Sunny Liquid Dreams

July 28-29, 2009

I continued to work on my papers and both were due on Wednesday. I also had to give a brief presentation on my internship paper, so I traveled, for the last time, to UCD.

It was a great relief to finish early and I went home and took some rest. Since I only had a few more days in Ireland, I planned on how to spend my remaining days.

June 27, 2009

I still had to work on my papers and I spent the majority of the day trying to finish them up.

UCD also held its last event - a farewell dinner - at the Merry Ploughboy pub for all the students. It was our chance to say goodbye to our program directors.

Our dinner was accompanied by music from the Merry Ploughboys and a small show of Riverdance. They sang and played old Irish tunes such as "King of the Fairies", "The Fields of Athenry", "Whiskey in the Jar", and "Four Green Fields".

I also bought their CD. I hadn't bothered once to attend a live music show or listen to any traditional Irish music. It is something I regretted, but I'm glad that I at least attended one show.

The night was a lot of fun and music and dancing were a lot of fun. I wasn't looking forward to returning home and working on my papers.

July 26, 2009

I did not go anywhere on Sunday, but locked myself in the house, scribbled away on my laptop, and was upset that I could not go outside and enjoy the nice weather. We had to write two ten-page papers: one on Irish history and the other on our internship. For the Irish history, we were given a list of prompts, and were told to choose one.

I chose to evaluate the place of Wolfe Tone, a leader of the 1798 rebellion, in history. Since I have nothing else to write about, I'm going to briefly describe his life, his role in the rebellion, and his rather gruesome death.

Wolfe Tone was the son of a Protestant coach-maker and was educated at Trinity College. During his youth, he wanted nothing more than to enlist as a soldier, but his father forced him to study, and he grudgingly entered the field of law. He married, and had several children, and all died young.

At that time, the French Revolution sent waves of both excitement through radicals and chills through the monarchial heads of government. Tone, alongside many other Irishmen, looked to France as an example.


During Tone's time, Ireland's parliament was controlled by a select few Protestants. Middle class Protestants and Catholics could not gain access to it and at first, both sought peaceful reform. Around that time, Tone became interested in politics and began to write pamphlets that advocated rights for the Catholics.

Tone held no love for Catholicism itself, but he believed that the only way to solve Ireland's problems was forge a united people under "the common name of the Irishman". He worked between Ulster Presbyterians in Belfast and the Catholic gentry in Dublin.

Unfortunately, he was in danger of being accused of high treason in 1795 for a secret memorandum that described Ireland as a country that was ready for revolution. He was allowed to flee to America.


Evenutally, Tone realized that parliamentary reform was not going to acheive his goals and he only began to advocated separatism (from Britain) as a result of his circumstances. From America, he traveled to France to convince the government to send military aid for an Irish rebellion.


His solo trip to France was successful and he sailed out with General Hoche and 14,000 men. They were due to land at Bantry Bay, but bad weather split the forces and expedition resulted in failure.


Tone attempted two more expeditions, and on the third, he was captured in 1798. He was accused of high treason, and after realizing that he would be sentenced to death, Tone asked to be shot as a prisoner-of-war. He was serving as an officer in the French army at the time, and expected to be treated as such.


However, his request was denied and he was sentenced to be hanged on November 12. However, the night before his execution, he slit his throat with a blunt knife. Since he missed his jugular vein, he did not immediately die. His wound was sewn up and he was strapped to his bed.


Tone died seven days later. The result of the 1798 rebellion was the exact opposite of his original goals. In 1800, England passed the Act of Union that formally bound both Ireland and England together.

July 25, 2009

I celebrated the end of my internship with a trip to Kilkenny. Kilkenny (Cill Chainnigh) is a city southwest of Dublin, famous for its medieval buildings and craft shops. It was suggested by many people as a perfect place for a one day trip and I went with one of my housemates.

We caught a train in the morning to the city and attempted to keep our eyes so we wouldn't miss our stop. Once we reached the city, we wandered around and stopped in numerous shops.

I didn't have very good luck that day: I realized, as soon as I reached Kilkenny Castle, that I hadn't charged my camera. I took about three shots until it died and I was just a little grumpy that I forgot.

So, I don't have any pictures to post. But we wandered around the castle (we didn't actually go inside) and found our way to the craft shops that the city is famous for.

Of course, every time I visit such shops, I feel like buying everything. The stores sold everything: clothing, jewelry, pottery, Waterford crystal, tourist souvenirs, etc. However, my favorite items were the handmade pottery pieces and there were a few designers I especially liked.

Colm de Ris is a designer based in Dublin and uses the ancient spiral pattern from Newgrange in many of his pieces. He combines a beautiful shade of dark blue and brown earthen hues to create very interesting shapes. One of his pieces is shaped exactly like a curl of cheese and we had to ask what it could be used for.

Paul Maloney is a designer based in Wexford and creates what he calls his "Ocean Range". He mixes blue and white tones and also incorporates the spiral into some of his pieces. The pieces that were displayed in the craft store were more traditional: cups, plates, vases, goblets, and bowls.

Louis Mulcahy is a designer based in Dingle and combines dark brown or black with other colors to create his pottery. Again, he creates more traditional shapes, but I especially loved his russet-coloured vases and goblets.

I had trouble deciding what to buy, but since Colm de Ris was my personal favorite, I chose to buy a small decorative bowl from his line.

