Where worlds collide:

STUDY ABROAD

IRISH PUB ETIQUETTE

SHOPPING IN DUBLIN

SAIrelandStudy Abroad

A little guide to

Best tips

Contents Why should you study abroad?by Lauren Kellems

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Who’s the toughest of them all?by Hannah Wallingsford

Where Worlds Collide

by Trey Thorne

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A Little Guide to Irish Pub Etiquetteby Erica Wright

Frank Vaughan Returns Homeby Tiffany Looman

Musical Macgyuer and Jessie’s Bowby Debbie van Tuyll

Tips for the Best Shopping in Dublinby Melissa Tyler

Busking on Grafton Streetby Joanna Ordonez

The Band of Merry Travelers Were

9/11 and the Irish Tattoo Connectionby Erica Wright

Where to Stay and What to Seeby Taylor Helms

Living the High Life in an Irish Castleby Joanna Ordonez

Why should you study abroad?by Lauren Kellems

Will Pollock: Photographer, Writer, Mentorby Sara Tafazoli

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Journalsim: Ireland’s

‘Vintage Glam’ Profession

by Lauren Kellems

Who’s the toughest of them all?by Hannah Wallingsford

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Visual Storytellingby Andre Yandow, Sara Tafazoli and Amy Hunter

Faculty Adviser

Lauren Kellems, Tiffany Looman, Joanna Ordonez, Trey Thorne, Taylor Helms, Erica Wright, Sara Tafazoli,

Melissa Tyler, Hannah Wallingsford, Debbie van Tuyll

Debbie van Tuyll

Writers

Drew Hall, Taylor Helms, Lauren Kellems, Karleigh King,Tiffany Looman, Amanda McBride, Joanna Ordonez,

Stuart Prather, Joseph Reis, BriAnne Russ, Sara Tafazoli, Hannah Wallingsford, Elizabeth Wendling, Andre Yandow

Photographers

Gwendolyn Bagley, Laura Starnes, Carnella Wiley, Allegra Blair, Daniel Browning, Katherine Dyches,

Jessica Hanson, Tanaisha Hawkins, Eva Hollingsworth, Amy Hunter, Richie Iannacone, Chad July, Kayla King,

Victoria Lindqvist, Raven Norris, Andrew Tarr, Trey Thorne

Designers

Gwendolyn Bagley, Laura Starnes, Carnella Wiley,

Art Directors

Students who study abroad are ad-venturers at heart. They willingly go

places where they don’t know anyone, where maybe they don’t even speak the language and where the customs are strange. Some relish the opportunity to in-sinuate themselves into a new culture. Others hang back, put off by rudi-mentary plumbing, unfamiliar foods or what they perceive as the weird attitudes of the natives. A handful are ready to head back home just as soon as the plane touches down, and very often, these are the ones who most re-gret having to go home at the end of the trip. The students who traveled to Ireland in 2012 with my colleagues Pam Hay-ward, Carl Purdy, Hubert van Tuyll,

and me included some of my most adventurous students yet. Five were not even Augusta State students. They were transients from Georgia’s Brenau University and Virginia’s Christopher Newport University. Three were community adults who were game enough to want to experi-ence Ireland with a horde of college students, just to get a chance to explore family roots or serve as a mentor to young professionals. Some of the adventures contributed to the creation of a cohesive group and to the creation of friendships that have continued across time and distance. For several students, hostel life was just too adventurous, as you’ll see hinted at in Taylor Helms’s article on where to stay in Ireland.

Other adventures, such as learning about pub culture, the students em-braced, as Erica Wright relates in her story of pub etiquette. Even the faculty had adventures, such as Carl Purdy’s quest for a way to refurbish a rapidly disintegrating violin bow. The stories in this magazine re-count memories and experiences that ultimately culminated in the greatest adventure of all -- the chance to gain a bit of self-knowledge as a result of learning about others in other places. I hope you enjoy reading about our Irish adventures!

