Arcadia Ireland

I remember an article I read a few years ago and one of the takeaways from it was the key question of “What do you want to be remembered for when you die”? This raised so much in my mind around the things I wanted to do, the places I wanted to see, the things I wanted to say. It was quite a powerful question really and has stayed with me. I began to think about this in the context of places and in particular places where our students will be in Ireland. What will they remember Ireland for and will they talk about it as being just the land of leprechauns waiting for our pot of gold! For years now we have tried to highlight the point that Ireland is a modern culture and is much more than the stereotypes we have been known for.  We illustrate this point through our orientation events, in how we tease out and unpack all things culture shock. We have introduced innovative co-curricular events which encourage learning in a different way, outside the classroom. We have been intentional about our choices all the time keeping parts of the traditional and teaching history but also bringing in the new. Our recent cycle tour around Dublin was all of that and more.

We met 12 energetic bodies on the Street where a church holds the remains of St. Valentine (Whitfriars Street Church was gifted his remains in 1836!) and began a tour of learning while listening to the hawk of the seagulls. It was late enough in the evening for the bulk of traffic to have left the city allowing time and peace to explore.

Along the way students were able to learn about some of the history of Dublin. We stopped at some of the key points of interest such as the General Post Office, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and through Viking Dublin. A much quieter Temple Bar, with closed pubs and in parts, outdoor dining was important to go through and perhaps highlighted the continued effect of the pandemic on local businesses.  As we made our way down towards the Docklands, it was the changing point in the tour. We had now entered a place where there is the perfect blend of history with the new, modern, corporate part of the city. It was a clear reminder of the changes in Dublin over time. From stunning modern architecture to historic buildings, from art galleries to river trips - Docklands has it all.

Years ago, this part of the city was a place that one only visited when going to a concert in the “Point depot” or where ships came in to deliver goods. Since about 2007 the wider docklands area, which straddles both banks of the River Liffey, has been transformed into a vibrant business and tech hub. The docklands area has even become internationally known as Dublin’s “Silicon Docks”, thanks to the arrival of so many leading technology companies, such as Google, Twitter, Facebook and ancestry.com. Meanwhile, half of the world’s biggest banks and insurance companies trade in the sprawling financial services campus of the IFSC on the northside. During the cycle tour, it was a clear reminder of modern contemporary Ireland.

The cycle tour itself also highlighted the push for sustainable environmentally friendly activities, another thing that I think Ireland should be known for.