The Oireachtas

This morning, our class made our way down to the City Center to the Leinster House, home of the Irish parliament. I forgot my camera, so here's thanks to Molly Frietag photography.

The democratic system is formed by two houses, the the Lower House, or Dail Eireann and the Upper House, or Seanad Eireann. We were fortunate enough to see both of them in action this morning. First stop was the Dail where we observed the TDs (Teachta Dála, Irish term for Member of Parliament) conduct their order of business. What was interesting was the swapping of languages. When a member began to speak, he or she could choose to either present their point in Gaelic or English, and we heard both during our short viewing. It was quite eventful and a couple of the TDs became pretty heated as they attempted to slip in their personal motives into the structured order. The Ceann Comhairle, (Head of the Council) led the order of business as the Tánaiste (deputy Prime Minister in the Irish Parliament) fielded questions from the TDs. Next stop was the Seanad, similar to our Senate. A quick viewing, but we were still able to see the Senators in action. As soon as we left, a bell rang to signify an upcoming vote. Members throughout the building hurried to the Seanad to participate in the vote.

Following our tour, we had a meeting with a member from the Seanad, Joe O'Toole, who described to us the Irish legislation system and made some interesting comparisons to the US system. We learned that a proposed bill must pass through a five step legislation process in both houses before being passed. Although rather opinionated about the American system, it was still interesting to hear his viewpoint.

We returned to DCU just in time to grab a peanut butter sandwhich and head to history, where a guest speaker lectured on Eamnon de Velara. As founder of Fianna Fáil, a political party still present in Ireland, he was a strong force in the creation of the Irish Constitution in 1937. Pretty cool guy!

I just returned from the library where I was printing off my boarding pass for the upcoming weekend! I will be visiting a friend in Germany, named Inga, who lives in the northern town of Osnabrück. I woke up this morning to a facebook message, entitled "German for beginners" which made me very excited. Inga gave me a few pointers to make the most of my weekend, including

- Hallo (Hello)
- Wie gehts es dir? (How are you?)
- Auf Wiedersehen! (Goodbye)

I may want to learn a couple more phrases for convenience, but regardless of my limited knowledge of the German language, I'm looking forward to the visit.

My inspiration for this post can be attributed to Manda's Morning Mixup" at Wybf.com, a Cabrini College radio station, hosted by my friend Amanda Carson. This was my first time listening to the show, but I can proudly say I know that voice on the radio, and this girl has talent!

Abbey Theatre

To complete the busy day, our Sociology class had a field trip to the Abbey Theatre in City Center. The itinerary for the evening consisted of Christ Deliver Us! written by Thomas Kilroy. Performed by very talented actors, the play succeeded in its intentions. The plot was set in Ireland in the 1950's, and powerfully described the "attendant fear, joy, and wonder experienced by children growing up in a restrictive society" (According to the play bill, also written in Gaelic for your convenience.) The Irish culture was strong throughout the play. The boys were shown in the midst of a hurling match and a fiddle filled in the breaks for the scene changes. The world premier of this show, Christ Deliver Us! may be interpreted as controversial, but left me with many thought provoking questions as I left the theater.

RAG Week

It's Wednesday already? Where has the time gone? The week has flown by in the midst of paper writing, spring break planning and the same daily responsibilities that seem to have followed me to Dublin...

Good news: two papers done! I turned in my paper on abortion in Ireland yesterday morning, feeling both enlightened by what I had learned and relieved that it is behind me. With the books returned to the library, my next obstacle is finals, which we will all tackle next week.

In the meantime, DCU has created a week long event known as RAG week (Raise up And Give). In an effort to raise money for charity, many events have been going on throughout campus. Four charities, including the Special Olympics in Ireland, UNICEF for Haiti, The Alan Kerrins African Project and the DCU Educational Trust have been chosen to raise support. The campus is more alive this week than ever, with bands playing in the Hub and dunk tanks soaking students outside! It's neat to see everyone having so much fun for a positive cause.

A fun side note...

The more time I spend here in Dublin, the more I find two competing forces in the chocolate arena. Right now, I would have to declare a tie between Cadbury Creme Eggs and Penguin Chocolate (made by British company called McVities.) Cadbury eggs are pretty self explanatory, but the Penguin chocolates have pleasantly surprised me. With two chocolate wafers covered in chocolate and wrapped with a corny joke regarding penguins, these addicting treats not only satisfy my sweet tooth, but improve my sense of humor at the same time! What a deal! Instead of feeling guilty for indulging, I figure it is a good excuse to put my gym membership to use.

