is that most Irish youth would describe St. Paddy’s Day as just a reason to drink all day. So truthfully, it wasn’t that much different from the celebrations in the states, except that I could partake. 

Most of my roommates went to spend the first half of the day in Dublin, but McCall and I opted to stay and enjoy the festivities that Galway had to offer. We started off the holiday by attending the annual parade in the city center. It was the first parade in two years due to the pandemic and we could definitely feel everyone’s excitement for its return buzzing all around us. 

A surprising amount of people were dressed up in green and sported fun, gimmicky props which made the day feel even more festive! As for the parade, it mostly consisted of marching musicians, youth sports teams and local advocacy groups. Overall, it was just exciting to people-watch both the parade participants and those in the surrounding crowd.

We continued celebrating later that day by hanging out at a pub and beer garden. McCall and I were joined by one of our roommates, Kieran, and also Gabbie and Nathan, two of my friends from the states who had arrived in Galway that day. We spent the rest of the night meeting and befriending locals, a few of whom have even studied abroad in California!

This past week I finished some of my classes and started working on my final essays; so crazy, I know! In my free time throughout the week I was also able to show Gabbie and Nathan around Galway. 

To cap off this month, I will be going on a class field trip to three different castles. I will highlight that trip and the castles we visit in my next blog! 

Best,

Laney Green

 

It feels like so much and so little has happened this month and it’s only and already the third week. I guess that’s the magic of Ireland, or just my inability to keep track of time while here. Either way, it’s already been quite the month and the main event (Saint Patrick’s Day) has not even happened yet. Nevertheless, I will take you through this month’s adventures so far.

The last weekend of February and the first week of March my family came to visit me. It was pretty crazy that all three of them made the trip out here and it was such a fun experience getting to show them around my new temporary home. I gave them a walking tour throughout Galway which included a trip to campus and the Salthill beach and diving board.

My parents rented a car for their time in Ireland, so we were able to drive to the countryside of Connemara and hike Diamond Hill. I have completed this hike once already with my roommates in the pouring rain, but this time around it was clear and sunny which made for an entirely different hiking experience. In comparison, I preferred the blue sky over the wind and rain, but the landscape is beautiful regardless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also within the first week of March McCall and I played for the NUIG Ladies Club team in the National League final. We went into double overtime and eventually penalty kicks before we came away with the trophy!  It was so fun playing soccer with such a welcoming group of women, and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to be a part of a first place victory for our school.

Other than more school work and some local exploring around Galway, that pretty much sums up the first three weeks of March! I’ll be back to report on my full Irish St. Patrick’s Day experience soon. 

Best,

Laney Green

P.S. Mask restrictions have lifted here (as did Oregon’s soon after) and it is so weird! 

 

 

Hello from Galway, Ireland! 

This month we have been doing a lot more exploring around Ireland including a trip we took to Dublin for Zell’s 21st birthday. We were able to get a hotel room in Dublin and train tickets there to have a fun long weekend celebration. The first thing we did when we arrived in Dublin was check into our hotel.

After the hotel we headed straight to the museum of archaeology. We were delighted to find that the museums in Dublin are completely free, and we spent all the time we could exploring and learning about Ireland’s diverse archaeological background. It was cool to see the things we have been learning about in our Irish, medieval, and Viking archeology classes in person. We got to look at the famed bog bodies, Viking age materials, and many intricate pieces of jewelry among other artifacts.

We found a wonderful place to eat that night and then crashed at the hotel. The next day was Zell’s birthday, so we headed out to Dublin Zoo! The zoo was amazing, and it was well worth the hour walk to get there. There were many really cool animals, and we were blessed with great weather for our entire trip.

 After the zoo we headed to the art museum and wandered around until it closed for the day looking at artwork, furniture, and clothing from all around Europe.

We found a perfect place for birthday drinks, dinner, and dessert that night to end Zell’s 21st.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and visited Trinity college to see the book of Kells in all its glory. The library was stunning and seeing the book of Kells up close was a surreal experience.

After the library we took a long walk back to the train station where we read our books until it was time to board out train back to Galway. We had an amazing adventure packed weekend in Dublin, and we are already planning our next visit there for a concert we are seeing in April.  

