Final Trips

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Tomorrow is the last day of class for Ireland: Study Abroad. Students have an exam in the morning, and we will use the afternoon for any personal siteseeing in Dublin. We fly out on Saturday AM and all head off in different directions. One group of students will go back to country they started out their summer study abroad experiences, either France or England. Another group takes off with me directly from Dublin to Boston. Mike will stay for a few days to work on his dissertation. It's been a great trip, but I sense we all are anticipating with some excitement our return home.

The last section of the course covered the events of the past century. This includes the War of Independence, Civil War, The Troubles, and the Celtic Tiger. As part of this we visited Kilmainham Gaol, the place where the leaders of the Easter Rising were executed which then provided inspiration leading to the formation of the Republic of Ireland. In addition we went to Trinity College, a stronghold of British control and attitude in Ireland. All that has changed, and it is the best university in Ireland. Trinity also holds the Book of Kells which we were able to see.

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