Yesterday we left Derry and made our way to Belfast with a few stops along the way. The first stop was Dunluce Castle, which is completely in ruins along the northern coast of Northern Ireland. We were warned about the arctic wind and col weather, but once again, we were very lucky and were blessed with relatively warm, mostly non-rainy … Continue Reading →

Today on our third and final day in Derry/Londonderry, we visited the Ulster American Folk Park museum. I personally was very excited about it as I am really interested in migration and family history, but everyone really enjoyed the museum and learned a lot about Irish emigration while we there. When we first got there, we headed straight to the … Continue Reading →

January 15, 2014 After waking to rainy weather and a delicious breakfast we drove over to the Melon Centre for Migration Studies and Ulster-American Folk Park. Our two lecturers, Paddy and Brian, both had wonderful Ulster and English accents, respectively. This opened up discussion with the rest of the class about different American and Irish accents as well as our … Continue Reading →

Today, January 15th, our class ventured from Derry (or Londonderry to some) to The Center for Migration Studies. The trip lasted for roughly 30 minutes along a hilly and scenic road. Upon our arrival, three employees welcomed us with open arms. Paddy, a local professor, was the most vocal worker and he engaged the class in a lively conversation. He … Continue Reading →

Sunday 12th, Sligo Cheers! ​This morning I gave the local cashier at the Spar across the street a thrill as I went to get a snack for the bus, he thought he was checking out a movie star. Unbeknownst to me, as I was walking in Paul was checking out and he informed the man behind the counter that the … Continue Reading →

Today we had a tour in Derry of City Hall, the peace wall, and bogside by an Irish Buddhist named Ronan. It has been my favorite tour so far, especially since it was done by someone who grew up in Northern Ireland but has an un-biased opinion when it comes to the loyalists and the nationalists. One thing Ronan said … Continue Reading →

The Edge This morning was filled with angst and excitement. I knew that in the next couple hours, I would have the opportunity to look over the edge of a 300+ foot cliff into the Atlantic Ocean. With this idea filling my head, the 45-minute bus ride followed by the 45-minute ferry didn’t seem too long. After a bit of … Continue Reading →

On Friday, we had an independent research and exploration day in Galway. In the fall all of us chose topics to research while abroad ranging from Irish food to statistics. My research project is on the differences between special education in Ireland and America, so I spent most of our free day with Alison at a very small Catholic, all … Continue Reading →

Today was our last day in Galway, and we had the entire day to conduct research and explore the beautiful city. Most of us chose to catch up on our sleep and finish up any outlying paperwork before anything too exciting happened. Our group agreed to complete individual work in the morning before meeting up for lunch at the SuperMac … Continue Reading →