Debbie van TuyllProfessor of Communications

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By Lauren KellemsLayout contributor Carnela Wiley

“Studying abroad may be that defining moment in your education that will change your life. Nothing will be quite the same after you have studied abroad. Your perspectives will be global, your attitudes will be international and you will have memories that you will carry forever.” –As quoted on the Augusta State University Study Abroad webpage

Why should you

When Trey Thorne, 23, an Au-gusta State University Commu-

nications and Spanish double major, first decided to study abroad, he was open-minded, excited, and not one bit nervous despite his lack of travel ex-perience. “I had never been out of the south-eastern United States,” says Thorne, remembering his first journey abroad, “but I had always wanted to.” Thorne has now completed three study abroad programs and is plan-ning another for summer 2013. He says Study Abroad has been among his best collegiate experiences. Da’Osha Pack, account manager at the Study Abroad Department, says most students are like Thorne: they’ve never traveled too far from home be-fore their first Study Abroad.. Given the military presence in Au-gusta, Pack said she’d expect more stu-dents to have wide travel experiences. Her mother served in the military, which gave Pack the opportunit to live in Germany. She says living abroad gave her a better sense of other people, as well as of herself. “We tend to have egocentric views,” said Da’Osha, “but learning to appre-ciate others can help us to appreciate our own lives, too.” Because some of GRU’s finest have never left the CSRA, and because trav-eling abroad…alone…and for a long time…(yikes!) can seem nearly as in-timidating as playing a round of golf with the Jaguar men’s two-time nation-al champion golf team (double yikes!), the Study Abroad Office helps stu-dents prepare for their trips so they’ll have positive epxeriences like Thorne’s. Maybe you’re worried that your cat will miss you if you leave the country for a semester, but most study abroad trips are much shorter than that; many last less than a month and some only a few days. Your feline friend will be just fine and probably won’t even no-tice you’re gone, so long as you ask a neighbor to freshen up his litter box once or twice while you’re away. Perhaps you want to study abroad but you are nervous about attending a foreign university or college. No problem! GRU sponsors its own trips abroad, meaning you can take GRU courses from GRU professors with other GRU students and come back

with some new GRU friends and those wonderfully invaluable GRU credits. Even freshmen shouldn’t be appre-hensive about participating in a study abroad trip (or several, like Thorne and other repeat customers of the pro-gram). One rising freshman joined Thorne on the excursion to Ireland. Erin Russ, a 2012 Lakeside High School gradu-ate, says she feels more prepared for college because of it. “I had the most independence…it boosted my confidence [knowing] that if I can manage [interacting] with strangers of many ages in a foreign country, I can handle some 18-, 19-, and 20-year-old faces in college,” said Russ. Russ, 17 at the time of the trip, even says that spending so much time with older students, some of whom are married with children of their own, was initially a daunting idea. But this became one of the greatest experiences she could ask for. Russ even missed her own high school graduation, opt-ing to spend graduation day instead with these strangers-turned-friends in a crowded hostel in Cashel, Ireland. “It was so worth it! I would rather be exploring a new country and culture and having fun overseas than sitting in a two-hour formal ceremony, of which I take up thirty seconds,” said Russ. She did add that it was “kind of a bummer” that she missed her friends’ graduation parties, but says her class-mates and professors in Ireland threw a celebration on what was to be her graduation day in her honor. Over-all, Russ says studying abroad was a wonderful experience, and she plans to travel again in the near future. “I’ve caught the travel bug!” said Russ. Jake Mace, a 24-year-old master’s degree candidate, was also studying abroad for the first time on this trip. He says he made great friends and great memories, essentially earning credit while having a great time. “It’s crazy how quickly we all be-came friends,” said Mace. “When you’re all immersed in something for the first time, you bond over it.” Mace says Da’Osha and the study abroad staff was especially helpful in the selection of his trip. “I knew I wanted to go to Ireland,”

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said Mace. “But there were three Ire-land programs, and they helped me decide which one was best for me.” One thing Mace does regret is not planning far enough in advance to take advantage of the department’s many fundraising opportunities to offset the trip’s expense. The study abroad office holds an annual Yankee candle sale, a raffle drawing, and even awards scholarships to most students meeting the GPA re-quirement. Individual study abroad programs may host their own fundraisers to fund their specific trip. Even not having much financial help, he says the trip was worth the relatively low cost. In fact, Jake’s biggest complaint about the whole experience is his lack of abil-ity to sleep late due to all of the pre-planned escapades he and his class-mates undertook. Touché, Jake. Thorne, our seasoned study abroadveteran, knows a thing or two about paying for trips with fundraisers and scholarships. His advice: “Apply for everything.” Aside from the GRU study abroad scholarships (which, by the way, involve a very simple applica-tion process), apply for outside help. Search online for scholarships specifi-cally for studying abroad—they’re out there. Pack says the study abroad staff not only helps students select their pro-grams and pay for them, they also host fairs, orientations, preparedness classes, and even offer personal advice. The study abroad website also features helpful information for travelers as well

