Submitted by Danny Maney on the 2023 summer program in Ireland…
My third week in Ireland has been chock full of new experiences. The crown jewel of this week was when we took a two-night trip to Kilkenny. This city was different from anything that I had experienced before. It was smaller than Dublin, yet it was still considered a city, and it had a lot going on. It really reminded me of the part of EPCOT in Disney World that has all of the different countries. I think this speaks to the fact that this is my first trip outside the US. Also, while in Kilkenny, I learned a lot about Irish history. For example, every church is doubled as there is one for Catholics and one for Protestants, yet they have the same name. There were two St. Mary’s and two St. John’s etc. This is a physical example of the divide between the two faiths that have been the main reason for all of Ireland’s issues over the past few centuries. We also got to visit Kilkenny Castle, where in the room I had pictured, there was a lot of beautiful artwork. This castle was once the home of the Irish Confederation during a rebellion in the 15th century.
Another highlight of my week was when a few of us took a trip to the Dublin Zoo. I have always enjoyed going to zoos ever since I was very young, so of course, I had to make a stop at this one. There were a lot of differences between this zoo and the ones in America. I noticed more of an emphasis on conservation. At each exhibit, they had a sign saying what they were doing to help protect wild populations of these animals. Also, the exhibits themselves were a lot larger and had more cover, so the animals were not constantly on display. As a pre-vet major, I know that there is an ethical dilemma regarding zoos, as people are unsure if they cause more harm than good. Visiting this zoo has confirmed my personal belief that zoos do good as they educate people who would otherwise never know about these animals and that they need to be protected. It was also just a really fun day trip. My favorite animals that we saw were the giraffes.
The final thing of note that we did this week was take a day trip to the coast at Howth. I think that people here have an entirely different concept of going to visit the ocean than I do. At the Jersey shore, where I have been going every summer for as long as I can remember, it is relatively flat and there, and the houses are built almost on a grid. In some towns, there is a boardwalk facing the ocean. In both Howth and the other shore town we went to, Sandycove, there are massive cliffs that face the water. It also isn’t as warm here, so it didn’t truly feel like summer at the beach. There were people on the beach, but not many of them got in the water. I’m sure it was very cold. This was one of the first times I felt like I was somewhere that was completely Irish, outside the influence of anything foreign. I am truly not an outdoorsy person, so it was kind of hard to keep up, but the views were amazing. That being said, I am excited for the week to come and will continue to update this blog. (Submitted during Week 3)