Syllabus (All Year)
FALL QUARTER
Week One: Céad Míle Fáilte! [A Hundred Thousand Welcomes]The changing nature of the syllabus means you probably shouldn’t bother to print it out, but should just check it frequently. 9/28, Monday 10 – 11:45 Readers’ Theatre: Molly Sweeney (Brian Friel) 12:30 – 2 Program Intro/seminar: why you? why now? why Ireland? 9/29, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Film: In Search of Ancient Ireland: Heroes [45 minutes] 12:30 – 2 Starting the Irish Language; Being vs. Having 9/30, Wednesday 10 – 1 Liminality, Language, and Irishness 10/1, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Ancient Irish Legends: Lir, Balor, etc. 12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar, Potluck Treats, and Preparation for next week (bring treats!) Assignment for Week Two: read Irish Traditional Music, chapter 1 (“Looking in from the Outside”) and The Táin. But before you start The Táin, read my handout about how to approach it. Come to Monday’s seminar with your book, prepared to discuss what you have read; during Thursday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Review your Irish language materials, as we’ll be working with them frequently. Consider posting sticky notes all over your house as you begin to learn about the language. Test your roommates on how to say “good morning,” “good night,” “excuse me,” and “thank you” in Irish. Introduce yourself and ask how your classmates are! Are they go maith, go measartha, or go dona? Songs of this week: “Here’s a Health to the Company,” “An Crúiscín Lán.” ——————————————— Week Two: Ancient Ireland: Living Between Worlds10/5, Monday 10 – 11:45 Understanding The Táin 12:30 – 2 Seminar 10/6, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Bards, Druids, and the Celts 12:30 – 2 Film: Celtic Trilogy [50 minutes] 10/7, Wednesday 10 – 1 Guest lecture/demonstration: Wendell Dobbs, “History and Playing Styles of the Irish Flute.” Readers’ Theatre: Cathleen Ní Houlihan (W.B. Yeats) 10/8, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments and songs) 12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation Assignment for Week Three: Read the first half of In Search of Ancient Ireland (pp.3-131) and Traditional Irish Music, chapter 2 (“Roots and Branches of Gaelic Ireland”). Come to Monday’s seminar prepared to discuss what you have read; during Thursday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Begin to think about your first five-page integrative essay (on ancient Ireland); it’s due on Friday, 10/23 in Sean’s mailbox (not in e-mail form; typed, double-spaced, stapled hard copy). Songs of this week: “Eileanóir a Rún” and “Chuaigh Mé Féin ar an Aonach.” ——————————————— Week Three: Ancient Ireland: Spirituality and Sexuality10/12, Monday 10 – 11:45 Indigenous Spiritualities and the Wildness of God 12:30 – 2 Seminar 10/13, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Film: The Secret of Roan Inish [102 minutes] 12:30 – 2 The Brehon Laws and Gender Issues in Ancient Ireland 10/14, Wednesday 10 – 1 Language work (Step Three — numbers); Readers’ Theatre: On Baile’s Strand (W.B. Yeats) 10/15, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments and songs) 12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation Assignment for Week Four: Read the second half of In Search of Ancient Ireland (pp.132-265) and Traditional Irish Music, chapter 3 (“Hang All Harpers Where Found”). Also, please skim chapter 4 but you don’t have to memorize anything. Come to Monday’s seminar prepared to discuss what you have read; during Thursday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Your first five-page integrative paper (on ancient Ireland) is due on Friday, October 23 in Sean’s mailbox in Com 301. Don’t forget to check the website (under “assignments”) to be sure you understand what is expected of you. On Thursday you will be involved in a dance workshop; be sure to wear hard-soled shoes that day! On Friday evening we will have a céilí (dance party) in the Longhouse; bring your friends! It will cost $5 to participate. Songs of this week: “Gabhaim Molta Bríghde” and “Maighdean Mhara.” ——————————————— Week Four: The First Conquests10/19, Monday 10 – 11:45 St. Patrick and Early Catholicism 12:30 – 2 Seminar 10/20, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Musical Traditions of the Ancient Irish, Scots, and Welsh 12:30 – 2 Film: In Search of Ancient Ireland: Saints [45 minutes] 10/21, Wednesday 10 – 1 The Vikings and the Normans…and Gaelic Bingo! Learn your numbers NOW! 10/22, Thursday 10 – 11:15 Guest Presenter: Philip Boulding, harper (Bring your hard shoes) 12:00 – 2 Integrative Seminar 10/23, Friday 