Best, 

Isabel Brown 

 

Hello from Galway, Ireland! 

Yesterday my roommates and I traveled to Limerick, Ireland which was about an hour and a half on bus. We had decided to do some more exploring around Ireland because we have been spending a lot of time in Galway lately.

When we arrived in Limerick, we started by wandering around and seeing the adorable Saturday markets they had set up on some streets. Then we made our way to King John’s castle which was about a 30-minute walk from the bus station. We paid for student tickets to enter the castle and museum where we learned a lot about the history surrounding its building and life in the castle afterwards. We were also able to learn about Limerick’s history and the different occupants of the city.

The castle was extremely interactive and supplied many opportunities to get involved in learning about its history. There were areas where you could pretend to be one of the workers in Limerick and help to build the castle, games where you matched up shipping exports to their respective towns, and drawers you could pull out to look at recovered artifacts from excavation on the site.

The self-guided tour also allowed you to travel down under the museum to see the actual foundations of the castle. The tour then led up to areas where you could explore the turrets and main courtyard of the building, and this area had many fun games to play with your group.

There was horseshoe, tug of war, archery, see saws, and a part where you could go into an armory and dress in chainmail and helmets. We had lots of fun messing around with the games, and even got laughed at by a security guard watching us on the see saw.

After we tired ourselves out with the castle, we headed to some food carts and got some great food from local places. Then we were able to explore Limerick on foot and checked out some local shops, and I was able to buy an Irish tarot deck which is something I was looking to buy while visiting. After checking out the shops we headed back to the bus station to return to Galway.

We had a wonderful time checking out more of Ireland, and we hope to visit Limerick again to do more in the area.  

Best,
Isabel Brown 

After a big adjustment period in January, I’m happy to report that I’m feeling much more at peace and at home here in Ireland. I owe this all to February, even though it’s been a whirlwind of a month.

February has been filled with plenty of events and new experiences, both big and small. Everything from more school work and a trip to Paris, to lots of soccer matches and local excursions. Let’s recap some of these adventures!

McCall and I both play soccer at Linfield and while it’s technically our off season, we couldn’t be stopped from seeking out a way to get touches on the ball. We joined the NUIG Ladies Club team and so far we have played in four matches. Our team is even set to play in the league final next week! It has been such a fun experience to play with and against local girls here, and it’s also been a great way to meet new people. Fingers crossed we can continue performing well and come out on top next week.

One of my favorite experiences so far this spring was showing my friend Jakob from Linfield all around Galway. He’s currently studying abroad at the University of Nottingham in England, but the Irish hills were calling his name so he booked a trip for the weekend. I had the pleasure of showing him around the NUIG campus, city centre and even Salthill Beach. 

On Saturday we made our way to the Cliffs of Moher. We lucked out with dry weather and even a brief appearance of sun! It was crazy beautiful and definitely a destination worth exploring if you ever find yourself in Ireland.

We had booked our bus tickets to give us a three hour window at the cliffs. At the end of it, I did wish we had a bit more time as we could have easily kept hiking and also spent more time looking at the indoor exhibit about the cliffs. That being said, as soon as our bus pulled up to take us back to Galway it started to rain, so the timing worked out well in the end.

I’m glad to see short, but sweet February coming to a close- but not because it wasn’t good! Really, I’m just excited to see what March will bring.

Best,

Laney Green

 

Hello from Galway, Ireland! 

The month of February seems to be flying by here in Ireland. My group and I are settling in nicely in our second month of study abroad, and the work has definitely started to pick up. While we are currently planning for a few bigger trips and events, we have been having a wonderful time surrounding ourselves with all the fun things to do in our local area.

 Galway is a wonderful spot for all sorts of different restaurants, pubs, and bars so we have been exploring new places to eat and drink every week. We have found some delicious places that have become favorites of ours, and other places to check off the list in the future.

I was told by lots of people that it may be difficult to find good food options here since I am a vegetarian, but I have been delightfully surprised at the number of options I have around this city. We frequent a café with wonderful coffee and pastries where we like to read and work on our schoolwork (where I am currently writing this blog from).

