Student Bloggers

By Colleen H., University College Dublin Internship, Ireland

On Friday we left for a weekend trip to Cork, to see the Blarney Castle, and Galway, to see the Cliffs of Moher. We set off on the bus around 5 to go to Cork which was about three hours. Our first stop was in Cork to see the Blarney Castle.

When we got to Cork Friday night we stayed at a hostel and that night I found my favorite pub called An Borg. I loved this pub mostly because of the live music and the performer played Frank Sinatra which is one of my favorite artists.

The next day we went to the Blarney Castle to kiss the Blarney Stone and see the castle, dungeon, and caves. As we walked up to the castle we realized how big the castle is. Unlike most of the ruined castles all around Ireland, the Blarney castle is still for the most part intact. The best part of the castle is that you are able to walk around freely and explore almost any part of the castle and castle grounds.

To get up to the top of the castle where the stone is you have to go up flight after flight of steep spiral stair cases. At almost every turn on the stair case there is a room where you can go into and there are facts about who lived there and the purpose of the room while the castle was being occupied. Once at the top we all went one by one to kiss the stone. The process of kissing the stone was much different than I had imagined. To do this you hang onto railings and tip backwards to kiss the bottom part of the castles stone. The myth is that kissing the stone will give you the gift of tongue and help you to speak fluently.

Next we went to the dungeon and one of the many caves on the property. The dungeon was on the side of the castle with a small door as the entrance. Inside the dungeon you were practically crawling trying to get through to the end. At the very end of the dungeon was a small area where you could stand all the way up, other than that prisoners were forced to crawl through out the dungeon. After the dungeon we went to one of the caves. The caves were taller making it easier to get through but not necessarily quickly if needing to escape. One of the information signs said that there is a cave on the castle premises that is believed to lead all the way to Kerry.

After seeing all of the sites at the Blarney castle we were back on the bus to Galway. We stayed at a hostel for the night and had the best fish and chips I have ever had. The next day we started on a bus to the Cliffs of Moher. Along the way our tour guide stopped at a few different castles that were still completely standing for the most part. We also went to see a Celtic burial site that is believed to be built thousands of years before the birth of Jesus Christ. This was the last stop before we were on our way to the cliffs. That day we had better weather than we were expecting and everyone was hoping that the weather would not shift to rain by the time we arrived.

Thankfully the weather stayed nice and we were able to see a clear view of the cliffs for the whole time that we were there. The cliffs were breathtaking. All visitors are able to walk all along the cliffs and in some areas there is a path on the other side of the wall to take pictures and get as close as you can to the edge of the cliffs. The farther left or right you go on the cliffs, the different views you can see and from any angel the cliffs are spectacular. There is also a small castle on one side and at the top there is a view from higher up of the cliffs, a visitor center, and a gift shop. To fully experience how great the cliffs really are you have to see for yourself.

:)

Colleen Hess is a student atWashington State University and is blogging from her summer abroad with the University College Dublin Internship program in Dublin, Ireland.