4– 5 and 7:30-9:30 (Longhouse) Sean-nós Dance Workshop and Céilí! Assignment for Week Five: Read “Translations” by Brian Friel (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama) together with “On Brian Friel” (pp.540-558). Read also the first half of In Search of Ireland’s Heroes, pp.3-144. Come to Monday’s seminar prepared to discuss what you have read; during Thursday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Songs of this week: “All God’s Creatures” and “Caoine na dTrí Mhuire.” ——————————————— Week Five: The British Conquest of Ireland10/26, Monday 10 – 11:45 Hang All Harpers Where Found 12:30 – 2 Seminar 10/27, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Land and Language 12:30 – 2 Film: The Curse of Cromwell 10/28, Wednesday 10 – 1 Readers’ Theatre: Translations (Brian Friel); preparation for Samhain 10/29, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Mystery activity…. 12:30 – 2 Mystery activity…. Assignment for Week Six: Read Paddy’s Lament, parts 1 and 2 only (or, if you really want to be depressed, read the whole thing – how anyone even made it here alive is beyond anyone’s wildest reckoning). Come to Monday’s seminar prepared to discuss what you have read; during Thursday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. This is also the weekend to develop a (two-dimensional) visual response to the Famine. Bring your visual response with you to seminar on Thursday. Fair warning: brace yourself for this terrible but important work, which by the way requires you to spend two program days watching and discussing a film. Songs of this week: “God Bless England” and “The Bard of Armagh.” ——————————————— Week Six: The Great Hunger — An Gorta Mór11/2, Monday 10 – 11:45 English and Irish Historiography of the Famine (how the English understood it in comparison to how the Irish understood it) 12:30 – 2 Seminar 11/3, Tuesday 10 – 2 Film and Discussion: The Hanging Gale pt. 1 [101 minutes] 11/4, Wednesday 10 – 1 Film and Discussion: The Hanging Gale pt. 2 [104 minutes] 11/5, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Songs and Poetry of the Famine 12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation Assignment for Week Seven: Read The Collected Poems of W.B. Yeats and “Riders to the Sea” and “Playboy of the Western World” by J.M. Synge (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama), together with “On J.M. Synge” (pp. 453-472). Select six different poems from the Yeats book that “speak” to you at a gut level; read out loud and discuss two poems in detail in your small group in seminar. Come to Monday’s seminar prepared to discuss – in a small group – what you have read; during Thursday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Songs of this week: “The Fields of Athenry,” “Come Lay Me Down,” and “Skibbereen.” ——————————————— Week Seven: The Celtic Twilight I11/9, Monday 10 – 11:45 The National Literary Movement 12:30 – 2 Small-group Seminars 11/10, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Guest presenter Don Foran, on WB Yeats’s poetry 12:30 – 2 The Gaelic League, the Land League, and the G.A.A. 11/11, Wednesday 10 – 1 Reader’s Theatre: Riders to the Sea (J.M. Synge) 11/12, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Irish Language Quiz, and Join the Session! (Bring your instruments and songs) 12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation Assignment for Week Eight: Read “The Rising of the Moon” and “Spreading the News” by Lady Gregory, and “Juno and the Paycock” by Seán O’Casey (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama), together with “On Lady Gregory” (pp.443-452) and “On Seán O’Casey” (pp. 496-516). Read also “Murmuring Name Upon Name: From Literature to Armed Rebellion” and “A Terrible Beauty: the Irish War of Independence,” from In Search of Ireland’s Heroes, pp. 201-244. Work on your presentations! Start working on your second essay (due 11/30), on post-Conquest Ireland. Songs of this week: “Believe Me, If All Those Endearing Young Charms,” “Danny Boy,” and “You Raise Me Up.” ——————————————— Week Eight: The Celtic Twilight II11/16, Monday 10 – 11:45 The Easter Rebellion of 1916 12:30 – 2 Discussion of Performances and Getting Groups Together 11/17, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Film: Juno and the Paycock [85 minutes] 12:30 – 2 Figuring out the performance groups — first pass 11/18, Wednesday 10 – 1 Reader’s Theatre: The Rising of the Moon (Lady Gregory); Film: Michael Collins [133 minutes] 11/19, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Come to class on time and get into your performance groups; come back by 12:20. 