Slainte!

Hello ILE Families and Friends! Today was jam packed full of excitement! After breakfast, around 8:30 AM, we got on a bus and headed to Kilmainham Gaol. This was a jail opened in 1796 and it is most famous for its imprisonment of captured revolutionaries and other political leaders of the time, although it also held captive several hundred children, women, and other men. The prison closed its gates in 1924, when Eamon de Valera was the last prisoner to be released. Eamon would later become Ireland’s Taoiseach and President. The tour was incredible. There was an eeriness in being there as we stood in the prison cells, walked through the same halls that prisoners had walked, and stood in the courtyard where several had been executed. Ryan said it was very powerful, while Kelly added that it tied everything together perfectly that they had learned in Dan's Irish history class. After a solemn morning tour, we went to the Guinness Brewery for a tour. The massive piece of land was leased by Arthur Guinness in 1759 when he signed a 9,000 year lease; he had great faith in the fate of his dream and rightly so. The tour is a self-guided tour in the worlds largest pint glass which makes up the storehouse. A person touring, travels up through four floors, as they watches how Guinness is brewed right before their eyes. For those guests who are over 18, they may proceed to the next floor and learn how to pull the perfect pint of Guinness; there is quite a skill to be mastered in perfecting this art. The next two floors have bars and pubs-serving Guinness of course. The very top of the storehouse is called the Gravity Bar. Guests over the age of 18 may enjoy a complimentary pint of Guinness here while enjoying a breathtaking 360-degree view of Dublin. Since Petey, Rosie, and Tyler are over 18, they all were able to Pull the Perfect Pint, receive a certificate of completion, and have a wee sip of the stout. Petey and Rosie said they thought the taste wasn't bad, while Tyler thought it was disgusting. Other students simply enjoyed learning about the beer that is so well known in Ireland. Mar said she thought the views from the Gravity Bar were amazing. After the tour, students stocked up on Guinness souvenirs for families and friends. Slainte-meaning cheers in Irish! Originally, the plan for today included a hike, but since it was lashing rain we decided against the hike and returned back to King’s Hospital with a little over an hour to spare until dinner time. The bus made a drop off at Liffey Valley Shopping Center, where students had the choice to either hang out at the mall or head back to King’s Hospital, or in Ryan’s case go back to King’s Hospital-only to decide he really did want to go shopping with all of the money he had! At 5:00 PM students checked back in and at 5:30 PM it was time for a delicious dinner. After dinner, students had free time until 8:30 PM, when we watched the movie In the Name of the Father before we prepared to head north on Tuesday.

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