Croker, Aras, and Drama-Perfect Day!

Hello ILE Families and Friends! On Friday, we had a full day in store! Students first visited Croke Park for a tour, where they were able to watch the Leinster Semi Final for Gaelic Football our first week in Ireland. Boy, time flies when you are having fun. Our tour began with a short video capturing the game day energy at the stadium. Ryan said it was impressive. Next, we took a behind the scenes tour, which led us through the day of an athlete on game day. We got to see a locker room and hold county jersey's up to our chests, walk through the last practice field athletes are on before stepping onto the field, and finally we were out in the stadium. Once we were out in the stadium, several students began pointing to where our seats had been when we watched the game. Brigid said she really appreciated the tour more now, after having witnessed a game there a few weeks ago. The last two stops on our tour were the celebration room for athletes after a game and a box office that would be leased for $1,000 a year. Ann said she was most amazed by the chandelier hanging in the banquet room. It was made of Waterford Crystal and had 32 Gaelic Footballs hanging-representing the 32 counties of Ireland-along with 70 sliotars-representing the 70 minutes in a hurling game. And..., when a county wins an All-Ireland Final, it will change to the color of the county. So, when Dublin won last year, the lights were dark and light blue. UP THE DUBS! A day in the life of the ILE would not be complete without coffee, so before the President’s House, we made a coffee stop at the café in the Croke Park Museum. We left Croke Park and drove to Phoenix Park for lunch. Complete with chicken and stuffing sandwiches and popcorn. This park has a unique landmark from a Papal visit to Ireland in 1979. A large cross was erected in the park for this Mass that was attended by nearly 1.5 million people. When we had finished lunch, we continued driving through Phoenix Park, past the American Ambassador to Ireland’s residence, and onto the grounds of the President’s House-Áras an Uachtaráin. As we drove up the driveway, there were several trees planted that had name plates. These are trees that have been plated by visitors-such as queens, presidents of other countries, and other note worthy visitors. Once at the house, we were welcomed at the entrance and invited in for tea and biscuits. What an amazing experience that was! Liam remarked, “I’m having tea at the president of Ireland’s house! This is so coolest thing ever! My mom would be so jealous!” He surely enjoyed every minute of his visit. Unfortunately, the President-Michael D. Higgins-was not at the Áras, so we weren't able to meet him. However, we were just happy to be welcomed into his home. After tea, we were escorted through four beautiful rooms. We saw the ball room, the dining room, a meeting room, and a greeting room. In the greeting room was a Steinway piano and several of the students took a minute or two to tinkle the ivories-and the keys were even real ivory. Anica, Liam, and Ryan all dazzled us with their abilities. As we were exiting the Áras, we spotted Michael D.'s Bernese Mountain dogs. All of the students went running over to pet the adorable dogs through the gate and take some pictures of their new friends. When we left the President’s House, we made one stop to pick a visitor who would join us for the night, David, Amy’s brother. He was greeted with a traditional family call, which all of the students learned and performed marvelously. In the evening, we had our drama presentations. Wahoo! Michael Collins ended up being the winner and our guest judge, David, said they did a phenomenal job. Their group won a ghost tour in Killarney. Happy Days! For the remainder of the night, students enjoyed free time socializing with the other groups, watching movies, swimming, and relaxing.

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