12:30 – 2 Guest Lecture: Steven Morrison (Peopling the British Isles) Assignment for Week Nine: Read Dubliners (James Joyce). Be sure to read the entire set of short stories; this is the place to get deeply inside issues of men and women, and parents and children. Note the progression of the book from early childhood to adulthood to death and beyond. Check online and in the back of the book (if you have the Norton Critical Edition) for some maps and contextual insights as well! The critical ideas brought up in the back of the book mirror the kinds of live conversations that some academics like to have. Come to Monday’s seminar prepared to discuss what you have read; during Thursday’s seminar we will integrate the week’s events and prepare for the following week. Turn in your second essay on post-Conquest Ireland on Monday, November 30. Note that you have all of Thanksgiving Week to work on it, but don’t wait until after Thanskgiving to start it. You need time to read Dubliners too. Finish the essay before Thanksgiving. Trust me on this. Songs of this week: “Óró, Sé Do Bheatha ‘Bhaile,” “The Patriot Game,” and “The Rising of the Moon.” ——————————————— Week Nine: The Celtic Twilight III11/30, Monday 10 – 11:45 The Art of James Joyce (SECOND ESSAY DUE) 12:30 – 2 Seminar 12/1, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Film: The Dead [82 minutes] 12:30 – 2 Discussion and Songs 12/2, Wednesday 10 – 1 Readers’ Theatre: Spreading the News (Lady Gregory); rehearsals for next week 12/3, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments and songs) 12:30 – 2 Irish Language Review and Preparation NOTE: On Friday, 12/4, please attend the Celtic Yuletide concert by Magical Strings. Friday, Dec. 4, 7:30 pm, Saint John’s Episcopal Church, 114 20th Ave SE. Reserved Seating Section $26/all seats; General Seating $18/adults, $12/children; $2 more at the door. Available at: Traditions Fair Trade, 705-2819; Rainy Day Records, 357-4755; and Brown Paper Tickets, 800-838-3006. Assignment for Week Ten: Read “John Bull’s Other Island” by Bernard Shaw (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama), together with “On Bernard Shaw” (pp.473-495). Prepare your presentations and the two poems that you expect to recite for your evaluation. Review your Irish language notes for the exam (yes, the exam!) on Monday the 7th. Note that our collaborative presentations will be on Wednesday in Com 117, not Com 310. Songs of this week: “An Cailín Deas Donn” and “Bean Pháidín.” ——————————————— Week Ten: Wrapping Up the Quarter12/7, Monday 10 – 11:45 Irish Language Exam 12:30 – 2 Seminar 12/8, Tuesday 10 – 11:45 Film: The Informer [92 minutes] 12:30 – 2 Final Presentation Rehearsals (all afternoon) 12/9, Wednesday 10 – 1 Collaborative Presentations IN COM 117!! 12/10, Thursday 10 – 11:45 Join the Session! Songs and Poetic Recitation 12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar, Potluck and Discussion of Winter Quarter |
|
———————————————
WINTER QUARTER
Assignment for winter break: read Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt). Write a three-page response essay to Angela’s Ashes on the subject of choices. Include both parents and the priests along with your discussion of Frank himself. It is due on Monday, January 4, in class. It needs to be typed, double spaced, with 1” margins, and stapled. In addition, please read Making Sense of the Troubles, introduction and Chapter One (pp.1-25) only.
Take a good look at Steps Seven, Eight and Nine of the Irish language handouts; I would like you to fill out every single one of those pages that allows room for writing. Then, in the first week of winter, we’ll have a quiz on those Steps. Note that they are mostly review anyway, except for the verbal nouns (which we’ll have gone over in class during 10th week of fall quarter).
If you are able to do so, please watch The Wind That Shakes the Barley. We will be spending only the first week of winter quarter on Ireland before going to Irish America, and we’ll cover the period up to and including World War II. Be aware that you will need to pay your $500 (nonrefundable) deposit to do the study abroad portion of the program by February 1, 2010. It’s coming right up.
———————————————
Week One: The Devil’s Era and Ireland’s Deserted Villages
Monday, 1/4
10 – 2 Dev and the Gaeltachtaí, followed by seminar
Tuesday, 1/5
10 – 2 Film: The Field [113 minutes] and discussion
Wednesday, 1/6
10 – 1 Understanding Irish and American Music; film: Sing the Dark Away
Thursday, 1/7
10 – 11:45 Irish Language Quiz: Verbal Nouns!
12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation for Irish America
Songs of this week: Irish children’s songs, and “Lord Thomas and Fair Ellender.”
