Happy 4th of July-from Ireland!

Hello ILE Families and Friends! Happy 4th of July! As per usual everybody strolled into the canteen by 8:15 AM for a sociable breakfast and started into class shortly after. There were two classes for the students in the morning. In the first class, each student learned their names in the Irish language. Some names changed dramatically such as Casey Smith, which changed to Cathasaigh Ni Gabhann (Caw-his-ig Knee Gow-en). Unfortunately, Charlotte Crawford had no Irish translation. The students also practiced and learned a few useful phrases, such as how to say hello to each other: Dia Dhuit (Dee-ah Gwitch), which literally means may God be with you and the response is: Dia is Muire Dhuit (Dee-ah iss Mwer-ah Gwitch) meaning may God and Mary be with you. Conor Loftus was of course a natural, as he was lucky enough to be able to study the Irish language in his high school before coming to Ireland. The second class was on Irish history and everybody learned about the leaders that came to Ireland to take over, from Strongbow to Oliver Cromwell. The students had the chance to actually visit the church in Waterford where Strongbow got married. After this class, everybody gathered their packed lunches and boarded the bus for Flanagan's. Peter Flanagan is a local hurley maker. He is known throughout the country purely because he has a unique talent and makes top class hurleys. The highest level of hurlers who play for their counties will often travel to Waterford to visit Peter and purchase some of his hurleys. Peter talked through the process of how each hurley is made and the different preferences in shape-dependent on where the player is from. We were told about the different reasons for the shape and size of hurleys. In fact, Peter is so talented he was even sought after to export hurleys to Hong Kong, London, and New York-just to name a few. A few miniature hurleys were bought as gifts, but we did have a few, such as Liam who bought a full size hurley as his interest in and love of playing the sport has been dramatically emphasized since his arrival in Ireland. Everybody boarded the bus again and we went to New Ross in Co. Wateford. We were a little early for our tour of Dunbrody Famine Ship, so the students all explored the small town. Casey and Rosie-in particular-loved New Ross and claimed it was their favorite town on their trip so far-as it had such character and charm. Eventually, everybody gathered to meet our tour guide, Brigid just before starting our tour. The first half of the tour was self guided. There were facts and figures printed along all of the walls. There was a silence around the hall, as everybody was taking in the heartbreaking information-all except for the tape playing in the background. There were recordings of actual letters written home being read out, so each student could feel the emotions that must have been felt by emigrants and their loved ones left behind. Further along, there were more telephones along the walls where students could listen to more stories. Rachel even said she had to put the phone down, as the stories were giving her shivers. We moved into a room with a short video with more detail on the famine and the hardship Irish people went through before they had to make the difficult choice of boarding one of these famine ships and traveling to Ellis Island. After this short video we boarded the famine ship, as there was a short dramatization of the Boston tea party happening. Our guide first showed us around the upper deck, where passengers could cook some food, and we even got to see and ring a bell that was an original from a famine ship in the 1800's. We descended to the living quarters of the ship where everybody could see the conditions passengers lived in for up to three or four months. Passengers that paid for first class tickets had a room to themselves and each person would have their own bed, while also being able to eat freshly cooked meals with the Captain every day. Unfortunately, not too many people were able to afford that ticket at the time. The rest of the passengers would have to ration out a basket of bread between six people for a week. There would also be a family per each bunk bed. Disease spread fast and many passengers died before they reached the United States. There was a short role play between two characters, who had actually traveled on the famine ship demonstrating the difference in comfort for first class passengers compared to the rest. Petey said he really enjoyed the famine ship even though he did say it was depressing, he also thought it was impressively informative. Having arrived back at Newtown Boarding School in Waterford, ILE Staff decided it was time to feel American again, since it was the 4th of July after all. So, the ILE Staff treated the students to 14 Dominos' pizzas, candy, chips, and pop, while they watched Bridesmaids-a typical American comedy to help everybody get a sense of home! Since Kathleen is afraid of fireworks, she said it was the best 4th of July celebration yet!

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