Reflection, Croke Park, Rain

Wednesday, April 25^th – Last Day

Today we met early as a group to reflect a bit on the trip and what we had learned during our time here.  After a class we spread out around the school to give gifts to all the teachers and staff who had made our stay so enjoyable.  Louise Deane came by to tell us how she had been getting very complimentary reports from folks outside of Belvedere.  Many of the teachers also stopped to compliment the group. 

We then met in the Oratory with Eoin Keogh to do an Examen of the two week experience.  It was very restful and a nice way to wrap up the spiritual strand of the trip.  From there we went straight to our annual basketball match, where unfortunately, the Eagles went down to defeat to the Belvedere squad despite the great efforts of coach Conor Lane.  A good time was had by all.

Our last outing of the trip was to Croke Park and the GAA Museum. Croke Park is the home of Gaelic Games, hurling,camogie and Gaelic football - an enormous 82,500 seat stadium, with a great collection of artifacts and experiences to try out in their museum.  The site also has a very important place in the hearts of Irish people because of the killings there on Bloody Sunday in November, 1920 in retaliation for the deaths of British agents during the War of Independence.  We got to go down to the pitch and visit the locker rooms and press spaces.  It was a terrific tour and a great way to wrap up our visits in the city.  We were rescued by Simon O’Donnell of the school staff, who commandeered the school van and drove us to the park and back in the pouring rain.

The Dail, National Art Gallery, National Art Gallery and Shopping around Grafton Street

Tuesday, April 24 Blog

            Tuesday, our penultimate day in the exchange, started with a Mass with our host brothers. It was a chance for all the host brothers to be together and reflect on what this exchange has meant to us, how we have grown, and how God has been with us in this time. Fr. Cassidy said our Mass, he gave a beautiful sermon and we sung Only in God as well as Amazing Grace.

            Next, we had a lecture with a slightly eccentric teacher, Mr. Conran. He spoke about ancient sites within Ireland including Newgrange and the significance of the number three. From a numerical standpoint, this number is simple, but it has a much deeper meaning. The stones in Newgrange are arranged with 3 circles. Possibilities for this include the sun, the moon, and the Earth, the relationship between father, children, and mother, or birth, life, death. Mr. Conran explained to us the best theory to him is birth, life, and death. He talked to us about the Iron Age and what Pre-Christian Irish metal work involved.

            Then, we finally had free time. From about  10:30 to 1:45, eighteen BC High students roamed around Grafton Street in downtown Dublin. Fortunately, we still have eighteen students. Many students bought gifts for the family and friends. You are welcome, Mom!

                                          

At around 2:00, we eventually went to the Dail, which is the Irish Parliament. We observed how both the upper and middle houses consult one another, some in an argumentive manner. The art and architecture of the buildings were very elaborate. We then had the option to go to the National Art Gallery or the National Library.

Those of us who chose the National Library had the utmost privilege of visiting the Yeats exhibit. The exhibit concerned Yeats’ life, poems, and intricate details about the history of Ireland which influenced Yeats’ writing career. Next, some of us visited the genealogy section. Some of us had done research prior to this and were able to find some new ancestors in our Irish lineage.

For those of us who chose the Art Gallery, we saw such artist’s works as Jack B. Yeats, and even one of Michelangelo’s predecessors.  We got to see the famous Caravaggio painting that was only recently rediscovered in the Dublin Jesuits' residence. The time era went until the twentieth century.  After some last minute shopping we all made our way back to Belvedere.

Book of Kells, Boxty House, St. Patrick's and Marsh's library

Monday April 23, 2012

           On Monday we went to first class. Then we headed out to Trinity College, which is home to the Book of Kells. The campus itself is very nice and certainly has the feel of an older style of architecture while still appearing to be modernizing. We went into the library building which is celebrating its 300^th anniversary this year. The book contains the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The books are very exquisitely decorated with various colors of ink; some of which are only found in exotic places that are rather far from Ireland, like Afghanistan. We also learned from the tour guide that kids our age or even younger were the writers behind these masterpieces, and it was an interesting thought to imagine any of us sitting for hours writing these books with such amazing dexterity and skill.

From there we went over to the Temple Bar area and went to lunch at the Boxty House. We ordered our food, and once we were done we were told the history of the food we had just eaten. There was a brief demonstration of how to make a boxty out of potatoes, and how in Ireland, especially during the famine, it was a way to change up the ways that people cooked. Even our dessert was made out of a boxty base.