Assignment for Week Two: Read the first part of Banished Children of Eve (pp.1-228), and Chapter 5 (“The Green Fields of America”) of Focus: Irish Traditional Music. Take three notable quotations from the novel, type them up, and explain why you chose each of them in writing. Bring this with you to Monday’s seminar, and be prepared to discuss your choices with your classmates.
———————————————
Week Two: Irish America and the Civil War
Monday, 1/11
10 – 2 The Making of a “Cracker,” Film: Out of Ireland
Tuesday, 1/12
10 – 2 Film: Songcatcher [109 minutes] and discussion
Wednesday, 1/13
10 – 1 American Minstrelsy and the Civil War
Thursday, 1/14
10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments)
12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation
Songs of this week: “The Green Fields of America,” “Kilkelly” and “Paddy’s Lament.”
Assignment for Week Three: Read the remainder of Banished Children of Eve (pp.229-589). Attend the 3rd Annual Sean-nós Festival on Friday and Saturday, January 15 and 16! Your attendance is expected and your friends are welcome too. Friday evening: Concert in the Recital Hall. Saturday 10-4: classes and workshops.
———————————————
Week Three: Irish American Labor
Monday, 1/18
all day No program meeting: Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
Tuesday, 1/19
10 – 2 Film: The Molly Maguires [124 minutes] and discussion
Wednesday, 1/20
10 – 1 No Irish Need Apply: Working in America
Thursday, 1/21
10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments)
12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation
Songs of this week: “No Irish Need Apply” and “Paddy Works on the Railway.”
Assignment for Week Four: Read Irish America: Coming Into Clover (Maureen Dezell), from the Preface through chapter 4. Take three notable quotations from the first part of the book, type them up, and explain why you chose each of them in writing. Bring this with you to Monday’s seminar, and be prepared to discuss your choices with your classmates.
———————————————
Week Four: Irish America and Back Again
Monday, 1/25
10 – 2 Making the Irish “Safe” for America, followed by seminar
Tuesday, 1/26
10 – 2 Film: The Last Hurrah [121 minutes], with discussion
Wednesday, 1/27
10 – 1 Readers’ Theatre: Philadelphia, Here I Come! (Brian Friel)
Thursday, 1/28
10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments)
12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation
Song of this week: “Muldoon, the Solid Man.”
Assignment for Week Five: Read Irish America: Coming Into Clover (Maureen Dezell), chapters 5 through 9. In addition, read “Krapp’s Last Tape” by Samuel Beckett (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama) together with “On Samuel Beckett” (pp. 517-539). Each of you needs to go online and find one relevant piece of information about any of the following topics: Theater of the Absurd, Brendan Behan, Samuel Beckett, 1950s/60s Ireland, and Patrick Kavanagh. Type up what you have found, list its source, put your name on the paper, and come in prepared to read and discuss what you have found to others in small group discussions. The point of this assignment is to fill in gaps of your understanding about what it means to exist in a post-war world , and how the arts responded to that world. Your essay on Irish America is due on Monday, February 8, so start now!
———————————————
Week Five: Irish Theater and the Age of Knowledge
Monday, 2/1
10 – 2 Beckett and Behan and Kavanagh, Oh My!, followed by seminar
Tuesday, 2/2
10 – 2 Film: The Quare Fellow [85 minutes] and discussion
Wednesday, 2/3
10 – 1 Readers’ Theatre: Krapp’s Last Tape (Samuel Beckett)
Thursday, 2/4
10 – 11:45 Irish Language Quiz: Regular Type I Verbs!
12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation
Songs of this week: “The Auld Triangle.”
Assignment for Week Six: Read Making Sense of the Troubles, pp.134-242, which will take you from 1980 to (essentially) the present. Your visual response to the Troubles is due in Thursday’s seminar; come prepared to describe what you have created. Your integrative essay on Irish America is due on Monday, February 8.
———————————————
Week Six: The North
Monday, 2/8
10 – 2 Making Sense of the Troubles, followed by seminar
Tuesday, 2/9
10 – 2 Film: Some Mother’s Son [112 minutes] and discussion
Wednesday, 2/10
10 – 1 Readers’ Theatre: Freedom of the City (Brian Friel)
Thursday, 2/11
10 – 11:45 Songs and Poems of the North
12:30 – 2 Sharing of Visual Responses and Seminar
Songs of this week: “There Were Roses” and “Peter Pan and Me.”
