Rebel 9 in Ireland

I was able to get in and see the site which has become tied to 1916, but this jail/gaol has been in operation since 1796. The jail became an important site during the Famine as many people chose to stay inside the jail, sleeping on the floors, instead of being outside and facing possible death…

In the South I went on a tour of Glasnevin Cemetery to get a history lesson on some of the men and women buried here who played a part in forming the Republic. Men like O’Connell who wanted Catholic Emancipation but also wanted to remain in the British Empire. The tour guide tried to delve…

We left Newcastle today around 5am and drove to Dublin. Some of the ambassadors had to leave on their flights back to America. However, I decided to stay a little later to go to various places around Dublin and see my relatives. This church is St. Columba’s Church in Swords, Co. Dublin. Swords comes from…

We started our day visiting a secondary school in Downpatrick and learned about the education system in the North. We also compared and contrasted the education systems of America and the North. We then took a quick Gaelic 101 and learned basic greetings and how to say goodbye along with the meaning of our surnames.…

Today we were taken to various archaeological sites around Downpatrick and the surrounding countryside. We started at the Ballynoe Stone Circle, which was erected ~3300 BC before the Pyramids of Giza and Stonehenge. We went on the day of the Summer Solstice and apparently some people had a pagan festival there and tied strings on…

Today we went to Stormont in Belfast to get a tour of the building, as well as some politicians and former politicians. The Assembly should have been in session today, but there is still no government in the North. We also met MLA Diane Forsythe and Councilman Alan Lewis of the DUP, the main unionist…

In the morning we met with Superintendent Stephen Murray and Officer Mairead Sloan from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). Although this is the successor of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) the PSNI has made great efforts to reform itself. One way is by increasing the number of people from a Catholic or Nationalist…

During the 12 O’Clock mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Downpatrick, Father John Murray welcomed us in front of the congregation and at the end of mass we went to the alter and Brendan Savage from AOH Division 1 in Albany gave a speech. After mass we went to the Downpatrick Racecourse into a box…

Today we went back to Medieval Era Ireland and pretended to be Vikings for the day. We learned about Norse mythology, the impact of Norsemen on Ireland, and other historical facts about the Vikings.

We started our day talking to Maureen, a lawyer who had focused on corporate law for thirty years, and the last ten years has focused on constitutional law. She was one of the few women and Catholics to be a lawyer when she started practicing law, and since then there have been major strides in…