After that we went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which is an incredible work of architecture that still stands to this day even after hundreds of years. We were given a basic tour and learned things about the history of the church. The oratorio, The Messiah, composed by Handel, was first performed in nearby Fishamble Street using the church's famous choir and they still have the organ it was played on. Jonathan Swift is also buried near the entrance to the church just inside the doors. Even though the church is named after St. Patrick they do not know for sure where he ended up being buried.

Right next to the church was our final stop, the Marsh Library, which was built by Archbishop Marsh as a the first public library in Ireland, to be open forever. It is home to many bibles, medical texts, maps, etc. that would be of extreme use to many of the scholarly men who would come to read them. In some cases, they would have to do so in one of the three metal cages that they would have to go into to make sure no books were stolen.  To end the tour we even got to go into the archbishop’s gardens and take a group picture which was great. It was a great day to start our last week.

Paul Howard, Conor Lane

Connemara, Kylemore Abbey, Cong and Belvedere House

Sunday April 22, 2012

            Today we started the day very early at 7:30 A.M.  After a nice breakfast of toast and cereal, we departed from Galway towards Belvedere, but with a few stops along the way.  We drove out through the desolate but beautiful landscape of Connemara.  The first stop was at Kylemore castle. It is an estate that was sold to Nuns after the previous owner's wife had died, and today nuns use it as a home and a monastery. It was a very nice place, and a lot of the guys picked up some nice gifts at the gift shop.

After a long bus ride we stopped at Cong for lunch. It was a small town that used to be very popular because of a monastery. It was also popular because of an ancient cross that was found there, and that we saw in the National Museum of Ireland. We dined in a restaurant on some good finger sandwiches and chips and took a minute to celebrate Brendan Walsh's birthday. With full stomachs, we headed out and stopped again at Ashford Castle, a castle that was turned into a five star hotel, and is one of the most famous hotels in Ireland. We technically weren’t supposed to be in there, so the paddy wagon had to be very careful where it went on the grounds. It was going all right until we had to turn around, but on the bright side, our mark will be left on the grass forever.

          Our last stop before returning to Dublin was at Belvedere House. This man owned both this house, and the site of the original Belvedere College. The view from the front door was amazing, and we could see far out across the lake it was set on. The Gardens were equally as beautiful, and some of us even got to go to Narnia. That is where the movie was filmed. Finally, we made our final approach to Dublin. We arrived at Belvedere at 6:30, and we all headed home with our host Brothers to end another good day of adventuring in Ireland.

 Brendan Walsh, Mike Mondo

Cork, Castles, Cliffs and Karst

Saturday

            First thing we did Saturday was go to the Blarney stone; it was about a 10 minute ride from Cork and was still early in the morning. Seeing the castle was an amazing sight, first we went into a cave that was only about 100ft long. Inside the castle, the spiral staircases were really narrow and were original to the castle, so at times a little bit scary. When we got to the top of the castle, where the Blarney Stone is, we needed to lie down backwards and be held by the guide to kiss the stone. Another beautiful part of the Blarney Castle was the Meadow that was next to it, which you could see very well at the top of the castle. In the meadow there were cows and sheep, and the air was fresh and smelt like a farm. This was a great start to an amazing day.

     

       Next on the agenda were the Cliffs of Moher, a spectacular sight with an astonishing view. Not only did it give you a wonderful view of the surrounding landscape, but it filled you with excitement to know that you were so close to the edge and that the only thing that stood between you and the fall to your impending doom was a 2x4 picket fence. The Cliffs are known locally for their high winds and hidden beauties; but it is also known internationally because its caves and crags were featured as a dramatic setting in the film Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. All in all, the Cliffs of Moher is a great location to stretch  your legs after spending several hours on a bus, and is a literal breath of fresh air compared to the stale air found in major cities.

            Before the day came to a close, we went to the Burren Limestone pastures. These sedimentary rocks are more than a million years old and are made up of dead fish and cemented sand. It was nice to have the free time and ability to go and climb these rock faces. Tom Doyle explained how Ireland, millions of years ago, was underwater and located next to Brazil. You could still find hundreds of ancient fossils in these rocks because the stone is so rough and able to keep its shape. There were also many other types of rocks such as granite and other sediments that were called Iradics.

