A Hectic Couple of Weeks!

Sorry for the lack of posts for the last two weeks; it has been very busy, as all my last papers for classes and final exams were going on. I am now officially done with classes in Ireland, and as of Monday, I begin my Independent Study Period of the semester, where I will travel around on my own, researching some aspect of Irish History or Culture, to be presented and written up at the end of the month. I will be doing my project on: The Lasting Legacy of the Williamite Wars on Irish Culture and History: How different groups use and interpret history for their own agenda in the context of Northern Ireland. This should be interesting, in that it will allow me to travel around quite a bit in both the Republic and Northern Ireland while I do my research. At the end of the Independent Study Period, I will be writing up a 30-40 page paper and presenting it to a panel of my professors at Trinity and UCD, so it should be an exciting month.

Though I've been busy these past couple weeks, I still have found plenty of time to have fun and continue experiencing Irish culture. Some highlights of the last couple weeks were

• Morganne Fair, from Ohio, coming to visit and me being able to show her around my adopted city of Dublin for a few days.

Malahide Castle

Morganne and I visited Malahide Castle, built in 1185 and lived in by Sir Talbot and his descendants until the 20th Century. Located just north of Dublin City.

Wilma, Morganne, Myself and Sameen at the Queen's

• Going to a traditional Irish Wake with Bill down at Fitzy's Pub. The publican, Fitzgerald, is a good friend of Bill's and this past week, his mother-in-law died, so he held the traditional wake down at the pub on Wednesday night. It was quite an experience! Instead of mourning the death, they drink and sing and dance and celebrate her well-lived life. Its quite a different concept from America, but I really liked it and it seems a lot better way to send someone off, especially if they've lived a long and happy life. Fitzgerald and others got up and gave speeches and toasts to the woman, remembering all the good things about her life. It was very refreshing, but out of respect for it all, I took no pictures of it. 
• More mackerel fishing in the Irish Sea. I also caught a Ray, which we kept and ate. It had a very strange texture but tasted good!

Atlantic Ray off the rocks of Dun Laoghaire

More Mackerel to Clean with Bill

Ray Wings with Chips- Yes Please!

• Eating wild pigeon that Bill went hunting for last week. It is also delicious and I really liked it. 

Pigeon Breasts

• Continuing swimming in the Irish Sea, even though the temperature is dropping. Its now mid to low forties in the water most days, and sometimes colder than that, but Bill, Ruiri and I go down to the Forty Foot swimming point every morning first thing before my classes and take a quick dip- It gets the blood flowing!!!

Seapoint- One of our swimming areas

The Forty Foot Swim Point at Sunset, with Dun Laoghaire in the background.