An encounter with a survivor of “The Troubles” makes a big impact on students during study abroad in Ireland.
– Alex Stewart, SPC Student, Ireland Program, May 2019
I’ve always loved learning about people and observing how a culture can shape someone’s worldview. With the help of a Study Abroad scholarship, I was able to go to Ireland with Dr. Liebert’s class to study the “Sociology of Social Problems.”
We spent the first few days in Dublin, one of Ireland’s largest cities. In a lot of ways, I was reminded of Tampa and St. Pete. The buildings were sky-high and jaw-dropping after dark, when all the assorted lights and neon signs could really shine. We toured Trinity College, swapped stories with our tour guide, and noticed differences between U.S. and Irish colleges in terms of the degrees offered and the transition to college. In Dublin, we also learned about Ireland’s strong sense of community and family. In a lot of ways, the Troubles (as the Northern Ireland Conflict is called) unified people as much as it segregated them. It was really intriguing to see which parts of history made the greatest impact in shaping modern Dublin.
Photo by yeowatzup, Wikimedia Commons [CC BY 2.0].
Our next stop was in Derry, or Londonderry, depending on which side you were on. Derry had some of the biggest markers of The Troubles. We had the pleasure of speaking with a live witness of the day known as “Bloody Sunday,” on which soldiers fired on protesters. He drew us in with his impactful personal account of his experience fleeing from the gunshots and how the event had fractured his life. In the present day, Eammon Baker devotes his time to helping those on both sides of the conflict learn to love and accept one another in the hope of completely reuniting Ireland. Of everywhere we went, Derry made the deepest impact.
Our final days were spent in Belfast, which was comparable to Dublin, but had a very different atmosphere.
Overall, this trip was enlightening and memorable. I’m so grateful to have gotten this scholarship to make it all happen.
– Alex Stewart, SPC Student, Ireland Program, May 2019
Thank you for sharing Alex!
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Cover image: Grafton Street, Dublin (cropped). By Donaldytong, Wikimedia Commons [CC BY-SA 3.0].