Arcadia Ireland

Students studying with Arcadia in Ireland had the great excitement of visiting the real Game of Thrones film locations in Northern Ireland last weekend along with me, Resident Director for Arcadia in Ireland. The activity weekend included visits to Inch Abbey, where character Rob Stark was made King of the North and Castleward, the set of Winterfell. Tollymore Forest Park was also fascinating, as its stunning location is where the opening scene of Season 1 Episode 1 is filmed and where the Starks found the dire wolf pups. 

If you're not a fan of Game of Thrones this may all sound double-dutch. However, the hugely successful and award-winning global TV series from HBO has fans all over the world, including many of our students. They were thrilled to see the places in real life, try on costumes and get a feel for the atmosphere of the imaginary world. Students from TCD, UCD, Maynooth and UCC all met up and traveled to Northern Ireland to tour the film locations. 

The excursion is part of the co-curricular programing we organized under the theme of Global Ireland. As well as having a lot of fun together and enjoying the stunning scenery, the students got to learn about some of the complexities that are involved when hosting a multi-million dollar film crew. Many discussions went deeper to explore the business of attracting filmakers, funding and servicing the industry in addition to the inspirational aspects of locating in the Land of Saints and Scholars. Much more discussion to come!