Arcadia Ireland

This past weekend several of our QUB students made their way over to Galway as part of their Arcadia sponsored weekend trip. This included an excursion to Inis Mór, the largest and most populated (a sparse 800 people according to recent figures) of the world-renowned Aran Islands, and a stop-off at the Ulster American Folk Park in Omagh, Co. Tyrone on the return leg.

During their Aran excursion on Saturday, the students were joined by 26 of their peers from NUIG, whose Arcadia sponsored day trip coincided with the Queens students' weekend jaunt.

The island is famous for its allegiance to the Irish language, and students would have had the opportunity to interact with individuals whose knowledge of English had come as a true second tongue. It's also well known for its many ancient and Pre-Christian sites, the most famous of which is certainly Dún Aengus. For more on Inishmore and past Arcadia-led visits to the island, click here!

On Sunday, our Queens students returned to Northern Ireland, stopping at the Ulster American Folk Park outside Omagh in Country Tyrone. A must for any American who self-identifies as Scotch-Irish, the park is essentially an open air museum that explores the link between Ulster and America through the lifestyles and journeys of the many emigrants who sailed for America throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.