as their worried parents, and is supple-mented by a Facebook page. “The orientation really helped me,” says Mace, “because I really didn’t know what to expect. Then I got to Ireland, and there weren’t too many big surprises. We covered it pretty well in our meetings before we left.” The one thing that may come as a surprise is the level at which students who are studying abroad are able to interact with their professors. “It doesn’t matter how many classes you take with a certain professor,” says Thorne, “you always learn something new about them when you’re traveling together. You’re meeting them on an-other level.” Those types of interactions with professors, classmates, and even strang-ers are beneficial and marketable when you’re applying for a job in the future. Many employers lookfor new hires who are versatile and adaptable. By list-

ing your study abroad experience on your resume, you are demonstrating your ability to succeed in a new envi-ronment, as well as your willingness to seek out new experiences. Pack adds that being able to inter-act with people from a culture differ-ent from your own teaches you how to deal with an evolving and diverse workplace. GRU’s Career Center can help you after your flight lands back in the States with advice on how to incorporate your experience correctly and efficiently into your resume. After all, as Pacl said, and as thorne and Mace would agree, you have to earn those GRU credits anyway. You might as well do it while having the experience of a lifetime. If you’re any-thing like Trey, studying abroad is similar to seeing the ASU basketball team win the Peach Belt Conference title—you may do it again and again, but it never gets old. d

Jake Mace, left, and Lauren Kellems, directly across, wait out a layover at JFK Airport in New York. Trey Thorne, right top, and Karleigh King, right bottom, contemplate their trip.

Students at afternoon tea at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. (Courtesy of Shannon King)

Sylvia Allen, left, Shannon King and Joanna Ordoñez pose on a visit to Dub-lin suburb Howth, with bus driver Mick Flynn, who dedicated three weeks with our group. (Photo courtesy of Shannon King)

Accommodations options abound in Ireland. The most affordable option is a hostel such as the Cashel Holidy Hostel where the group stayed. Castles, such as Cabra Castle, another stop for the group, are an expensive but luxurious option. Mid-ranged accommodations are available at hotels. such as Logues in Ballyvaughan, or B&Bs.

By Taylor Helms

Choosing the right place to stay when traveling can be one of the

most daunting parts of planning a trip. Price and quality of accomadations are common concerns, but also, when you finally reach your destination, after all the hassles of traveling, you want to relax. Choosing the right place to stay with the amenities you want can make or break a vacation or travel experience. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when booking accommodations abroad that will help save you money: 1. Research, Research, Research. Know the area. 2. Search in residential areas rather than touristy places. 3. Be sure to find out what is in-cluded in the cost. 4. Share rooms whenever possible. The internet is the first place many turn when researching where to stay. The internet lists the mainstream ac-commodations as well as those that are hidden treasures off the beaten path. Travel blogs and guidebooks are two great places to turn to if you want to find quaint places that will offer a great-er more personal international travel experience. When traveling abroad one of the most important parts of research is finding out what other travelers have to say about the places you may be con-sidering. TripAdvisor is a great website that features places to stay located all over the world. Many of the places that you may be considering to stay in are prob-ably on TripAdvisor. This website is amazing. Actual customers who have stayed at hostels and hotels write the reviews. You can upload pictures and see all of the comments and reviews left by other guests. This can be particularly

