Whether it’s from a lifetime of yelling yourself hoarse cheering for the Fighting Irish, years of listening to your grandparents trace the family tree back to the Famine or the last few months spent trying to get tickets to the Notre Dame-Navy game in Dublin, Ireland has likely lodged itself into some aspect of your life.
Like so many Notre Dame students and alumni, I come from an Irish-American family and always dreamed of visiting the beautiful, culturally rich island, which led me to reject language immersion in Toledo in favor of a year of studying English and history in Dublin.
As an aspiring writer looking for new material, my time abroad was a pot of gold. My awkward introduction to my quick-talking Irish roommate and her friends, most of whom I could barely understand at first, set the pace for the rest of the year.
I was to experience a great deal of confusion and laughter learning about Ireland through interactions with the Irish themselves. Failures of communication thanks to slang, near-disastrous tanning dilemmas and nights out on the town made my experience that much more memorable.
If you’ve always wanted to learn about Ireland but never got beyond the Hollywood stereotypes and lush greenery, it’s your lucky day. Check back each Tuesday and Thursday for sneak peeks into Irish culture, travel tips and study abroad stories leading up to the ND-Navy game in Dublin on Sept. 1. Slainte!
Meg Morrison ‘13 spent her junior year at Trinity College Dublin through Notre Dame’s Office of International Studies Dublin program. She is the magazine’s summer and fall intern. Contact her at mmorri12@nd.edu