Friday March 7th
We left our host family’s place early because we did not know how long it would take us to get to our school by bus or DART. Moreover, we had to find out where it was. Luckily nearly all of us made it in time. We were split up into two groups and had lessons until noon.
In the afternoon we went on a ‘Hop On Hop Off’ bus tour of Dublin. The bus driver was our tour guide at the same time, and with a very strong Irish accent he informed us about what we could see on our left and right. We passed famous buildings such as Trinity College, Dublin Castle, St. Patrick’s Cathedral or Kilmainham Gaol. It was interesting to learn that a lot of public buildings, squares and streets in Dublin are named after famous Irish freedom fighters, and after about 2 hours we arrived at our meeting point again. We decided not to ‘hop off’ on our tour because there was a heavy shower that prevented us from doing so.
After the tour we went to see ‘The Markets’, where mostly immigrants from Asian sell fish, fruit and vegetables at ridiculously low prices. A shopping spree completed this day’s program. At about 6 p.m. we returned to our host families.
Saturday March 8th
At about 9 a.m. we met on Eden Quay, where a bus was waiting to take us to Glendalough, the ‘valley of the two lakes’. After little more than an hour’s drive we arrived at the Glendalough Heritage Centre, where we were shown a short film about the historical past of this place. We had planned to go for a walk in this picturesque, pristine landscape but heavy rain showers spoilt the venture for us. An alternative had to be found. Our group split up – some went to the newly built Dundrum shopping centre in a suburb of Dublin, and the rest of us to a place from where they could see the sea. After a stroll in the city centre we had supper with our host families.
Sunday March 9th
The morning was at our disposal. Most of us slept in, conversed with their hosts, and at 1 p.m. we met at the school to go to Howth, a little fishing village in the north of Dublin. We took the DART, a fast, train-like means of public transport, and after a 20 minutes’ ride we arrived there. Luckily the sun was shining this time, but a cold wind was blowing. We walked along the marina, where there were lots of stands where all kinds of things were sold and Dubliners as well as tourists were enjoying themselves. We saw fishing boats and little yachts in the harbour, walked on the pier as far as the lighthouse and took photos of us with the dirty, cold and rough Irish sea in the background. Some of us got hungry and had the traditional snack – fish and chips. Finally the DART took us back to the city centre.
Monday 10th
After lessons in the morning we met at 2 p.m. to go on a guided tour of Trinity College. Our excellent guide, who spoke English without any recognizable Irish accent, told us about the historical background of this renowned university and the great minds that graduated there, among them Wilde, Swift or Beckett. Jack, our guide, livened up his comments by telling us anecdotes and legends closely connected with this awe-inspiring place, and finally we went to see the exhibition where we could admire ‘The Book of Kells’, a 9th century illuminated religious manuscript, and some 200.000 of Trinity’s oldest books and several busts of universally known scholars before we left the College’s impressing premises to have a warm drink at one of the many cafes nearby.
Tuesday March 11th
After lessons as usual, Kilmainham Gaol, the biggest unoccupied prison in Ireland, was on our agenda. The bus dropped us off right in front of the entrance of this grey, grim building. Before we went on a guided tour of the place, we walked through a three-floor multimedia exhibition giving the visitor a dramatic and realistic insight into what it was like to have been confined in one of these forbidding bastions of punishment and correction in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Then a guide showed us around the gaol and told us about the hard life of prisoners in that period of Ireland’s history. At the beginning men, women and even children were kept there for all kinds of minor and serious offences in one big room. Later it was only political prisoners, leaders of the Irish rebellion – Pearse, Connolly, Parnell – who eked out a miserable existence or were shot or hanged behind these prison walls. And it is these names that Kilmainham Gaol is mostly associated with.
In the evening we met at Seapoint DART station and went to a place where we could enjoy an Irish Music Night together with a big number of other students from Austria who were also spending a language project week in Dublin.
Bagpipes, accordions, a violin, a banjo and a harp accompanied a singer and some step dancers danced to the music. We got an impression of what Irish music sounds like, and we particularly applauded the dancers, who performed excellently. They even invited some of us to join in and practice a dance with them.
Late in the evening we returned to our hosts, happy to have spent an entertaining evening.
Wednesday March 12th
After our lessons we walked to Dublinia, a multimedia exhibition tracing the history of Dublin. It tells of the city’s founding, from Viking times to the unique and vibrant city of today.
After we had delved into Irish history, we went on to Christ Church Cathedral, one of Dublin’s oldest and most recognised landmarks, which reflects thousand years of architecture and worship in Ireland.
As Dublin Castle was within walking distance we also went to see ’the heart of historic Dublin’.The city gets its name from the Black Pool – ‘Dubh Linn’, which was on the site of the present castle garden.
Our last but one day in Ireland’s capital was over.
Thursday March 13th
In the morning we had our last lessons at school and then hurried home so as to be at our meeting point where we would be collected in time. Dublin airport is a little bigger than the one in Salzburg but we found our way and after the usual proceedings before departure we got on the plane to Salzburg, where we arrived half an hour ahead of schedule. We were picked up by a bus, which took us back home to Zell am See.
Greetings, 6g and accompanying teachers!
Christchurch | 
Glendalough | 
Glendalough |
Howth | 
Kilmainham-Gaol |
DIE fabelhaft!e SCHULE DES ZUHÖRENS
