Dublin Day and Music Workshop

After such an exciting day yesterday, we decided to have a sleep in and organized breakfast for 8:45 AM instead of 8:30 AM! That extra 15 minutes sure made a difference. After a hearty breakfast, which met all our nutritional needs for the day, off everyone trundled to get our bus armed with packed lunches and battery-charged cameras to spend the day in Dublin-Ireland’s capital city and home of the second best Gaelic football team in the country. Angie in her deluded state believes the best is County Antrim. Dublin Facts: Home of the second best Gaelic Football Team, home of the current European Rugby Champions, home of the President of Ireland, home of the US Ambassador and owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, home to Guinness and finally, and most importantly, home of Dan. When we arrived in Dublin city, Kevin went with James and Zach to see the Book of Kells- which is kept in the 18th Century Old Library in Trinity College. “The artwork of the Book of Kells is absolutely amazing," said Zach. Also in the Old Library in Trinity College is the famous Long Room, which dates back to 1712 and stocks four million titles and showcases a 14th Century harp and a rare original printing of the 1916 Proclamation of the Irish Republic, made on Easter Sunday in Dublin’s Liberty Hall. “The long room was awesome-it reminded me of where they eat dinner in the Harry Potter movies," said James. Some of the kids also visited the National Art Gallery, where works by Van Gogh were being exhibited and others went to the National History Museum. The kids also took a stroll to the famous Temple Bar area, which is buzzing with really cool cafes, clothing shops, and also houses the Irish Film Centre and U2’s recording studios. Some kids just went shopping-a favorite hobby of Angie and she was delighted and excited to raid their bags to find out what they had bought when they got back on the bus! Grafton Street, the best shopping area in Dublin, was where most of the kids spent the day after they had eaten lunch in the beautiful Stephen’s Green Park or had a feast of Thai food. It was great as the summer sales were on, so a lot of the kids picked up bargains to bring home as presents. The most popular shop was Carroll's, which specializes in all things Irish-from tin whistles to really silly socks and hats. Taryn picked up a pair of shamrock socks and a funny Irish hat-Angie told her she would put up with the hat, but no way was she walking on Grafton Street with Taryn wearing knee length shamrock socks. Anica bought the most beautiful necklace with a shamrock made of green jewels in Carroll's and the staff agreed that it is one of the nicest pieces of Irish jewelery that they have seen on the trip. The bus came to pick everyone up at 3:45 PM and when we arrived back at Kings Hospital School all the kids trotted off to pack their newly acquired goods. At 6:00 PM, Our Tom, Angie’s younger brother (Although he looks much older!), arrived with Our Ryan, Paddy, Máire and Brian from Belfast to do a traditional Irish music workshop with the kids. They brought with them a variety of instruments including a banjo, uileann pipes, and a bazouki. Before the workshop, the musicians got to meet and know the kids when we had a barbeque, as a celebration of our last night in Dublin. Brian Farrell-owner of Burren Coaches and a great friend of the ILE, who drives us every year in Galway-was also there to meet the kids before the transfer to Killarney on Sunday. He brought along his wife Ellie and kids and commented on what a fantastic group of kids we have this year. When we had eaten until we were ready to burst, the music workshop began. The music was absolutely brilliant and the kids had a wonderful time listening to music being played by Irish Champion and world class musicians, who also told the kids about the history of the instruments they were playing. The kids also had a chance to sing while the musicians played, with songs from Anica, Rachel and Brigid. Petey also played guitar and Our Ryan, an Irish Champion guitar player, said that he was incredibly talented-go Petey! While the music played, we were also treated to dancing by Mariah, Morgan and Mary Kate who were delighted by the chance to dance to live Irish music. “I loved hearing real Irish music and learning about the instruments," said Liam. When the music ended, the kids rushed to get their glad rags on for the Saturday Night Disco-the last chance to say goodbye to all the kids they had met during their stay in Kings Hospital. Ahhh! All the kids returned to the dorms and finished packing before leaving for Killarney the following day. Angie sang lullabies to the girls at bedcheck and tried not to upset them too much with a rendition of Paul’s Little Hen. Angie thought it was a sad song until she realized the girls weren’t crying, but rather they were trying very hard to stifle laughter. She is still trying to work out whether they were laughing at the lyrics or her singing. And so concluded the final day of our stay in Dublin and with a final goodnight, lights were switched off for the last time in King's Hospital.

← All posts