Layout constributor: Calvin Cooke

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helpful when you are traveling outside of the United States. Rick Steves, an experienced Europe-an travel writer, advises that hotel rat-ings and prices in Europe are based on hotel amenities, not room quality. One thing to keep in mind is the room type. This tells you the bed configuration, amenities, and the maximum price. The twin beds vs. a double bed or a shower vs. a bath tub can be the differ-ence in €50. Finding suitable accommodations abroad can sometimes be more chal-lenging than here in the United States. The best research on places to stay when traveling is always going to be the actual experience. If you are travel-ing abroad however, you are probably not going to be able to visit the places you would like to stay before you ac-tually stay there. Thank goodness for Google, TripAdvisor and other inter-net sites that assist us with research. I recently traveled to Ireland for a study abroad trip with Augusta State University to cram a few more classes under my belt. While school was the main purpose of my trip, it was also a vacation for me. After all, not everyone gets to go to Ireland during summer break. Our trip to Ireland was planned by the Study Abroad coordinator, so we did not have to deal with the stress-es of organizing a trip across the big pond. The trip coordinator chose the places that we stayed in large part due to cost, but she also tried to balance budget accommodations with a little bit of luxury. Consequently, we stayed in a variety of places including hotels, a castle, a hostel and a bed & breakfast. It was great to able to experience staying in all types of places. Melissa Tyler, a senior at Augusta State University, said “Staying in such a variety of places on my study abroad trip was a great experience that added to my first international trip.” In Ennis, Ireland, we stayed at the Old Ground Hotel, a leading 4-star ac-commodation. The building is an old manor house that can be dated back to the 1700s. Inside you will find the warmth of home infused with the luxury of a 4-star hotel. The staff is very friendly and welcoming, which matches the

warmth given by the wood burning fireplace. The Old Ground Hotel features many rooms that start at €85 and go all the way up to €209. The hotel also serves a full Irish breakfast, which con-sists of bacon rashers, sausage, fried eggs, white and black pudding, a fried tomato and toast. They also offer dif-ferent packages and deals that include longer stays and dinners. The Old Ground Hotel is located in the heart of historic Ennis and is situ-ated perfectly for access to restaurants, bars and shopping. The Cashel Holiday Hostel in Cashel, Ireland, was our second stop. It is located on John Street and pro-vides room and board for people on a strict budget. The hostel’s rates range from €17 a night for a shared room that could sleep up to 10 to €40 for a private room for a single guest. Hostels are very basic and are great-for college students who need an in-expensive place to stay. In Rick Steves’ “Tips for Sleeping in Europe,” he mentions that hostels were originally

for hikers and bikers but today this is not always the case. He also tells travel-ers to expect very humble conditions. This hostel does have a self-catering kitchen open for all guests, Wi-Fi in the common room, laundry facilities, central heating, 24-hour showers, bath-rooms on each floor, and secure park-ing. Some rooms are even en suite. This hotel was in a 250-year old Georgian building, and we we first ar-rived, they were having problems with water storage units on top of the build-ing. This meant we quickly ran out of hot water on our first morning there, but they had the problem fixed by the end of the day and we had hot water again. P. J. Quinlan, the hostel owner, and his staff, were extremely accommodat-ing. They provided transportation to tourist sites for some of us, and even invited a couple of students out to Quinlan’s farm for an afternoon. Cashel Holiday Hostel is located right in the middle of town on a quiet side street. Cashel is a small quaint town, but there are quite a few things

Top left: This ancient burial spot is at Carrowmore Neolithic Cemetery in Co. Sligo; Bottom left: Blarney Castle; Bottom right: Relics of the past, such as this replica of St. Brendan’s boat, are another must-see on any trip. St. Bendan was a 6th century Irish monk who is reputed to have found North America about a thousand years before Colum-bus.

