The Irish Experience

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Welcome to the Irish Experience, a summer travel program for North American high school students who want to experience Ireland by hiking its countryside, exploring its cities, and studying its rich history and celebrated literature while earning high school credits.
	Accommodation	Cultural Visits	Travel Package
Over a four-week period the students will be based in the beautiful university town of Cork in the South of Ireland. They will attend classes on the picturesque campus of University College Cork, where they will study in an informal and relaxed atmosphere. A weekend will be spent in vibrant Dublin, one of the oldest capital cities in Europe with one of the youngest populations; almost 50% of the city's people are under 25 years old. Many historic figures and giants of the literary world have made Ireland their home and we will retrace their footsteps in our daily tours. Part of the program is spent in Galway City during the Galway International Arts Festival. With its colourful parade and exciting street theatre and music, Galway has been a favourite of students in the past. The students will experience a sense of Irish history and culture through guided tours to sites of historical, cultural, literary and aesthetic interest from street performers to Norman Castles, from prehistoric burial sites to Viking Adventures. Several evenings will be spent enjoying the music, dance and general 'craic' which is such a prominent part of Irish life" Staying at well appointed ensuite single-bedroomed student apartments on the University campus, students will have the opportunity to meet young people of many different nationalities. The students will be based on the campus of University College Cork, and on the campus of University College Galway. The students will have the use of the university facilities including the excellent Boole library where they will be able to access the internet for research and communication purposes (See Courses Offered). Although it is the second city of the Irish Republic, Cork has a much smaller population of 250,000 people and a more compact city centre. At the same time it offers all the facilities and amenities of a bustling modern city. An old city, originating as a monastic settlement, there are many beautiful buildings and quays. A university city, it has a very lively social scene and night life with many quaint pubs and cafés.

Traditional Irish music is alive and well in Cork city and can be heard most nights in some of the pubs in the city centre. There are several theaters in the city with the Cork Opera House and the Everyman Palace Theatre the more prominent. A visit to one of these will be part of our itinerary as will visits to some of the scenes described in the works of some of the city’s famous writers such as Frank O’Connor and Sean O’Faolain. Cork is also the gateway to the beautiful south-west part of Ireland and we will be taking in all the sights of West Cork and Kerry including Kinsale, Bantry, Glengarriffe, the Healy Pass, the Lakes of Killarney and the Ring of Kerry.

The students will spend a weekend in Dublin, the capital of Ireland. One of the oldest cities in Europe (it celebrated its millennium in 1988), Dublin is full of history. Students will see evidence of its Viking founders in the Wood Quay area; our visit to Christchurch Cathedral will give us a taste of Medieval Dublin, and we will see the remnants of the period of British rule by visiting its administrative centre at Dublin Castle. We will also be visiting the General Post Office on O’Connell Street where the Easter Rising broke out in 1916. A visit to Kilmainham Gaol, the set of the movie In the Name of the Father will bring us to the execution site of the 1916 rebels. Dublin has produced many writers and many others made the city their home. James Joyce is probably the greatest of these and we will be visiting the Joyce Tower. Joyce spent a short time living in this Martello tower and his most famous book Ulysses opens there. We will also be visiting the Joyce Centre in Trinity College. No visit to Trinity College, nor indeed to Dublin, would be complete without viewing the famous Book of Kells painstakingly written by Irish monks during the middle ages.
The movement for Irish independence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the founding of the Irish National Theater which has since produced the finest works of Irish dramatists. Students will attend an evening at the theater, now affectionately referred to as "the Abbey". With the youngest population of any European capital (almost 50% of the population is under 25 years), Dublin is also one of the most exciting and this can be seen in the fashion, the music and the attitudes of the people. The shops and boutiques in the city centre are unmatched anywhere. Everywhere in Dublin there is magic. We will also attend an inter-county hurling or football game. The 2006 groups attended the Leinster final between counties Kilkenny and Wexford, a colorful and exciting event.

The final week will be spent in Galway City. Galway, on the west coast, is a small but beautiful city. We will be there during the annual Galway Arts Festival when the city comes alive with street theatre, street markets and entertainers of all descriptions. Only minutes away from the Connemara Gaeltacht (Gaelic speaking area), Galway has a rich tradition of Irish traditional music and theater. While there we will get a sample of both with a visit to Siamsa and the Druid Theatre. Galway is also the gateway to beautiful, beautiful Connemara and the West of Ireland. From Galway we will visit the towering, awe-inspiring Cliffs of Moher in Co. Clare and Coole Park, the source of the inspiration for W.B. Yeats' greatest poems. During our stay in Galway we will witness the spectacular Macnas (Gaelic for fools) Parade. All of our students have agreed that it was the most colorful and imaginative parade they had ever seen.

Accommodation
	In Cork, students will have their own en-suite room in top class four bed-roomed student apartments on the university campus, which is within walking distance of the city centre. They will be provided with breakfast and evening meal each day. Each apartment complex has a kitchen/living room with cable tv,. Laundry facilities are also available.
	In Galway City, the students will stay in well appointed apartments in Corrib village on the campus of University College Galway.
While in Dublin, the students will stay at Jacobs hostel in the city centre. Breakfast and supper will also be provided at the hostel. The stay at the hostel provides students with exposure to other non-Irish cultures as students and young people from many other countries stay there.

Cultural visits to places of literary, historic and cultural interest have included:
Trinity College Dublin library which houses the famous Book of Kells The Joyce tower in Sandycove, County Dublin The Abbey Theatre in Dublin The Irish Writers Museum in Dublin Kilmainham Gaol in Dublin Dublin Castle Malahide Castle in County Dublin Glengarriffe in West Cork Tour of Cork Harbour in Cork Kinsale in County Cork Galway City The Galway Arts Festival Coole Park in County Galway Kylemore Abbey in Connemara Killarney Lakes in County Kerry The Burren in County Clare The Neolithic burial site at Newgrange, County Meath The Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland The Blarney Stone Rock of Cashel in Tipperary An Inter-county hurling game Ceol Interactive Irish Music Centre Hot Press Irish Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Several Irish Music Sessions in Cork and Galway

Depart from Canada	Depart from the U.S.A.
CAN$4,995.00 (out of Toronto)	US$4,595.00 (out of New York and Boston)
	US$4,795.00 (out of Chicago)
	US$4,995.00 (out of Los Angeles)

The package includes:

Return airfare to Ireland from Toronto, New York, Boston, Chicago or Los Angeles.
Breakfast and dinner daily.
Weekends in Dublin.
After school field trips.
Entrance fees to all venues on field trips.
Full day Saturday coach excursions.
Visits to the Theatre.
Use of sports and recreational facilities.
Instruction by certified teachers and instructors.
All texts and classroom materials.
Guides.
Guest Lecturers.
Traditional music evenings.
Week at the Galway Arts Festival.

Does not include:

Lunches.
Airport taxes and air surcharges.
Cancellation and Health Insurance.

A non-refundable deposit of CAD $750.00 per person plus optional CAD $337.00 insurance premium, payable, by cheque or money order or credit card to Kemptville Travel Ltd.
An additional $1000, payable by cheque or money order, is due on January 31, 2007 or thereafter; 30 days after acceptance into program. One half the balance is due April 1, 2007. The balance, payable by cheque or money order, is due May 1, 2007. Students who register after those dates must pay the amount due when they apply. Non-Canadian students will be charged the USD fee.