Our Gaelic word of the day in Sociology was "Dochas," meaning "hope." A good thought to leave you with.

Irish Winter Wonderland

The weekend started off with flag football. The founder of the American Football Team at DCU had told us that the flag football team was always looking for players. We decided to take advantage of that fact, and Saturday morning Elizabeth, Molly, Jack and I headed out to practice. They were very glad to see us, for only four Irish players were at the practice. We started by running "routes" which was quite entertaining, but a good warm up nonetheless. Although my team lost in the 4 vs. 4 game, I did score a touchdown and had a blast experiencing a slightly different delivery of the game. The group practices every Saturday, so despite our traveling, we will be back again for another shot. Next time I'll be looking for a win!

The rest of the day was pretty calm and was centered mainly around my paper for my Contemporary Irish Society class. I'm writing about abortion in Ireland. With the passage of the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution, abortion was declared illegal in Ireland. With all the controversy that this topic entertains in the US, I'm very interested in how the idea is perceived in Ireland.

Saturday night we experienced an unexpected surprise. SNOW! It rarely snows in Ireland. The climate is moderate all year long, and the country does not know how to handle snow. We were all dressed up and ready to go to city center when we were hit by incoming snowballs on our way to the bus stop. Turns out, a group of Irish students from our apartment building were having a snowball fight. It did not take much convincing for Molly, Elizabeth and I to run back upstairs and put on some snow gear for the fight. We spent the rest of the night running around DCU, making snowmen and enjoying the fresh 2 inches of snow that had turned the campus into a winter wonderland (if only for the night). It was a small taste of home as we experienced the familiar weather and made new friends in the process.





This morning Mike, Jack and I went to what was another beautiful mass at our Interfaith center. If it wasn't so peaceful (not my forte), I would learn to play the harp because I am becoming a huge fan. I think I'll stick to the Bodhran for now but who knows what the future holds. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but very productive. My afternoon consisted of a trip to Tesco (the grocery store), a workout at the gym, and more paper writing.

For dinner, Meghan and I cooked a chicken! This was only our second attempt at the meal, but it proved a success. We were so excited that I just had to take a picture. The cooking situation has been an experience here, as the ten of us in my apartment work to share the single oven and stove. As you can see, we are making the most of the situation and have been enjoying it.

GAA

First, I'll quickly recap my day yesterday...

In Contemporary Irish Society, we had a guest speaker who spoke to us about the current music industry in Ireland. It's interesting how artists such as U2, from Ireland, have such a hold on the international market. It should not surprise me, for the majority of the music I've been exposed to here in Ireland is similar to what I would hear at home. It really is a small world.

The Irish War of Independence was the topic of our History of Ireland class. Our teacher announced to us we only have four classes left, a startling fact as we all realized how quickly the semester is going. I'm really thankful for these classes; I've learned a great deal about the formation of modern Ireland, and I'm understanding the importance of a nation's history on the modern culture.

Last night, we had a field trip to Millbank Theatre to see The Playboy of the Western World, a classic Irish play about a boy who supposedly killed his father, and makes a name for himself as he flees the area. Although the accents were difficult at first, once I was acclamated, I enjoyed the show! As a fun surprise, the coach bus dropped us off in city center where we celebrated our friend Mike's 21st birthday. Overall a very good day!

Today was our first Friday off in Dublin in three weeks. I had the opportunity to sleep in which was wonderful. Determined to use the day, a group of us set out to Croke Park.



Conveniently located on Jones' Road! (I must have a future here.)



The "nicest" (according to our sweet tourguide) and fourth largest stadium in Europe, Croke Park is home to many different sporting events, including Gaelic Football, Hurling, and Football (Soccer). The tourguide took us to various parts of the stadium.


This is the players lounge. After the games, players from both teams gather here with family to celebrate, eat and be merry.


The 32 large balls on the chandelier represent Gaelic footballs and stand for the 32 counties on the island of Ireland. An interesting fact about the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) is that it does not account for the partition with Northern Ireland, and is a major symbol of Irish Nationalism.


Next stop was the teams locker room. For county games, there is no home or away team, but instead the locker room assignments are based on the Gaelic alphabet. Our tourguide revealed some of the motivational tactics of the different coaches and prepared us for our trip out to the pitch.