to do. Cashel is a great town to stop in for the night and spend the day visiting the Rock of Cashel, Hoare Abbey, and the Bolton Library. While in Cashel, I also had the op-portunity to stay at Peggy O’Neill’s Bed & Breakfast just off the main street. Peggy O’Neill’s has been in operation for 13 years. O’Neill and her husband picked out the site for a private home and then decided to make it into a ed & breakfast because of the wonderful location. Out of every place I stayed in in Ireland, this was my favorite. I would recommend Peggy and Jim to anyone. Their place was warm and inviting. It was also extremely clean and beauti-fully decorated. This bed & breakfast was everything you think of when you think of a warm Irish welcome. Jim O’Neill cooks a full Irish break-fast every morning. All you have to do is tell him what time you want it. A full Irish breakfast is a perk you will benefit from staying in many of the B&Bs in Ireland. Peggy O’Neill, owner of Peggy O’Neill’s Bed & Breakfast, explained that, “The reason we are so successful with customer satisfaction is because that is our main priority.” She also went on to say, “Many of the bigger hotels and chains are all about profit and how many rooms they fill, not necessarily the individual staying overnight.” The O’Neill’s pet boxer, Daisy, even made us feel welcome. The whole family became our friends, not just a friendly face you see once at check-in. They even threw us a BBQ on our last night with them. This is just one of the many exam-ples of their wonderful Irish hospitality. Bed and breakfasts like the O’Neill’s typically cost €30 to €45 per person shared room and €40 and up per per-son for a single room. I also had the awesome opportunity to stay in Cabra Castle right outside of Kingscourt, Ireland. A castle, you ask? Yes, a real castle. How could we afford this as college students? Well the Cabra Castle’s rates weren’t any higher than other hotels we stayed in. Their rooms are around €100 per night. They have a variety of rooms to choose from, so this rate will vary accordingly. Castle rooms, court-yard rooms and cottage rooms are all

available, depending on what you pre-fer. The grounds were beautiful as well as the castle itself. Walking through the front door, I felt like a queen as I was greeted by the property’s Irish wolfhound, Oscar. The period décor and furnishings made me feel as if I was actually staying there during the time of kings and queens. The dining rooms were absolutely splendid, and the patio was a wonder-ful place to have a few drinks as we watched the sunset. The grounds also feature a 9-hole golf course and tennis courts at no charge to guests. Horse-back riding, fishing, archery and clay pigeon shooting are also offered at a nearby site just down the road. The rooms were great, food was ex-cellent and the atmosphere was perfect. Steves points out in one of his travel guidebooks that many of the places you can stay in Europe are as memo-rable as the sights you’ll see. This is incredibly true with Cabra Castle. Accommodations in bigger cities such as Dublin are a little harder to decide on, due to the fact that cities are larger and offer much more choice in accommodations. There are dozens and dozens of places to stay, ranging from hostels to the grandest of hotels. Once again, location, amenities and price are the top three things to con-sider when choosing the perfect place for you. The Arlington Hotel O’Connell Bridge, where we stayed while in the capital city, is right in the middle of the city and has great amenities and rates. As you walk out of the front door of the hotel, the Liffey River is right in front of you. Behind the hotel are O’Connell Street and Henry Street, two of the most visited streets in Dublin. Why you ask? Shopping is the answer. If you cross the bridge right in front of the hotel and walk for about a mile, you will run into Grafton Street, an-other main shopping area in town. On Henry Street, people are likely to find deals and make bargains. Grafton Street, however, has more of the high-end department stores and boutiques. The Arlington Hotel also has a love-ly restaurant and bar downstairs with

live music many nights of the week. One thing I would recommend is getting a fan from the front desk as soon as you check in. Like many places in Ireland, the hotel does not have air conditioning. Usually Ireland is cool, and it is not needed, but when I had the opportunity to stay here, Ireland had a very unusual warm front come through and trust me, you would have wanted a fan. The Arlington Hotel features many deals on rates based on age, season and time of the week you will be staying. Rates can range anywhere from €50 to €188 per night. Another great thing about the hotel is Wi-Fi. It’s every-where; this can be especially important to young people and also to traveling business people. In many places in Europe, includ-ing Ireland, hotels, hostels and bed & breakfasts are willing to make deals. They will many times lower their rates if there is a larger number of guests staying or if you plan to stay for more than two or three days. Of course, room sharing in hostels is expected, and if you only need a room for a night or two, hostels are great ways to shave a good chunk off of your costs. Sharing rooms is a big thing in Europe. Reader’s Digest recommends booking double occupancy because sharing a room is another great way to save on accommodations. You may be able to get a lower price if you’re in a room with another per-son. Rates at hotels and bed & break-fasts can also be discounted for sharing a room. Depending on the season and the economy, many establishments will work with you on pricing if you stay for a longer time. When I stayed at the bed and breakfast in Cashel, we made were able to get a lower price because we were staying for six nights. So, whether you book your inter-national trip yourself or use a travel agency, do your research, look outside of the tourist areas, know what is in-cluded and share your rooms. Just re-member that an international getaway doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg if you plan carefully! d

Where worlds col l i de

The Lincoln Memorail (left) and a view into an Irish garden (right).