Assignment for Week Seven: Read The Weir by Conor McPherson (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama) together with “On Conor McPherson” (pp. 559-572) and “Postcolonialism and Irish Theatre” by Victor Merriman, pp. 594-599. In addition, read chapters 7 and 8 of Focus: Irish Traditional Music, so that you have a stronger sense of the Irish song tradition. In particular, try to understand, through looking at the lyrics in Irish and English, how the Irish conceive of love through their songs and films and plays. We’ll be discussing this next week.
———————————————
Week Seven: Understanding Love and Marginalization
Monday, 2/15
all day no class meeting: President’s Day holiday
Tuesday, 2/16
10 – 2 Film: Into the West [97 minutes] and the Traveling People
Wednesday, 2/17
10 – 1 Readers’ Theatre: The Weir (Conor McPherson)
Thursday, 2/18
10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments)
12:30 – 2 Integrative Seminar and Preparation
Songs of this week: “Free-born Man of the Traveling People” and “The Shady Lane.”
Assignment for Week Eight: Read By the Bog of Cats by Marina Carr (Modern and Contemporary Irish Drama) together with “On Marina Carr” (pp. 577-587) and “Translating Women into Irish Theatre History” by Mary Trotter (pp. 600-606). In addition, read the selected passages from Postnationalist Ireland (pp.1-12, 99-142, and 178-188), to be handed out in class. Take three notable quotations from the handout, type them up, and be ready to discuss what you chose with your classmates.
———————————————
Week Eight: Fighting the Power: The People vs. the Church vs. the Government vs. the European Union
Monday, 2/22
10 – 2 Irish Identities in the European Union, followed by seminar on Postnationalist Ireland
Tuesday, 2/23
10 – 2 Film: Kings [89 minutes]; bodhrán workshop with Zak Borden
Wednesday, 2/24
10 – 1 Readers’ Theatre: By the Bog of Cats (Marina Carr) and Contemporary Irish Playwrights
Thursday, 2/25
10 – 2 Song and language work; preparation for final performances
Songs of this week: “Tá Mé mo Shuí” and “Brigid Ní Mhaille/Bridget O’Malley”
Assignment for Week Nine: Read carefully through the poems of the book Modern Irish Poetry. Bring five of the most meaningful poems with you to seminar, and be prepared to read and discuss these poems with the members of your small group. Also, read Traditional Irish Music, chapter 9 and choose one question to respond to at the end of the chapter (p.236), because we’ll be discussing contemporary Irish culture. Don’t forget to turn in your travel waiver and medical forms.
———————————————
Week Nine: The Contemporary Cultural Explosion
Monday, 3/1
10 – 2 Contemporary Irish Expressive Culture, followed by seminar
Tuesday, 3/2
10 – 12 Film: Riverdance [102 minutes] and language work
Wednesday, 3/3
10 – 1 Popular Music and “Celtic Punk” in Ireland and America
Thursday, 3/4
10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (Bring your instruments)
12:30 – 2 Preparation for Final Performances
Songs of this week: TBA!
Assignment for Week Ten: No reading! Prepare your final collaborative presentations (up to 1/2 hour per group) and poems that you expect to recite by heart for your evaluation. Review your Irish language work in preparation for the final exam on Monday the 8th. Do your final rehearsals and “clean-up” of your presentations in preparation for Wednesday. Start in on your self-evaluations by rereading what you wrote for fall quarter, then adding to it. Bring your self evaluation to your evaluation meeting with Sean.
———————————————
Week Ten: Wrapping Up
Monday, 3/8
10 – 11:45 Irish Language Exam: Regular and Irregular Verbs!