It is a very impressive stadium, holding over 82,000 people.

A most interesting fact for you. All of the athletes of the GAA are amateurs, meaning no one is paid to participate and all of the athletes hold other jobs. I think that's pretty impressive.


We went up to the seventh floor to the media box, where we had a beautiful view of the stadium.

Fun view of Dublin from the top!




Taking our turn in the press room.



Following the tour, we walked down to the city center, lucky to avoid the rain for most of the journey. Well worth the long walk, my savory tart from the Queen of Tarts was the perfect ending to the day.



I'll refrain from including the picture of the clean plate, but needless to say I enjoyed the meal.

Located near our bus stop back to DCU is an arcade which houses a 4D theater. Everytime we are in the city we say "O we need to try that sometime." Well today was that time. Realizing that there is no better time than the present, we went on the seven minute, 4D experience through the Haunted Mine.
We were just as excited as the little boys in the front!

With the rain on pause, it was another beautiful night in Dublin. Here is a picture of the sunset over the River Liffey for you to enjoy.


Plans for tonight include relaxing in sweatpants with a movie and ice cream. Exactly what we all need.

Pancake Tuesday and the Kilmainham Jail

Yesterday was Mardi Gras as most of us are familiar, but here in Ireland they refer to it as Pancake Tuesday! Instead of the usual Fastnachts for me, the Irish indulge themselves with Pancakes. Unfortunately, I did not have any pancake mix to join in the celebration, but most definitely took advantage of the "Fat" Tuesday label nonetheless.

Today, for our history class we had a field trip to the Kilmainham Jail (Priosun Chill Mhaighneann).

Now transformed into a museum, the jail which was built over 200 years ago housed prisoners up until 1924. At times, the jail was home to over 9,000 prisoners in only 110 prison cells. Needless to say, conditions were terrible. Through our guided tour, we saw the cells which held famous Irish Nationalists including Charles Parnell, James Connolly, and Éamon de Valera.




We were told the story of Joseph Plunkett. As a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Plunkett was arrested during the Easter Rebellion of 1916 and was imprisoned in Kilmainham Jail. Two hours before he was executed, he married Grace Gifford in the jail chapel. Immediately after the ceremony, Grace was forced to leave and she never saw her husband again.

Fourteen leaders of the 1916 uprising were blindfolded and executed in this yard for their part in the rebellion.
This is a statue commemorating their lives.


Movies including Micheal Collins and In The Name Of The Father have been filmed in Kilmainham Jail. The acoustics are also very good inside, and U2 took advantage of this fact and recorded an album here as well. Who knew?

This evening, I went to the most beautiful mass for Ash Wednesday at DCU's interfaith center. The mass was held by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin. The small room was filled to the brim, and the DCU choir accompanied a harpist and lead singer with a magnificent voice. The Our Father was said in Gaelic, a little surprise for us Americans, but also a really neat thing to experience.

Liquid Sunshine

After an absolutely beautiful weekend in the sunshine, I woke up this morning to the familiar Dublin rain. During a historical walking tour of Dublin city center, my teacher told me in a slight giggle that they like to call this weather "liquid sunshine." I enjoyed the thought of it and may start looking at this rain in a positive way. Our incredibly quirky tour guide pointed out some of the historical landmarks around Dublin that coincided with our history curriculum. We even saw bullet holes in some of the buildings from the 1916 Easter Rebellion. Pretty crazy!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and mainly consisted of writing a history paper. I did find quite the deal at the outdoor market down in Dublin: 12 apples for 2 Euro. (Considering I had seen apples priced at .50 Euro, this was quite exciting for me).

One more thing regarding Southern Ireland that I forgot to mention. During our Gaelic lesson on the bus this weekend Caroline started on a Gaelic rant without first mentioning what she was saying. Once finished, she told us that she had just recited the "Our Father" in Gaelic. Although completely unsure of the correct pronunciation, I wanted to include it here because I really liked how it sounded.

Ár n-Athair atá ar neamh,
Go naofar d'ainim,
Go dtagfadh do ríocht,
Go ndéantar do thoil ar an talamh mar a dhéantar ar neamh.
Ár n-arán laethúil tabhair dúinn inniu,
agus maith dúinn ár bhfiacha
mar a mhaithimidne dár bhféichiúna féin
Ach ná lig sinn i gcathú,
ach saor sinn ó olc,
Amen.

More to come tomorrow! For now, its goodnight from Dublin.