By Trey Thorne

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Studying abroad:

Layout contributors Laura Starnes and Trey Thorne

What has been your greatest life experience so far? For some, it

may be a high school senior trip or a family vacation to California or the Bahamas. If you’re a military child, perhaps your family was stationed in Germany or South Korea. One group of Augusta State stu-dents can chalk up their Ireland ex-perience in May 2012 as one for the books. This trip began May 14, 2012, at Hartsfield-Jackson International Air-port in Atlanta. A total of 34 students and professors gathered at a terminal on the tail end of the building. Some were eating, some were mingling and some were doing their best to get com-fortable for a nap. We had a layover at JFK International in New York before crossing the Atlantic. For anyone who has never been on a plane, think of a charter bus without the bumpy road, then add smaller win-dows, more bathrooms and occasional food. If this does not sound appealing enough, consider also that trans-Atlan-tic flights also offer a wide variety of movies and music on personal in-flight screens, and for those of a certain age -- adult libations as well. Five hours after takeoff, the plane landed in Shannon, a small town on the west coast of Ireland. It was 7:30 a.m. on May 15. Everyone sat in the lobby, waiting on our bus driver Mick Flynn, who has been in the business for the past three decades. As soon as he arrived, everyone packed their lug-gage under the bus and hopped on board. No turning back and no regrets; we were in Ireland! For those who are unfamiliar with Ireland, it is a small, parrot-shaped is-land located off the west coast of Eng-lan. On a map, it is level with Canada, whereas Georgia is level with North Africa and Spain. Needless to say, the weather is a bit cooler in May; imagine early springtimelate winterpollen. Mick first took us to Limerick, a city about thirty minutes away from Shannon. This beautiful river town is perhaps most famous for coining an AABBA style of rhyme that is named after it -- the limerick. Once Flynn made his rounds through Limerick, he took the bus to a site called Craggaunowen. This liv-ing history museum chronicles what

Where worlds col l i de

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life was like in pre-historic and early Christian Ireland. The most impressive feature of the museum is its castle with a bulky stone tower covered in ivy. Though officially called a “castle,” it is not the kind of castle in most people think of. Rather a somewhat large stone house erected in Medieval times. However, in typical castle fashion, the perimeter does in-clude defenses such as arrow slits and a “murder hole,” a foyer with a hollowed ceiling through which inhabitants would dump boiling oils and flaming arrows and large rocks onto intruders. Another characteristic that makes this “castle” a misnomer to common perception, though accururate to what a castle actually was, is the absence of lavish adornments. Instead of being an extravagant dwelling with wide hall-ways, bright colors, tassels and chan-deliers, there are but four main rooms that functioned mostly as gathering rooms and bedchambers. By the time English conquerer Oli-ver Cromwell came to Craggaunowen in the 1650s, the place had fallen into ruin. There it sat, a bucolic derelict until the 1820s when a man named Thomas Steele renovated it as his sum-mer retreat. The castle continued to pass through the hands of its owners until 1965 when buyer John Hunt re-built it with the intent to preserve a piece of Ireland’s very detailed past. Beyond the castle, Craggaunowen features a primitive historical struc-ture called a crannog. These small, man-made islands were built out of hardened, tightly-packed mud called peat and fortified with sharpened tree trunks. A long, sturdy bridge was the only access point onto the crannog and a guard tower overlooked the entrance. This tower not only served as the ideal scouting position, it also served as a murder hole as with the aforemen-tioned castle. The walls of the crannog sheltered a small community of thatched huts and a large fire pit. The fire that burned in this pit was likely fueled not by wood but by peat. Interestingly enough, peat is also used in the distilling process of Scotch whisky, thus giving it a bolder aroma than mellow Irish whiskey. Further on down from the crannog is a replica of St. Brendan’s boat. For-get what you learned in school about