12:30 – 2 Developing your Self-Evaluation
Tuesday, 3/9
10 – 2 Film: The Boys and Girl from County Clare and discussion
Wednesday, 3/10
10 – 1 Collaborative Presentations in Com 209
Thursday, 3/11
10 – 11:45 Join the Session! (bring your instruments)
12:30 – 2 Preparation for Ireland: understanding Father McDyer and Gleann Cholm Cille
———————————————
Credits: 32 (fall and winter quarters together)
8 – Irish History and Culture
4 – Irish-American History and Culture
4 – Beginning Irish Language
4 – Irish Instrumental and Vocal Music
4 – Irish Theatre and Film
4 – Irish Poetry
4 – Expository Writing
———————————————
Preliminary words about Ireland: If you are traveling to Ireland in spring quarter, you are expected to arrive at Oideas Gael in Gleanncholmcille no later than Friday, April 16. This means that you can leave here by March 17 if you want, but definitely should leave the United States by April 12. Note: if you leave in March, make certain that you have excellent raingear and an endless amount of money, as Ireland is not only cold and rainy at that time of year, but also quite expensive. The village of Gleann Cholm Cille is quite small and everyone knows where Oideas Gael is, so if you can get yourself there, you’ll be fine. Fly into Dublin and take McGeehan’s bus north to the Gleann on the morning of Friday the 16th. You are expected to return to the States by Sunday, May 23 so that you can participate in an intensive, week-long, gotta-get-the-paper-done workshop that will result in a kick-ass 20+page essay about Ireland, about your year…and about your life.
———————————————
SPRING QUARTER
Week One and Two: Preparing to Leave
Take this time to straighten your affairs out, pack to leave, make sure that you have all your documentation and have signed all forms and paid all fees. Spend some significant time going over your language work to make sure you have learned what you need to learn before going into the Gaeltacht. Investigate things to do and see in Dublin. Fly safe!
Week Three: Arrival in Ireland
Céad Míle Fáilte go hÉireann! On Friday, April 16, be waiting with your bags at St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin at 10 am. McGeehan’s Bus will come and get you. You’ll stop in Donegal Town to go shopping (fresh vegetables and fruit are not easily had in Gleann Cholm Cille!). You should arrive in Gleann at about 5 pm. I’ll be there.
Here are some options upon your arrival in Dublin. here’s a list of Dublin stuff and websites; I tried to keep it manageable with only four listings per category (plays, ceol, visual art, buildings, other). Note the Dublin Pass (http://www.dublinpass.ie/dublinpass/) which gets you into everything AND GIVES YOU FREE AIRPORT TRANSFER INTO TOWN. Fantastic deal! Check out this site! If you get to the site and click on “buy now” you’ll see that they have a 20% off deal if you purchase it before March 31st. You can get a 2, 3, or 6 day pass. It’s worth it.
PLAYS (tickets often run 15-35 euro in general)
1. The Abbey Theatre is showing Macbeth starting April 7! http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats_on/event/957?utm_source=March_enewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mar_enews_10&utm_content=macbeth_event
2. The Gaeity Theatre is putting on Philadelphia, Here I Come, March 9 through April 10!!!!! Oh man, if I’d known this before I bought my tickets….I’m going to miss it because I don’t arrive until the 11th. DANG. http://www.gaietytheatre.ie/index.php/whats-on-buy-tickets/calendar/philadelphia-here-i-come/290
3. Hair: The Musical is on at the Helix from April 6 to 9. http://entertainment.ie/event/Theatre/The-Helix/Hair-The-Musical/2534872.htm
4. Les Liaisons Dangereuses is being performed at the Gate Theatre from March 2 through April 24. http://entertainment.ie/event/Theatre/Gate-Theatre/Les-Liaisons-Dangereuses/2533809.htm
CRAIC AGUS CEOL (most of these are free; sometimes there’s a small fee)
1. An Góilín is a singer’s club in Dublin; sometimes there’s sean-nós there, sometimes there’s an English-language singer or a traveler or someone from Scotland or Northumberland or England. It’s generally great! http://goilin.com/index.php
2. O’Donoghue’s pub is probably the best-known music pub in Ireland and is centrally located in Dublin; Joe Heaney used to go there when he still lived in Dublin. Always, always get there early because it’s jam-packed. The craic is mighty. http://www.odonoghues.ie/music.htm
3. Oliver St. John Gogarty’s (centrally located) is the start of a musical pub crawl at 7:30 every night. It’s fun! It costs ten euro last time I checked. They also have free Irish music in the afternoons and evenings Monday through Saturday. Check it out! http://www.gogartys.ie/pub/
4. The Cobblestone pub is great for regular trad music and some big stars (who perform upstairs). It’s easy to find and recommended. http://maps.google.com/maps/place?hl=en&oq=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=The+Cobblestone+Dublin&fb=1&gl=us&hq=The+Cobblestone&hnear=Dublin&cid=13892189067348879737 and http://www.odonoghues.ie/music.htm
VISUAL ART
1. The National Gallery is the home for fine art, especially painting, in Dublin; the current exhibit includes works by what’s called “The Irish School” which is Ireland’s contribution to late 19th/early 20th century art. http://www.nationalgallery.ie/html/exhibitions.html
2. National Museum of Ireland on 2 Kildare street (again, centrally located) is RICH in gold artifacts, prehistoric stuff, Viking stuff…it’s fantastic! On the website they have sort of 360 degree visual of each section. http://www.museum.ie/en/exhibition-list/archaeology-and-ethnography-permanen
t-exhibitions.aspx
3. The Trinity College Library houses not just the beautiful Book of Kells, but also a beautiful museum-quality exhibit called “Turning Darkness into Light” (a quote from one of my favorite old poems written by a monk about Pangur Bán, his cat — I don’t know if you’ll remember it, but the final stanza is
Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.
