What you'll experience:

Day 1 - Mon Jun 3


Arrival in Dublin - City Centre
On the first day, we'll take a shuttle from the Dublin International Airport to our hotel. Once we check in, we'll have a little time to refreshen from the overnight flight, then start out exploring with a long walk in the City Centre. You'll be responsible for telling the group about some of the statues along O'Connell Street. From there, we'll explore sites such as the:
and back to the hotel in the Docklands area for a break. Later, we'll take the Luas back into City Centre for dinner and evening entertainment.

Day 2 - Tue Jun 4


After some much needed rest, the second day consists of exploring the impact that the Celtic Tiger years had in the Docklands area of Dublin. The Docklands is the historic port area of Dublin, where the River Liffey empties into the Irish Sea. Students will be responsible for presenting information about many of the sites we'll see in this area, such as:
Along the way, we'll get a chance to see how famine history is portrayed with a visit to the Jeanie Johnston Tall Ship, and the Rowan Gillespie famine memorial.
Wrapping up the day we'll look at other "attractions" that went through significant changes during the Celtic Tiger years, including the Guinness Brewery and the National Museum of Ireland of Decorative Arts and History.

Day 3 - Wed Jun 5


The third day starts out early, with a ride on the DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) to the end of the line in Greystones, a top 10 winner of the "most livable community in the world" in 2006. After a morning exploring this suburban village, we'll have some lunch and then ride the DART back to Dun Laoghaire.
Dun Laoghaire is another port town, home to a daily shuttle to the UK (Wales) as well as the home of IADT (Institute of Art, Design, and Technology), the host school for Loras study abroad students. We'll stay in Dun Laoghaire for dinner at an Indian restaurant, and a movie at the local cinema, before heading back to the hotel that night.

Day 4 - Thu Jun 6


The fourth day also starts out early and ends late, with a morning departure into the Wicklow Mountains. The tour bus takes us through some of the communities that underwent vast changes during the Celtic Tiger years, including the area around Dalkey and Killiney (with homes of musicians Van Morrison, Enya, and Bono).
The tour "goes back in time", taking us to Glendalough, a beautiful valley area that was home to 6th century monks. There will be time for a hike around the lake, as well as a late lunch on the grounds. The tour should end around 5-6pm, giving you some time to explore the City Centre for supper, and complete some research/prep for the course assignments.

Day 5 - Fri Jun 7


Our fifth day provides you with some unstructured time in the morning, and then we'll focus our efforts with a longer walk on the outskirts of the City Centre area, including the following areas:

Day 6 - Sat Jun 8


Day 6 will give you some time to explore in the morning, and after lunch we will take the DART to Malahide, the site of an old castle.
After touring the castle, grounds, and town, we'll head to Howth, an "island" on the east end of Dublin that is now a quaint fishing village with shops and pubs, and one of the nicest "cliff-walks" this close to a major city. Howth is a great place to enjoy milling around, walking on the pier, hiking the cliff-side trail, and listening to some "trad" in the evening. Both these areas are key examples of towns that went through economic transformations during the Celtic Tiger period.

Day 7 - Sun Jun 9


You'll finally get a day of rest on Sunday. The day is yours to explore, either locally in the City Centre, or perhaps taking a day trip to another part of the Irish Island. Some suggestions for local sites to visit include:
And if you prefer to explore the rest of Ireland, you may want to try out a day trip to:
NOTE: you'll need to PACK UP this day, and leave most of your luggage at the Hotel that night, as we'll be leaving for the West Coast of Ireland (to Galway) EARLY Monday morning.

Day 8&9 - Mon Jun 10 - Tue Jun 11


On our 8th day, you'll get to see how the Celtic Tiger economy affected the poorest part of Ireland, the "rural west". We'll be in the Galway area for two days, exploring some of the most scenic sites in Ireland including the Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands. You'll have ample opportunity to see how the "Irish brand" was used to build up tourism as a way to enhance the western economy. You'll see examples of successes and failures of the push to introduce tech companies and educational centers away from Dublin. You'll experience the Gaeltacht areas, where Irish is spoken, and the "old culture" maintains a grip in a country that some say "was steamrolled" by the forces of globalization.
on the evening of Tue Jun 11th, we'll return to Dublin, where you may depart for Chicago or other locales on Wed Jun 12th.

Day 10 - Wed Jun 12


On our 10th and last day, you are free to either return back to the States, or explore on as you desire. You'll need to arrange for your travel - some may wish to return to Chicago, others to explore more of Ireland, still others may wish to explore Europe - it's up to you. If you do return to the States on Wed Jun 12th, the schedule will look like: