Ireland - Day 3 - June 7, 2013

Another absolutely beautiful day in Dublin, although it was a bit on the warm side at 75 degrees.  No...it was hot.  We had a little later start this morning, which was a plus considering we were all tired from the lack of sleep.  It doesn't get dark here until like 10:45, so it's really hard to wind down and go to bed.

We started the day by finishing up the lectures with Dr. Ciara Meehan.  Today's discussion was the Battle of the Bogside (12-14 August, 1969 in (London) Derry) and Bloody Sunday (30 January, 1972 in (London) Derry)

Battle of the Bogside

Bloody Sunday

The information shared by Professor Meehan was definitely though provoking.  There are a great many parallels between American Civil Rights and Irish Civil Rights and over the past two days she has given us much to think about and vice versa.  It was an excellent experience for all!  Before I can write in-depth about what we have learned, I will have to digest it and give it a little more thought.  There is one thing that I can share at this moment.  Today we discussed political apologizes and how so many people view them as insincere.  However, British Prime Minister David Cameron sincerely apologized for Britain's role in Bloody Sunday.  The video can be seen here.  I must say, this was probably the most sincere political apology I think I've ever seen. 

Everything we covered in the past two days with Dr. Meehan was only reenforced by the visit to the Museum of History.  This is a wonderful museum housed in the former British Army Military Barracks.  They had a wonderful collection of artifacts and beautifully explained the Civil Rights Movement in Ireland through 
their many displays.  The unfortunate side is that we only had a couple of hours :(. 

Artwork dedicated to the memory of those who lost their life on Bloody Sunday.

The final tour for us today was at the Guinness Brewery.  This was one of the "fun" things built into the agenda for the students.  Something that Ireland is known for...and it's still history related...in a way.  The tour was very informative.  Our lovely tour guide gave a great tour instructing the group in each and every step of the brew process.  It's quite amazing how it is all done and that you can go from field to can in less than 15 days.  We even got to taste test and learn how to pour a proper glass.  Guinness Brewery won't be going anywhere either since Authur Guinness signed a 9,000 year lease!