– hence the name of the exhibit.) http://www.bookofkells.ie/plan-visit/
4. Dublin happens to be rich in public art! Here are a few recommendations from Wikipedia, but you might especially seek out “the tart with the cart” (that would be Molly Malone), Patrick Kavanagh sitting by the Royal Canal (”the crank on the bank”), James Joyce (”the prick with the stick”), etc. Oh, and don’t forget the Spire of Dublin (you can’t miss it — a huge pointy thing called “The Stiffy by the Liffey” among other lewd references). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statues_in_Dublin
MIGHTY BUILDINGS:
1. Dublin Castle: Whoa. http://www.dublincastle.ie/home_flash.html
2. Four Courts building: hugely important during the Irish Civil War! And while you’re here, stroll along the Liffey river until you see the Famine Memorial. Bring your camera, and a kleenex. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Courts and http://www.yelp.ie/biz/famine-memorial-dublin
3. General Post Office: this is where “Pearse called Cú Chulainn to his side” and the Rebellion of Easter 1916 began. Don’t miss the statue of Cú Chulainn there. http://www.dublintourist.com/details/general_post_office_gpo.shtml
4. Kilmainham Gaol (”jail”): this is where everybody who has been anybody in the Republic has been jailed. AMAZING and well worth it.
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Ireland/County_Dublin/Dublin-296021/Things_To_Do-Dublin-Kilmainham_Jail-BR-1.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Courts
OTHER:
1. TEA TEA TEA TEA TAE! I love going to Bewley’s Coffee and Tea, and I often eat there too. http://bewleys.com/bewleys-grafton-street-café. If you’re feeling rich and you want the ultimate afternoon tea experience, the Lord Mayor’s Lounge at the Shelbourne Hotel is IT. I don’t remember how much it costs, but it’s comparable to afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria BC. The Clarence Hotel (in Temple Bar) is owned by Bono and U2, and their tea is fine as well: http://www.theclarence.ie/tearoom-restaurant. But every hotel of any size has a tea room, and there are plenty of tea rooms not attached to hotels.
2. GUINNESS TOUR: I didn’t think it was that great, and I generally LOVE touring breweries and wineries both. On the other hand, it’s decent craic if you’re with a gang of friends, it includes a free pint, and it’s included in
the Dublin Pass: http://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en/Index.aspx
3. GAY DUBLIN: Here are a couple of sites that lead you to all kinds of gay friendly hotels, clubs, shops, and places to meet people: http://www.visitdublin.com/Entertainment/GayDublin/dublin.aspx and http://queerid.com/default.aspx
4. TOURS OUTSIDE DUBLIN: If you have a few days, try going to the following places; it’s easy with a rental car, but even without a rental car it’s not that hard because the tourist office is so good. Go there yourself and see what tours they have in the next day or so: this is an excellent way to get yourself to Newgrange (it’s only 40 minutes north — one of the oldest sites in Ireland and brilliant with a fine visitor centre) or Glendalough/Avoca (about an hour south — where St. Kevin built a GORGEOUS monastery, even if he wouldn’t allow cows there because, you know.) They might have tours to Kildare (not sure; just ask). http://www.visitdublin.com/
4/17, Dé Sathairn
12 noon: Meeting with Liam Cunningham, director of Oideas Gael
7:30 pm Donegal Tunes with Mick Browne
4/18, Dé Domhnach
2 pm Walk to the Tower with Paddy Beag
7:30 pm Meeting with Seán in the main hall
Week Four: Starting Our Work
4/19, Dé Luain
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Turas Cholmcille with Paddy Beag
7:30-9:30 Poetry with Don Byrne
4/20, Dé Mairt
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Seminar with Seán
7:30-9:30 Gaeltacht Studies with Liam Cunningham
4/21, Dé Céadaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Bodhrán with Paddy Donaghue