      We finished the day in Galway City, the chief city of the western province of Connacht.  We walked around the town down to the Corrib River and talked to some of the locals about salmon fishing.  We stayed the night in a busy hostel after a good dinner at An Pouchan restaurant.

Cashel and Cork

            Friday began our excursion to what we may consider the ‘countryside’ of Ireland, which was a very drastic change to the city life. Our first stop was at the Rock of Cashel. Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century and was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. In 1101, the King of Munster gave his fortress on the Rock to the Church.

This complex of buildings stands on a high hill and we had a great view of the country from there. Although it was from the tenth or twelfth century AD, there were many new additions to the gravesite.  Many of the parts of the church were in various states of preservation - for example there was a very large Celtic cross which had lost its top. Though the top was toppled over onto the ground, it was very graphic with heavy detail. They kept the artifacts from the church preserved as well. Broaches, crosses, and church items were all detailed and meticulous. After traveling through more of the countryside, we finally arrived in Cork. Though all the shops were closed, we received a tasty dinner. Mr. Doyle, a teacher from Belvedere, thought he was very clever and tried to tell us that there were no more burgers or fries left. The name of the restaurant was Gourmet Burger Bistro. Minutes later I found out it was a joke. After dinner, we received a quick tour of the city center from Mr. Gibbons and then went back to the hostel for a good night’s sleep, after some shenanigans of course. No, but, we did get to sleep at a reasonable time.

Kavanagh, St. Kevin, a Mansion and a Prison

            On Thursday, April 19^th, the group went to Powerscourt, Glendalough, and Wicklow. We traveled via bus and were led by an omniscient tour guide, Jeff. Jeff first took us around Dublin, showing us Patrick Kavanagh’s statue, which the group went out and took pictures with. We read his poem entitled, “Canal Bank Walk.”  Next, we took a bus ride to Wicklow, where we took a 15 minute break near the beach at Bray. After a nice photo shoot with the scenic mountains and waves crashing against the shore, the group departed for Powerscourt.

            Next, the county of Wicklow just so happens to have a booming film industry. Famous movies such as Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart, P.S. I Love You, and Excalibur were filmed here. Also, famous television shows such as The Tudors, Camelot, and Asterix have been filmed here. On an interesting side note, all the soldiers seen in Saving Private Ryan in the beginning beach scene as well as the Celts and Scots fighting in Braveheart came from the Reserve Army of Ireland. Wicklow is where this army is taken and trained, and filmmakers saw this as a convenient place for actors in their films.

            Next, the group traveled to Powerscourt. Powerscourt is a beautiful mansion established by an old Norman family named La Poer, later anglicized to Power. On this 30,000 acre land plot was developed the present day mansion. The Power family built a beautiful garden, which may have cost 5 Euro to view but was one of the prettiest sights the group has ever seen. Next, we went to Glendalough.

            Glendalough was the next visit on our journey through county Wicklow and it was quite the sight. All through the beautiful fields were scattered ruins of the ancient monastery of Saint Kevin. Saint Kevin, as it turns out was a very interesting man. Stories of him ranged from raising a baby from the milk of a deer to kicking a woman down a mountain and into a lake at the bottom of the valley. In real life stories he was quite the man to learn about. Legend has it that he lived to be 112 years old and that may in fact be true!

            At one point on our walk through the valley we all got a chance to relax and reflect at one of the prettiest spots in the entire place. Right next to a small, ruined old church we all spent a silent 15 minutes reflecting on the Glendalough visit as a whole. Sitting down in the beautiful scenery was a great change of pace from the usual rush of the day. Soon after we were off to our last stop at ye olde Wicklow prison!  This prison was closed in the early 1900’s and holds great interest for the Irish people. This place is important to them because it held many revolutionaries while Ireland was trying to gain freedom.

            The staff of the prison did a great job role playing as the jailer and the matron. When we entered we were ordered to, “Stand up straight,” and to “get those hands out of your pockets!” We were threatened with the dungeon and solitary confinement. The Matron sat us down and explained how even young children of the ages of eight and nine were held. She went deeper into detail about the injustices that occurred while the prison was running.

        

    The prison building itself had three floors and a dungeon. The cells were small and it was necessary to duck when walking in. Within the different cells were manikins and stories written on the walls. We all finished out the day by tossing a rugby ball around out front of the building. It was a great day!