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Thank You!

Thank you 2008 Irish Way Students-You were wonderful!!!

Irish Way 2008 Playlist

Aint to Proud to Beg-The Temptations

Arthur McBride-Paul Brady

Baby Got Back-Sir Mix A Lot

Boom Boom Boom-DJ Mezmerize

Born in the USA-Bruce Springsteen

Build Me Up Buttercup-Foundations
Come on Eileen-Dexy's Midnight Runners

Country Roads-Hermes House Band

Dreaming My Dreams-The Cranberries

Dublin Blues-Guy Clark

Everytime We Touch-Cascada

Fairytale of New York-The Pogues

Fields of Athenry-Shilelagh Law

Footloose-Kenny Loggins

Galway Girl-Steve Earle

Galway to Graceland-High Kings

Gloria-Laura Branigan

Horse it into Ya Cynthia-Farmer Dan

I Don't Feel Like Dancing-Scissor Sisters

If I Needed You-Emmylou Harris and Don Williams

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)-Proclaimers

I Wish I Was a Punkrocker-Sandi Thom

Jack and Diane-John Mellencamp

Jump Around-House of Pain

Leaving on a Jet Plane-John Denver

Let's Hear it for the Boy-Denise Williams

Mama Mia-Mama Mia Cast

My Ding-A-Ling-Chuck Berry

One-Johnny Cash

Paper Planes-MIA

Percolator-Cajmere

Scotty Doesn't Know-Lustra

Somebody Told Me-The Killers

Spitting Games-Snow Patrol

Time of Your Life-Green Day

Up On Cripple Creek-The Band

Wagon Wheel-Old Crow Medicine Show

Wannabe-Spice Girls

We Like to Party-Crazy Frog

We've Got The World Tonight-Mickey Joe Harte

YMCA-Village People

You Can Walk on Water-DJ Encore

The Irish Way Comes to an End

CO 25!

At Shannon Airport.

Conor showing off his purchases from Ireland at Newark Airport.

Our Last Few Hours in Ireland

Angie singing us a final song-Dreaming My Dreams-The Cranberries.

Kayt showing off her new ring.

Patrick (Paddy).

Felicia, Emily, Mariel and Molly.

Dan, Brian, Pete and Norah.

Taryn and Jeff.

Angie and Eileen.

Cody and Brian-our amazing bus driver!

Stephen.

Brendan.

Steven, Stocai and Angie.

John and Colleen.

Kate and Kate.

Steve and Meghan.

Rachel, Kate, Mary and Meghan.

Kate, Taryn and Annie-YEAH FOR BUTTE, MONTANA!!!

The Final Banquet

Muckross House

Ray, Conor and Rudi at Muckross House.

Lila, Miles, Meghan, TJ and Eileen relaxing at Muckross House.

Alexa and Kate at Muckross House.

Torc Waterfall

Pete, Annie, Norah, Rudi, Cate, Sam and John walking to Torc Waterfall.

Megan, Rachel, Mary Kate, Angie and Steve at Torc Waterfall.

Cody and Clare (Steuber) at Torc Waterfall.

Students at Torc Waterfall.

Meghan and Lila at Torc Waterfall.

Irish Way Students at Moll's Gap

Emily at Moll's Gap.

Irish Way at the Stone Circle

Rain in Dingle

Lila and Betsey soaking wet in Dingle.

The Famous Irish Way Gnome

The Winners of the Drama Group Presentations-Eamon DeValera and Michael Collins

Eamon DeValera Skit.

Michael Collin's Skit.

The Drama Groups Presentations

Lila and Betsey ready to perform their skit on Michael Collins.

Stephen, Patrick, Annie, Emily and Ray getting ready for their skit on Eamon DeValera.

Thumbs Up for the Irish Way

Kilmainham Gaol

Miles and Meghan at Kilmainham Gaol.

Killarney

We have arrived at the Glen Eagles Hotel in Killarney, where the Irish Way is staying in apartments for the remainder of our time in Ireland. The kids all settled in with their new roommates, hosting dinner parties for one another. While in Killarney, the group tours different places in Kerry each day leaving Thursday, our last day, as time to pack and tie up loose ends.