7:30-9:30 Weaving with Margaret Cunningham
4/22, Déardaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Knitting with Bríd or Drawing with Conal McIntyre
7:30-9:30 Dancing with Edie Bradley
4/23, Dé hAoine
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Sean-nós Singing with Lillis Ó Laoire
7:30-9:30 Sean-nós Singing with Lillis Ó Laoire
4/24, Dé Sathairn
2-5 Archaeology with Séamus
7:30-9:30 Donegal Tunes with Mick Browne
4/25, Dé Domhnach
2-5 Poetry with Cathal Ó Searcaigh
7:30-9:30 Poetry with Cathal Ó Searcaigh
Week Five: Living in Gleann Cholm Cille
4/26, Dé Luain
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Free
7:30-9:30 Poetry with Don Byrne
4/27, Dé Mairt
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Seminar with Seán
7:30-9:30 Gaeltacht Studies with Donncha Ó Baoill
4/28, Dé Céadaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Bodhrán with Paddy Donaghue
7:30-9:30 Weaving with Margaret Cunningham
4/29, Déardaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Knitting with Bríd or Drawing with Conal McIntyre
7:30-9:30 Two-Hand Dances with Edie Bradley
4/30, Dé hAoine
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
You are free for the remainder of the weekend. You may stay in Gleann Cholm Cille if you like, go hiking and exploring, catch up on sleep, practice your Irish with locals, etc. You may also wish to travel outside the town. You are expected to return on Sunday, May 2nd, for an evening class.
5/2, Dé Domhnach
7:30-9:30 Sean-nós Singing with Gearóidín Breathnach
Week Six: Living in Gleann Cholm Cille
5/3, Dé Luain
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Photography with Siobhán
7:30-9:30 Poetry with Don Byrne
5/4, Dé Mairt
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Seminar with Seán
7:30-9:30 Gaeltacht Studies with Eithne
5/5, Dé Céadaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Spirituality Studies with Dolores Whelan
7:30-9:30 Free
5/6, Déardaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Folk Village Tour with Liam Cunningham (two groups)
7:30-9:30 Donegal Tunes with Mick Browne
5/7, Dé hAoine
8 am – midnight Bus to Derry
5/8, Dé Sathairn
Rest!
5/9, Dé Domhnach
7:30-9:30 Session with Seán Williams
Week Seven: Living in Gleann Cholm Cille
5/10, Dé Luain
10-1 Herbology with Judith Hoad (walking in the fields)
2-5 Herbology with Judith Hoad
7:30-9:30 Poetry with Don Byrne
5/11, Dé Mairt
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Seminar with Seán Williams
7:30-9:30 Gaeltacht Studies with Donncha Ó Baoill
5/12, Dé Céadaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Bodhrán with Paddy Donaghue
7:30-9:30 Céilí Dancing with Clement
5/13, Déardaoin
10-1 Rang Gaeilge
2-5 Knitting with Bríd or Drawing with Conal McIntyre
7:30-9:30 Sean-nós Singing with Gearóidín Breathnach
5/14, Dé hAoine
10-1 Final Exam
2-5 Packing and Clean-Up
7:30-9:30 Potluck Dinner at the Teach Mór
5/15, Dé Sathairn
10-12 Cottage Inspection by Seán and Liam; bus for Departure back to Dublin
5/16, Dé Domhnach
Week Eight: Doing Your Individual Project and Returning Home
This week you have the option of spend the week on a project of your choice, or of returning home and recovering. There are no scheduled events this week. However, you are expected back in class on Monday, May 24.
Week Nine: Write That Essay!
5/24, Monday
10-12 Getting a handle on writing your major essay, pt.1
5/25, Tuesday
10-12 Writing your essay, pt. 2
5/26, Wednesday
10-12 Writing your essay, pt.3
5/27, Thursday
10-12 Writing your essay, pt.4
5/28, Friday
10-12 Writing your essay, pt.5
3-4 pm Sean-nós Northwest does a workshop at the Northwest Folklife Festival at the Seattle Center!
Week Ten: Wait A Minute! We can’t be finished already!
6/1, Tuesday
Papers are due today in Sean’s mailbox BEFORE 2:30 pm!
6/2, Wednesday
10-12 Re-viewing The Secret of Roan Inish, Com 308 (and writing a self-eval)
6/3, Thursday
1-3 Final Class meeting and Potluck Lunch! Com 117