Arcadia Ireland

A big part of our programming in Ireland is our Co-Curricular events which fall under the following themes; Active Ireland, Local Ireland, Imagined Ireland, Global Ireland.  This Fall one of those events which we believe encapsulates all of the above could only be our Éalu Experience. Éalu means escape in the Irish language and we thought it was the perfect way to describe this day of culturally engaging, community building events.  

Our students from Galway, Limerick, Clare, Maynooth, Belfast and Dublin will meet us at Arcadia University and we will begin learning about the City of Dublin. It will be the first time in this City for many of our students. It will also be the first time this Semester where the Arcadia Community in Ireland will come together! In just over 2 hours, Tommy Graham and his guides, all history graduates of Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland, will explore the main features of Irish history - Dublin's development, the influence of the American and French Revolutions, the Potato Famine, the Great War and the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, the Northern conflict and Ireland today. This should work up an appetite for lunch so where better to head than the Church! The Church you may ask?!

The Church is a wonderfully restored 17th century former Church steeped in history. We have brought our students to this much loved and highly rated venue for some years now and the feedback is always excellent! We can look forward to delicious market fresh fish n chips, slow roasted beef, traditional Irish homemade bread and crispy calamari along with some sweet stuff to keep us all happy! I just know that it will be the perfect place this weekend to get to know each other and experience the very best of Irish Hospitality in one of the Worlds most unique settings. 

Once we have been fed and watered, we will head to Na Fianna sports grounds in Dublin 9 to have a two hour session of Gaelic Games. The Gaelic games are football and hurling and are a central part of Irish culture and communities.   Na Fianna means warriors in Irish and that is what our students will become on the pitch this weekend! Not only will they have an opportunity to experience this wonderful community building activity but they can also ‘live like the locals’ as we will learn about and play our native, indigenous Gaelic Games with Experience Gaelic Games. We will have two hours of fantastic fun before we head back into City Center.  

Free time is always something that our students ask for so we listened! Our students will have the luxury of a hotel in City Center to relax, make friends, bond, explore Dublin by night. 

We are excited to say the least!