Visit in Duleek

We visited the Meath Waste-to-Energy Facility, An Indaver project, with another class, near Dublin. It’s the first one in Ireland, and it will open in the year. The  Meath Waste-to-Energy Facility is an incinerator which can recover the energy. The value of the development  is around €130 million, and it’s the largest ever single investment in solid waste management infrastructure in Ireland. When the Meath Waste-to-Energy Facility will work, it will be abble to generate enough renewable energy to meet the needs of 20,000 homes. 

Firstly , a woman received us in the meeting-room and explained to us what is Indaver, where the company is around the world, what kind of building it built, etc...

Then, a workers showed us the incinerator. I realised that this job is very hard, the smell was horrible,  and it was very warm. But the visit was very interisting, we learnt how the wastes are managed, what kind of garbage  we can burn, etc....

Moreover, it was the opportunity to meet other irish guy, from the world of work,  and from another class, the fourth year of our formation.

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Gaelic sports

Gaelic sports are traditional sports in Ireland. These sports are managed by the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association). The main sports are football and hurling, but there are too Rounder, Camogie (it s like hurling, but for women) and Gaelic handball. 

The Gaelic football and the hurling are the most popular sport in Ireland, more than football and rugby.

The Gaelic football and the hurling have the same pitch, around 140m long and around 85 wide. There are two goals at each ends of the pitch, which are a mix between a rugby goal and a football goal.  In each sport, the teams comprise 15 players. Players have to strike the ball in the goals, they win 1 point in the upper part of the goal, and 3 in the lower part, where there is the goalkeeper.

Hurling:

 Players use a Hurley to play, it’s like a butt, and they have to strike a ball, called a Siolar. Each team has a goalkeeper, 6 defenders, 2 midfielders and 6 forwards. Players can’t use their hands to pick up the ball on the floor, just with the Hurley, but they can use the Hurley, hands or with feet to pass the ball.

Gaelic football:

This sport looks like a mix between football and rugby, with a circle ball. Players can use their hands and feet to play. There are, as in hurling, one goalkeeper, 6 defenders, 2 midfielders and 6 forwards. Players can’t run with the ball in the hands, they have to dribble as in basket or do a toe-tap.

The most important games in the GAA take place in Cork Park, a stadium in Dublin, where only the Gaelic sports take place. It’s the biggest stadium in Dublin (80 000 places), and the headquarter of the GAA.  

Visiting Dublin

Dublin is divided in two by the Liffey River  : the north side and the south side.
The night life is concentrated in the South side and it is there where you can find a lot of the touristics places.
Here are some.

The Liffey River

The medieval part.

The medieval part is constitued by the Dublin Castle, Christchurch Cathedral and Saint Patrick Church. Dublin castle is a small castle built in 1204, but a huge part of the original castle has been destroyed. However, there is a nice garden behind.

Christchurch cathedral is a beautiful church built in the 12^th  century in the Roman style. These monuments are not free, you have to pay to enter  and it’s quite expensive (around 6 euros each).

Dublin Castle



Christchurch Cathedral

The Georgian part

                                                                                     

In this part of the city you can find Saint Stephen’s green which is a pleasant park located right in city center.
There is also Trinity College, the oldest university in Dublin founded in 1592 by Elizabeth I. You can visit inside a magnificent library where is exposed The book of Kells, one of the oldest manuscript.

Finally you have plenty of museums like The National Gallery with more than 2500 paintings, The National Museum of Archaeology and History and The National Library of Ireland which are all very interesting.

Trinity College



The Guinness Storehouse

This is a huge touristic place in Dublin city. It’s the Guinness museum and factory where you can learn the Guinness history and how it is made. At the end of the visit, you have one free pint at the top of the factory with a panoramic view of Dublin! A place to see!

Phoenix Park

This park is one of the largest urban park in Europe with its 7000 hectares. You can see an impressive obelisk, you can relax, play sport, riding horses or watch the rendeers !

Glendalough

With our class, we have been to the South East of Ireland in Glendalough. This place is located in the heart of the Wicklow Mountains, near to two lacks:  Lower Lake and Upper Lake.
This is a very beautiful place, very quiet where you can find one of the first monastery of Ireland constructed during the VI century.

Irish education system

The Irish education system is very similar to other Western systems, including three levels: primary school, secondary school and higher education.

The language is English at all levels, except in the Gaelscoileanna (Gaelic language schools), where the teaching language is Gaelic.

Diplomas of Higher Education are awarded by the Dublin City University, the Dublin Institute of Technology, the Higher Education and Training Awards Council, the National University of Ireland, University of Dublin and the University of Limerick. These are the authorities authorized by the Irish government to deliver higher education qualifications at all levels.

Thanks to the "Free Fees Initiative" program, the Ministry of Finance supports the university fees of students meeting the criteria of education, nationality and residency required. Registration fees are approximately 2000€ and must be paid at the beginning of the academic year for most studies, these fees cover registration, examinations and student services. (France should take it as an example!!!)

The relationship between teachers and pupils is very different in Ireland than in France. In Ireland, there is a real exchange between them. Pupils can speak freely, talk about their experiences, create debates. In France, only the teacher can talk. We can't really call it "an exchange".

Irish language and accent

One particular thing to Ireland is the accent of the people living there.
Each county has its proper dialect and accent, Irish people can even say of which county you do come from and sometimes which city!
But some of them are really difficult to understand. Indeed usually Irish people speak faster than English people and they less articulate the words.
We noticed some differences, for example they won’t say “you” but more “ya”.
It is fair hard to describe the Irish accent, so if you want to get an idea, just watch Irish news.

Map of Ireland Counties

An other thing we can wonder is Does Irish people speak Irish?

