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Trinity College Dublin is the most prestigious of Ireland’s universities; here, we attended a lecture that provided us with an overview of studying English at Trinity together with some hints on how to complete the College's complicated application process.
The “Walk Macabre” that evening introduced us to some of Dublin’s more ghostly locations and writers of the gothic tradition.
Saturday brought a visit to the Book of Kells – an illuminated manuscript containing Latin copies of the Gospels written around 800AD. We went on to Marsh’s library - Ireland’s first public library, founded in 1701 by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh. Here, we were treated to a guided tour and gained some insight into the private world of the baroque scholar.
Cultural enrichment came in the form of two plays later that day: Woman and Scarecrow at the Peacock Theatre followed by a modern adaptation of J M Synge’s Playboy of the Western World at the famous Abbey Theatre.
On Sunday, we transferred to Sligo, the bus journey to the western coast allowing us to sample some of Ireland's enchanting landscape. A stop at Drumcliffe allowed us to visit Yeats’ grave set under Ben Bulben, Ireland's version of Table Mountain and a location that inspired much of his work.
We also paid our respects at that part of the coast where Lord Mountbatten and members of his family were blown up by the IRA whilst on a fishing trip close to their castle. It was a reminder of one part of Ireland's troubled history.
At the heart of Sligo, we visited the headquarters of the Yeats Society which was established in 1958 to preserve the artistic heritage of the Yeats family and, on the return journey, we stopped at Coole Park where Yeats spent many of his summers and which inspired some of his writings. |