Now what? You’ve gone through all that information to help prepare you for Ireland, and so what’s next?
KEEP EXPLORING! The more you read-up on the cities you will be visiting, the more you will get out of your time abroad! Remember to bounce back to Module 1 and Module 2 of this online pre-departure information any time.
Here are a few more helpful resources for the three cities you will be visiting soon!
Dublin
Georgian elegance aside, Dublin mightn’t seem as sexy or as sultry as other European capitals, but Dubliners will tell you that pretty things are as easy to like as they are to forget. Their beloved capital, about which they can be brutally unsentimental, has personality, which is much more important and lasts far longer. Garrulous, amiable and witty, Dubliners at their ease are the greatest hosts of all, a charismatic bunch whose soul and sociability are so compelling and infectious that you mightn’t ever want to leave. (Lonely Planet)
Galway
Arty, bohemian Galway (Gaillimh) is renowned for its pleasures. Brightly painted pubs heave with live music, while cafes offer front-row seats for observing street performers, weekend parties run amuck, lovers entwined and more.
Steeped in history, the city nonetheless has a contemporary vibe. Students make up a quarter of its population, and remnants of the medieval town walls lie between shops selling Aran sweaters, handcrafted Claddagh rings and stacks of second-hand and new books. Bridges arch over the salmon-filled River Corrib, and a long promenade leads to the seaside suburb of Salthill, on Galway Bay, the source of the area’s famous oysters.
Galway is often referred to as the ‘most Irish’ of Ireland’s cities, it’s the only one where you’re likely to hear Irish spoken in the streets, shops and pubs. Even as it careens into the modern age, it still respects the fabric of its past. (Lonely Planet)
Limerick
In a town that’s been practising the tourism game for over 250 years, Killarney is a well-oiled machine in the middle of the sublime scenery of its namesake national park. Beyond the obvious proximity to lakes, waterfalls, woodland and moors dwarfed by 1000m-plus peaks, it has many charms of its own. Competition keeps standards high, and no matter your budget, you can expect to find good restaurants, fine pubs and plenty of accommodation.
Killarney and its surrounds have been inhabited probably since the Neolithic period and were certainly important Bronze Age settlements, based on the copper ore mined on Ross Island. Killarney changed hands between warring tribes, the most notable of which were the Fir Bolg (‘bag men’), expert stonemasons who built forts and devised Ogham script. It wasn’t until much later, in the 17th century, that Viscount Kenmare developed the town as an Irish version of England’s Lake District. Among its many notable 19th-century tourists were Queen Victoria and the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, who began Queen Mab here. (Lonely Planet)