All Irish children have to learn Irish at school, but there are only few places where it is spoken fluenty, as first language. Most of Irish people we met couldn't speak fluent Irish, they are speaking english.
But we have been to the west of Ireland in Connemara/Aran Islands, and lots of locals were speaking Irish. And we heard that if you want to get a job in the west of Ireland in pubs or restaurants, you have to speak Irish fluently.
So with what we saw, we can say than Irish People can speak Irish but not fluently exept in some places.

Image: http://tatfoundation.org/ireland.htm

Irish Expressions

There are some differences between the proper English and the irish-english, here are some of them:

Cheers !

This word has a lot of signification like "thank you", "good bye", "you're welcome" and "santé!"

What’s the craic? / Let’s have some craic !
When you hear this, they are not talking about drug, it means What's going on?/ Let’s have fun !

Story man !
It is literally  to say hello.

What’s the story? = What’s up?

I am grand !! It means that you are feeling very good. It can be also used to describe something: It was grand is “it was very good”.

Have a few scoops: Have a few pints.

Are you going on the lash? = Are you going out drinking ?

Fasmished = hungry

If you want to have the shift, then you want a french kiss !

 

And finally if you ask to learn a real Irish phrase, they will teach you "Pόg mo thόin" meaning... kiss my bottom !

Tips

We are going to give some little tips to survive in Dublin:

-          If you are hungry, no matters the time, just

       go to Centra and ask for a chicken fillet roll.

       This is a very tasty baguette sandwich and

        it costs only 1.99 euros !

-          If you plan to go out, check on internet

       where the good parties are. A lot of

       websites will give you these informations.  

-          If you want to go in a club, again check

       on internet before and try to be on the cheap/

       free list on facebook.

-          If you going out and you are a girl and oups! 

      you forgot your make up or your

      perfume… Don’t worry!!  In almost every

      toilets you can find everything you

      need: perfumes, make-up, hair straightener, chewing gums… !

-          Go out in other areas than Temple bar !

-      Be prepare to sing ! Molly Malone, Galway Girl, Dirty Old Town, Whiskey in The Jar are popular in touristic places.

Aran Islands and Dingle Peninsula

During our Easter holidays, we decided to visit a little bit more of Ireland, so we planned a trip in the south west.
Our first step was in the Aran Island.
The Aran Island is an archipelago located in Galway bay formed by three islands: Inishmore, Inishmaan and Inisheer. It is one of the most amazing places in Ireland, very wild, quiet, typical and beautiful. The islands history is not really common. Indeed, there were only rocks at first in the islands and nobody lived there. But men decided to settle in and during centuries they mixed sand with seaweed to create humus and have a ground available for agriculture. With the extracted rocks, they built little walls to limit erosion. This kind of landscape is now typical in the west of Ireland. Furthermore, people are still speaking fluent Irish and they keep the traditions alive. 

So we spend one night on the largest isles of the Aran Islands (13 km): Inishmore. It was the eighteen birthday of someone in the island so everybody was in a pub, they gave to everyone free birthday cake and food, and they were dancing Irish dance. It was really nice and typical.
On the morrow, we ranted a bike and we visited the entire island.
What is there to see?
A seal colony chose this island to settle in so you can often see some of them.
There are lots of Celtics cemeteries and ruins.  
The main attraction in Inishmore is Dun Aenghus, one of the finest prehistoric fortresses in Western Europe. The fortress is built just in front of an impressive and magnificent cliff. A must to see !

The cliffs in front of the Dun Aenghus

Dun Aenghus

That was our first step and it was amazing. Then we continued our trip and we stopped in the Dingle peninsula. The movie “Ryan’s Daughter” was filmed in this area. Dingle is a lovely city with painted houses and a charming port. Dingle is popular because there is a dolphin called Fungie who lives in Dingle harbour and it is a huge attraction for tourists. You can even swim with Fungie !



The Dingle port

So we rented a bike again and we did the “Slea head road” (40km) which goes around the entire bay. Again, a must to see! Beautiful green hills, wild landscape, rocky cliffs and… sheep everywhere!

Sheep everywhere!

The Slea Head Road

The Slea Head Road

After that, go back to Dublin.

Galway Trip

This month, we have been to the west of Ireland with some friends. We rented a car and we drove in Co. Galway. And we are happy to say that we drove on the left side…! At first it was scary but after 5 minutes we get used to easily!

So we started our trip visiting the Burren. This region is really unique and specific to Irlande: As far as the eye can see, there are only rocks. But not usual rocks: it’s one of the largest karst-landscape of Europe, with an amazing biodiversity! The Irish word for The Burren is “Boireann” meaning “rocky aera” and this is totally justified. A famous description of the Burren is "The Burren. Where there are no trees to hang a man. Where there is not enough water to drown him. And if you finally succeeded in killing him, it's too rocky to bury him."

What is there to see in this area?

• The Dunguaire Castle. It’s a ruined castle but it offers a very beautiful view point.

• Poulnabrone Dolmen: It’s a portal tomb dating of the Neolithic period. Between 28 and 22 persons were buried under this dolmen.

• There are also a lot of Celtics crosses!

• The Burren National park, where you can see this typical landscape.

The second day, we have been to the famous Connemara! This is a very beautiful region, wild, without anybody but with ponies! A typical Irish region with its mountains, its lakes and forests. A must to see!

The kylemore Abbey is also a place to see! It was a castle but now it’s a girl school, with lovely Victorian gardens.

On the third and last day we visited Galway. It’s a nice small city but there is not so much to see. But we enjoyed Galway’s night life! ;)

Then we have been to the famous Cliffs of Moher. This is really a breathtakingly beautiful landscape.  They rise 120 meters, and the maximum height is 241 meters. This is maybe one of the most popular place in Ireland with one million visitor a year.