Yesterday, we woke up to a constant rain. We have been fortunate enough that this was the only day of steady rain that our group encountered since our trip began, but it did spoil some of our plans. The students were brave enough to run from store to store as we made a stop in Dingle. After that, we forged on to the cultural heritage center for the Blasket Islands. These islands are no longer inhabited but once had up to 200 residents living on them at one time. The islands are most famous for their use of Gaelic language and for the amount of writers and storytellers to have lived or been inspired by them. From the museum on the mainland, we could just make out the shape of the islands through the fog. Even though the rain wasn't ideal, the beautiful green of the countryside was made even more vivid by the precipitation.

The weather today was gorgeous and our group made our way through an abridged version of the famed Ring of Kerry. We stopped in the small town of Kenmere, where we visited the site of a historic stone ring where sacrificed were preformed in pagan times. After meditating in a circle around the stones, our students explored the open air market in the town, buying jewelry and crepes. Next stop was Killarney National Park, where we went on a quick hike. With our calves burning, we watched a waterfall and snapped photos. We finished the day with a trip to the Muckrus House, the home and grounds of an English land lord that have been preserved by the state. We were all impressed with the magnitude of the house and the beauty of the gardens. Sadly, that was our last tour in Ireland. The sing-alongs, the scenery and the 'craic' will all be missed.

Dublin Part 2

7/24

Tonight, the Irish Way group got all dolled up to see Riverdance. We gathered outside the Gaiety Theatre to take pictures and enjoy the mild Dublin night. The kids were especially excited for this night after all their Irish step dance classes this month. With this newfound appreciation, even those students who had seen the show before found it impressive. One of our stand-out dancers, Cody Z., commented that there was a uniqueness to seeing Riverdance in its hometown. After the show, our group hit up the McDonalds on Grafton Street. Connor and Kayt got into the spirit of Grafton, setting out a cap and doing a Spanish dance for spare change.

7/25

Today, we visited Kilmainham Gaol, the infamous jail where many Irish rebels were held. In the later half of the 20^th century, this jail was falling into disrepair and was initially restored by volunteer tradesmen who did not want to see the history of their country disappear. On our tour, the students explored the jail cells of Eamon DeValera and Charles Parnell in addition to the execution yard where the leaders of the 1916 Rising were shot. We also saw the chapel where Joseph Plunkett and his wife, Grace, were married 15 minutes before his execution. The dark history of the jail is still palpable and most of the kids came out of this experience with shocked expressions. Still, this is one of the most important historical stops we make on our sightseeing tour of the country. The rest of the day was filled with free-time in the city. Some students took a bus tour, others went to the Dublin Writers Museum and others took the time to explore St. Steven’s Green. Meghan McGuire said that she loves Dublin, especially the cobblestone streets and Temple Bar.

7/26-27

This weekend saw our last day of classes. While the kids all agreed that they would rather not be in school in the summer, they did enjoy their Irish-focused studies. Cody L. said his favourite class was literature with Angie. He liked how the course was structured to give the biographies of the writers along with samples of their work. Meghan F. thought that Taryn’s class was perfect for the program because it answered all of random questions she had, like: how hard is it to get Irish citizenship?

With their notebooks turned in, the students spent much of the weekend preparing for their drama group presentations. The students are broken up into 8 groups and assigned historical or mythical Irish figures to research. Earlier in the trip, counsellors Pete and Norah organized a limerick contest, where each student had to write a limerick on their historical figure. Moira won the contest with this limerick:

The man Patrick Pearse does rot

He drew an unfortunate lot

He met his demise

Straight through the eyes

Of a firing squad’s sharp shot!

Whether her group wins the whole drama competition remains to be seen. The students will present their creative plays and acts tonight!

Students at Riverdance and Irish Dancing Class

Cody, Alexa, Kate, Miles and Ray-All dressed up for Riverdance.

Riverdance at the Gaiety.

Barbara and Mary Kate demonstrating their 3's and 7's.

Irish dance class.