After spending too much time in the store, we wandered around the city and headed to look at the cathedrals. There were at least four all within close vicinity of each other. We visited St. Mary's Cathedral, the Black Abbey, and St. Canice's Cathedral. We did not go inside the latter, but we did climb to the top of the viewing tower. From there, we had a fantastic view of the entire city (which is not very big) and took a few photos.

After climbing back down, we continued to wander around the city and eventually headed back to the train station to catch one back to Dublin.

July 23-24, 2009

On Thursday, we had an UCD sponsored event to the Leopardstown Horse Races. I knew nothing about horses, except what little my roommate told me, and even less about horse racing. But we were given a free ticket, free dinner, and a free pint of beer.

There were about seven or eight horse races in total. We were given a booklet describing how to bet, the different types of betting, and information about the jockeys and horses. We were told which horses might win, which to look out for, and which had to prove something.

We arrived a bit late and we only got around to betting after eating dinner. However, I was able to bet on the last four races. There were at least 5 different methods of betting. A “win” was to pick the exact horse that would come in first place. If I remember correctly, an "each way" was a bet that horse would either win or at least place. I don't recall the others, and I unfortunately no longer have the booklet.

My method of choosing horses can be described as rather pathetically uninformed. I chose the horses by reading all their names and picking one that sounded interesting or cool. I also have a bit of a soft spot for underdogs, so I sometimes picked them over the favorite.

I only bet 2 Euros on each race. The first three were quite disappointing, and like most other people, I would get up and shout in anticipation, and then consequently sit down and glare at my losing ticket.

However, I held out and I bet correctly on the winning horse, Grand Aurora. I was excited but as soon as I went to pick up my winnings, I realized that I bet on the favorite. So I only received 2 Euro for every Euro that I bet.

So in total, I bet 8 Euros on all the races, and only made a profit of 4 Euros. I guess it could have been worse, but I wasn't expecting too much in the first place.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures worth posting for this trip. All my pictures came out horribly grainy (I think I needed to clean my lens) and we were not close at all to the racetrack. So I didn't get any decent pictures of the horses or the jockeys.

On Friday, I spent my last day at work and I received a farewell, including some gifts, from my colleagues. I wasn't expecting it at all, but I thanked them for all for helping me accomplish my work and enduring my constant requests for more work.

July 20-22, 2009

After my weekend trip to the Aran Islands, I was ready for some rest (although the point of the entire trip was to get a break). But traveling in itself is tiring, so I wasn’t prepared to run around, especially during the work week.

I did continue to miss Inis Meain, but I didn’t accomplish much, except updating this blog and reviewing and editing my pictures.

July 19, 2009

I woke up, again not very early, and sadly prepared to leave Inis Meáin. As soon as I went downstairs, I was ushered into the breakfast room by Maura. I had a delicious breakfast, said many thanks and goodbyes to the Eogans and Maura, and carried my luggage out. Sean drove me to the small airport and told me, that if I were to ever return to the island and stay at Ard Alainn, I need not worry because he would be there to pick me up from the port. I laughed, thanked him, and watched him drive back up to Ard Alainn.

Because the islands are a popular destination, there are small flights that run to and from the mainland. The flights are tiny – they can seat about 12 people, including the pilot. I waited around for a while for the flight to arrive and once our luggage was boarded, we were seated. I got to sit right next to the pilot in the cockpit and it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I was espeically careful not to touch any of the switches or buttons.

The flight is less than ten minutes to and from the mainland. But while in the air, we all had fantastic views of the islands, the Burren, Galway Bay, and Connemara. The Cliffs of Moher would have been visible it had been a clear day.

I would have liked to just fly around for the aerial views, but we landed soon afterwards. The company does run scenic flights of the Cliffs, Connemara, and the bay, but I didn’t have time. Next time I go to Galway, booking a ticket on that flight is definitely on my list of things to do.

So I waited around for a bus to Galway and since I was the only passenger, I chatted with the driver about my stay and travels in Ireland. I was stuck in Galway for about two hours till my train, so I took a quick bus tour of the city. I had already seen the entire city when I came during the July 4th weekend, so I was a bit bored when I was there.

I finally boarded my train and arrived in Dublin in the evening. I was a bit bummed that I wasted the entire day in transit, but I needed to go home early enough so I could catch some proper rest.

Considering that it was the first trip that I had ever planned all by myself, I’ll say that I did a decent job. Frankly, I was a bit worried to be traveling by myself, but it all worked out perfectly in the end. The islands are a good place for some quiet and peaceful time, and I was happy to be away from the noise and traffic of the city.

As soon as I left Inis Meáin, I began to miss it terribly. It is truly a place where time does stand still. People don’t look at the clock (although they do bother keeping one) and one wouldn’t notice how time passes until the sky changes colors.

It's also peacefully quiet and the silence is only punctuated by the occasional sheep. I loved how much I could just sit and hear myself think. I loved that I could suspend thought as well, as if it were something too bothersome. I could just sit and be, and for a brief moment in time, I was without identity or responsibility.

If I try to describe the time I spent on the island, I can only narrate what I did. I cannot explain how I felt. Any picture of Inis Meáin is incomplete without actually experiencing a day on the island. And even what little I saw is hardly representative of the daily lives of the islanders.

It has become one of my life goals to return and spend at least one week on the island. For now, I'm content with the one day I was able to spend there.