Hello Lads and Lasses!
Its
Gemma and Brianna here in Dublin, Ireland! Today was definitely the highlight
of our time in Ireland so far! This
morning we were awoken by Mama Sue at 7:30am. Instead of our usual morning
class, we made our way to Kilmainham Gaol, the jail made famous by the Irish
Rebellion in 1916. This is what our novel study is based on, so it was
exceptionally interesting to see. Everyone took tons of pictures and our tour
guide was awesome. The jail itself was spectacular. It was a lot larger than
most people expected. Although it had many cells for occupancy, it was over
crowded and the living conditions were terrible at the time of its operation.
We were particularly moved by the execution stories that were told. To see the
novel 1916 come to life was an amazing experience. Let’s face it: how many
times have you had the opportunity to visit the place a book you’ve read takes
place in? We also got to look at the last words of the Irish Rebellion leaders,
such as Padraic Pearse and Joseph Plunkett. Joe Plunkett’s letter was a
favourite to all the girls, as it was a love letter to his wife. The pair were
married minutes before his execution, and were only able to spend 10 minutes
alone in a guarded cell together.
After Kilmainham Gaol, we took the bus to Trinity College and were able
to have some free time. A group of us went out for lunch (TImmies!!) and then
went shopping. Once our free time was over, we were fortunate enough to have
Mr. M and Ms. Stokes take us to Trinity College for class. Ms. Skokes’ class
presented their historical research analysis on the leaders of the Irish
Rebellion. We then had a heated debate involving both classes on the main
protagonist in 1916.
When we got back for Trinity, we went straight to dinner, as we were on
a tight schedule to go to a traditional Irish Ceili! A Ceili is an Irish party
filled with Irish dancing and traditional Irish music. It was a good craic!!
Everyone was eager to learn the dances and was able to temporarily forget that
the ISU is due tomorrow! We were dancing so much we were sweating buckets.
Thankfully, we were treated to a much needed scone and glass of water. Although
we had to cut it short to catch a bus, we all had a blast!
We came home late and were very tired from all the dancing. Everyone
went to bed straight away to prepare for a long work day ahead of us!
Slán go foil, or goodbye for now!
-Gemma and Brianna 
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