Ashley Ganem

Where do I begin? Ireland is by far my favorite place on earth. This trip was my third time in Ireland. I studied abroad during undergraduate schooling, visited with my mother after graduating, and (now) I've gone with Seton Hall. Each time I've visited, I have gotten to experience somewhere new. I fully recommend this trip to anyone, whether or not you are interested in the literature or just the sightseeing.

We stayed in Dublin for four nights, visited county Cork (stayed in Blarney for one night), and stayed in Killarney for two nights. Each location provides a different look at Ireland and the Irish people. Dublin, like any other city, is fast paced and filled with history. We did a walking tour of the Easter Rising, which starts at Trinity College and ends at Dublin Castle, with the impeccable Lorcan Collins. Walking down O'Connell Street, you can see bullet holes visible in the General Post Office and the statue of Daniel O'Connell. Collins was so knowledgeable that I purchased his book on the Easter Rising of 1916. He joked that he waits until the end of the tour to mention his book because everything he says is in the book and if we'd read it beforehand we wouldn't need him to give us the tour. The city's history is embedded everywhere, from the bridges over the River Liffey to the street names to the names of pubs and everywhere in between. While we did do a few tours and met with scholars, like Anne Fogarty and Thomas McCarthy, we had plenty of time to explore on our own. Some of us went to the National Library to see a W. B. Yeats exhibit, the Guinness Brewery, and shopped on Grafton Street. We met some wonderful people in Dublin including a writer from the Irish Independent Niall O'Connor. It was great meeting him because he made me aware of how much more knowledgeable people outside of the U.S. are about U.S. politics than many of us living in the U.S. Hillary and I spent a great deal of time discussing our opinions about U.S. governmental policies and the future presidency. We had great fun regardless of our political conversation because we were at O'Donoghue's Pub and live music was playing. He originally comes from Co. Cork, but relocated to Dublin (which he thinks is the greatest city and I don't disagree). The night before some of us met the famous Niall, I visited the Parnell, a pub/restaurant named after the last politician who made it possible for Ireland to have Home Rule through legislation rather than through violence. I had quite the experience at the Parnell because I met one person who I got into a heated discussion about literature with - apparently, do not talk about Sean O'Casey in this pub. However, one very nice bartender saved the conversation by recommending both Catholic and Protestant authors for me to read. The bartender also revealed that he was a writer himself and was publishing a children's book next year. Joe, our always affable EF tour guide, joked that in Ireland everyone is a writer.

But that is just it, Ireland births great writers in abundance. Place is extremely significant for these writers because it helps develop their Irish identity, their voice. The East and West provide stark contrasts. James Joyce's Dubliners and Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock are dependent on the city's landscape to tell their stories. Joyce and O'Casey write about people living in close contact with one another, and, at the same time, in complete isolation. Interestingly, the people I met in Dublin viewed these authors differently, some appreciated them for their contributions to Irish literature while others disliked them because the authors expose negative aspects of Ireland and, specifically, Dublin which they tend to disagree with. It is with a sense of pride for their home and their country that the people I met either liked or disliked these authors. 

In Dublin, we stayed at the Belvedere Hotel and one of the books we read for class, Anne Enright's The Gathering, references it. It makes me feel connected to the literature, having visited places within the texts. We read an excerpt from Elizabeth Bowen's Bowen's Court which takes place in Mitchelstown, Co. Cork. The introduction beautifully and accurately describes the nature and landscape of Mitchelstown. 

Co. Kerry may possibly be my favorite location; we drove around the ring of Kerry, stopping at various times throughout to see the bog museum, watch sheep being herded, and visit Daniel O'Connell's summer home. Seeing the Atlantic Ocean from the other side is an extremely humbling experience. Patrick, Katie, Norah and I sat out on the rocks behind O'Connell's home and just took in the expanse before us. Few words could accurately describe our shared experience, but we bonded over it. This trip was a life-changing experience.

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