By Tanner Adomaitis, Staff Writer
Originally Published March 19, 2024
Over the week of Spring break, Saturday, March 2 through Sunday, March 10, Dr. Dennis McDaniel, Associate Professor of English, took his Literary Dublin class to Ireland where they were immersed in the rich culture of the country.
Junior Marketing major Nolan Casey and sophomore History major Isabella Jolly both cited a desire to visit Ireland as a key motivator to take the class.
“I originally saw the class advertised in a flyer on the door of the post office and I was waiting for a chance to go to Ireland sometime in my life, so it caught my eye,” Casey said.
Jolly also cited an interest in reading literature surrounding Dublin itself as a motivator and enjoyed the overlap between literature and history that the class presented.
“We did a lot of walking tours based off the authors we read and got to see a lot of historical markers because of it. We visited several museums - my personal favorite was the Chester Beatty Library behind Dublin Castle, which has a huge collection of scripture from different religions,” Jolly said. “But we also got to explore a lot of Dublin ourselves and immerse ourselves with the culture and the people around us. It was a great experience and many of the locals were very sweet!”
Both Casey and Jolly stated that their favorite part of the trip was visiting Sligo and the countryside where they visited Ben Bullben and neighboring cities and places that inspired the poems of W. B. Yeats.
“My favorite part had to be the Yeats tour. We were immersed in nature for most of it, and it was gorgeous,” Jolly said. “We visited Ben Bullben and it was beautiful. I would have climbed it if they let me.”
Casey also emphasized the beauty of nature.
“The countryside was beautiful. So much of the countryside had stone-built structures from naturally found stone,” she said. “You can see how people used to divide land and see old structures like towers. You really get a sense of an old country and culture that predates you but in harmony with nature.”
The planned tours and locations coincided with literature that was read in the class, and both Casey and Jolly stated that the exposure to and discussion of the literature helped prepare them for the tours and allowed them to have greater insight into what they learned while in Ireland. The class will also be presenting on their trip and what they learned at the 2024 Academic Conference.
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