My roommates and I have made it a mission to find the best avocado toast in Ireland, and so far, we have had lots of good ones to pick from, and when we need to save money, we make our own at home.

While we have been kept pretty busy lately with schoolwork and other events, we have also found ourselves diving deeper into local places and the beautiful outdoors.

The recent storms that have hit the coast of Ireland and the UK have made it a bit difficult to participate in outdoor activities because of the intense winds and constant rainy conditions.

Once these storms are gone, we hope to go back to exploring Ireland, but for now we are pretty content on reading in cute cafes.

Best, 

Isabel Brown 

Last week’s adventure consisted of a quick trip to Paris with two of my roommates! We planned this trip about a month ago and after much anticipation it was finally time to head over.

We left our apartment at one a.m. on a Thursday and made our way to the Galway bus station. From there we had a three hour bus ride to the Dublin Airport and then a short flight before we landed in France. Even with the lack of sleep we were ready to take on everything Paris had to offer; especially some chocolate croissants and coffee.

We had three full days to spend in the city which we split up by dedicating two days to be complete tourists and go exploring, and saved the third day for museum visits. Our exploring consisted of trekking through the streets that led to major landmarks of Paris. This of course included the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc De Triomphe, and an impressive lookout point on the roof of a ritzy shopping center.

We did a lot of walking to get from landmark to landmark, which ultimately led to a lot of good eating along the way too. I had some of the best pizza and pasta of my life on this trip!

As for museums, we all visited the Louvre and it actually exceeded my expectations. It was just as big and beautiful on the inside as the outside architecture is. My favorite part of the museum were all the sculptures, but we also stopped to take a selfie with the ever famous Mona Lisa.

My roommates went on to visit the Musee d’Orsay while I wandered the gardens and trails around the Louvre.

On our last night we got caught up in riots which was a stressful way to end our trip. However, once we made it back safely to our hotel it only added to an overall memorable experience!

More adventures coming soon.

Best,

Laney Green

Hello from Galway, Ireland! 

One of the best things about studying abroad is being in a completely new environment from the one that you are used to. My friends and I are very adventurous people that love to get out and explore our surroundings. So far, we have had a variety of different adventures that range from local to a couple of hours away. 

One of our very first adventures in Ireland was to visit a castle. Ireland’s countryside is known for the sprawling green hills, and amazing architecture from centuries old buildings, abbeys, and castles. We decided to go and walk to one that seemed like it was fairly close to us called Menlo castle.

A group of us from Linfield headed out earlier in the day to “hike” the one hour to the castle. The first thing we learned is that you can’t actually walk to the castle, and most of the way we were walking along the side of the road. When we arrived at our destination, we found out that it was closed to the public (always check online first, guys) and we ended up not even being able to see it. We walked to the entrance of the grounds for some cool photos and ended up walking even farther to visit the castle’s cemetery which actually gave us a view of the real castle from a distance.

This adventure ended with a long walk back and into town to get Italian food and ponder over our journey, even though we didn’t do what we set out to do in the first place.

One of my favorite experiences so far has been visiting the Cliffs of Moher. The Cliffs are an attraction that most people visiting the West coast of Ireland set out to see, and our group was no different.

We found a bus that would take us to see them earlier in the day and bring us back in the late afternoon for a fairly decent price. After we got off the bus, we purchased day passes and entered to see one of the most beautiful sights in Ireland. The Cliffs left us all speechless and we walked up and down the trails along them to get in every view. We took lots and lots of pictures and even went inside O’brien’s tower at the top of one of the cliffs.

We were all happy to look at the view of the ocean and natural beauty that surrounded us for hours, but we eventually checked out the visitor’s center to learn even more about the cliffs around us. We were able to get a hot lunch after the chill of the sea air, get some awesome things from the gift shop, and warm up before the journey home. The cliffs are a must see for anyone visiting Ireland, and we all hope to adventure out there again before the semester is over.

Aside from our bigger adventures we have also been checking out the natural beauty surrounding us every day. We have beautiful beaches close to our school, parks, and my roommates and I have a reading spot down by the water that we like to go to after class sometimes.

Ireland is a beautiful country full of places to explore, and we have lots more exciting adventures in our future here.  

Best,
Isabel Brown