I can’t believe we are getting to the end of our time in Ireland. With few trips left, I am excited to soak in the time we have left in Ireland. This week was a little less active than the last few, which was a nice reset and opportunity to explore more of what Dublin has to offer.
Most of my weekdays have been spent coding and creating workflows at work, and resting or doing school work in the evenings. Today, I finally got the workflows to run properly and saw immense progress on our data hygiene efforts. It was nice to finally see all the work I have been putting in come together and see the results so quickly once I ran the code.
The weekend was one of the first ones where we did not have a full day or weekend trip, so I had the opportunity to explore more of Dublin and the surrounding area. With the weekend came a crazy heat wave, so Emilia, Lucie, and I felt that the only correct way to spend our time was on a beach. We decided to get up early and take the DART out to Howth to soak up the sun and beautiful views of the Howth cliffs. On the way, we stopped to get bagels with lox, which were delicious. The seagulls must have also thought it looked delicious, because the second half of my bagel was swooped out of my hands right as it was taken out of the bag.
Though taking a little over an hour to get to our destination, we found ourselves a beautiful beach that was just what we all needed after weeks of traveling and being in the city.
We were all shocked to arrive on such a picturesque so close to the center city. The water was crystal clear, and the beach was nestled in betwen two large cliffs, making it invisible from the main road above. We were smart to get there so early, because by noon, the beach was packed and everyone was making the most of the record hot day.
After sending photos of the beautiful spot to others on the trip, Brad, Nick, Max, and Tennyson met us at the spot around 3 o’clock. Emilia, Lucie, and I were already there for four hours at the point, and we all stayed another two before grabbing dinner and heading home.
We got fish and chips at Beshoff Bros Howth, which was the perfect way to end a great beach day. Since it has been so long since I’ve been in the sun, the day really took me out and I was fighting sleep on the DART. I also got pretty burnt, despite using sunscreen. I definitely should have used more, but I had little expectations for the Irish sun getting me tan (I was very wrong). After a full tub of lotion and lots of bottles of water, I was able to alleviate my burn in hopes it would turn to tan.
The next morning, we had a group event where we learned popular Gaelic games, like hurling, Gaelic football, and Gaelic handball. It was so nice to get out and run around and learn new sports. Gaelic football was definetly my strongest, but I loved hurling. After learning how to play, I had a greater appreciation for the difficulty of the sport, because it took an immense amount of skill.
After a day full of games, we rested up for our last class of the trip and group tour on Monday. I have thoroughly enjoyed our Judging Justice class and am sad that it is coming to an end. All summer, we have compared Supreme Court rulings in the U.S. and Ireland, which has been fascinating to see how different values and governing strategies shape interpretations to similar cases. As our final paper, we are creating a case inspired by one that we read in the case and analyzing how it would be interpreted by the courts. We also get to record a podcast where we pretend to be discussing the case I made up, which I am super excited to make.
Once we had our last class at UCD, we headed over to Kilmainham Gaol for a prison tour. The prison held men, women, and children for over 100 years. The tour guide discussed the stories of people held there as ordinary criminals and those who fought for Irish independence. The prison had inmates from the 1798 rebellion, 1916 Easter Rising, Anglo-Irish War (1919-21), and Irish Civil War (1922-23). Learning about all of these events through the stories of the inmates was facinating, and gave more historical insight to all of these historic events we have discussed the entire trip.
Despite loving the historical aspect, the tour definetly freaked me out, as spaces were small with minimal light. Among all the other reasons as to why I would never commit crimes, I think my claustrophia is enough to keep me out of any trouble. 🙂
Although less eventful than prior weeks, this was a much needed relaxing one. I loved getting the time to explore more of Dublin and learning new games!
The beach in Howth looks so beautiful and seemed like a day well spent! Love the photoshoot you took in the hurling gear!