Columbus first discovering North America, for it was actually an Irish-man. Our tour guide told us that St. Brendan the Navigator fashioned a boat out of wood, sheep hide, tar and mud and traversed the cold, unforgiv-ing waters of the Atlantic in the 5th century A.D. After seeing all there was to see at Craggaunowen, everyone hopped on board with Mick to leave. The bus eventually arrived in its destination of Ennis. In keeping with the smalltown atmosphere that seems to dominate most Irish settlements, a person could pass through the heart of everything here within about five minutes. For the next two days, everyone would be staying in the Old Ground Hotel. Though its name may be some-thing misleading, it was very well-kept and spacious with plush beds and free Wi-Fi. If that weren’t enough, it offered a delicious menu of complimentary breakfasts such as hearty oatmeal with honey and cream and a powerhouse meat plate called the “Irish breakfast.” The pub culture in Ireland is vastly different from the bars in America. Imagine a living room for the entire town to share. For one, most pubs of-fer small, hot meals. There is also a smoking ban throughout all of Ireland, thus the bars don’t reek of stale nico-

tine. To top things off, there are always some sort of traditional music ensem-bles, known locally as “trad bands,” playing on any given night. On the fourth day, we arrived in Cashel. Like Ennis, this is another small community you can easily walk through in a matter of minutes. Though not the Emerald Isle’s most famous town, it is one of the more significant in Irish culture. For instance, Guinness beer was first crafted in a place now known as the Cashel Palace Hotel. Cashel is also home to the epony-mous Rock of Cashel, a massive castle and cathedral perched atop a large hill just outside the town. Comparable to the Parthenon in Athens, it has long been a symbol of Irish history. Looming in the shadow of the Rock is a crumbling, overgrown site called Hore Abbey. In addition to its rustic beauty, legend tells of an underground safety tunnel that leads from the abbey to the Rock in case a quick escape from attackers is needed. Officially and a bit ironically, though, nobody has been able to locate this elusive escape route. Cashel has been newsworthy more recently. In 2011, Queen Elizabeth II visited Ireland, the first time an English monarch did so in 95 years. Locals will say her helicopter landed on a knoll upon the Rock of Cashel; in reality, she

Brianne Russ taking a photo at the Rock of Cashel to document her trip studying abroad in Ireland.

landed beneath the Rock in a field near Hore Abbey. Nonetheless, Cashel was the first place she set foot. But I know you’re wondering if we stayed in the place where Guinness was first made? Sadly no, although we were only half a block away in the Cashel Holiday Hostel. Forget everything you’ve seen in the movies; this place isn’t that bad. A little cramped, maybe, but not bad. A hostel, if anyone is curious, is like a minimal hotel. Guests share rooms with anywhere from four to twelve others, some of which share bath-rooms in the hallway. There is a living room downstairs, as well as a laundry room and a kitchen. This is where residents gather, giving them the opportunity to get to know the other guests. On Monday, May 21, we went on a walking tour of Cashel. Our first stop was the Cashel Folk Village, a virtual walk-in diorama of the country’s past. I noticed a stocky red carriage and a stone cross in the Village’s courtyard. This carriage, better known as a Tin-ker or Gypsy caravan, was the standard dwelling for Irish Travelers. About the same size as the interior of a minivan, the Traveler family who last used this caravan consisted of 14 members. As I approached the Celtic cross to the right of the caravan, I noticed an Irish harp carved into the crux. This cross and the surrounding garden pays homage to the 1916 Easter Rising. On the other side of the courtyard, I noticed murals and effigies that also commemorate the lives of Irishmen claimed during the Easter Rising. Be-yond that is a small building which displays artifacts recovered from the Irish Republican Army, who essen-tially organized the Easter Rising and the ensuing military campaigns. Imag-ine an Irish version of the American Continental Army, or the sans-culottes of the French Revolution. This small, albeit fascinating exhibi-tion housed such items as a full IRA uniform, artillery shells, individual pis-tols and munitions, flags and signage intended to rally Irish nationalists. After perusing every corner of this interesting roadside museum, the group gathered in the street and be-gan walking uphill towards the Rock of Cashel. The closer we got, the building

seemed to become even more pictur-esque. Somewhere amongst all our gawk-ing over the architecture and view of the surrounding area, the tour guide explained to us that Cashel was also witness to Ireland’s most significant cultural event. While the Irish have an historic reputation for being ardent Catholics, there was a time when Christianity was not in widespread national practice. The world has St. Patrick to thank for that. The story behind this is actually quite intriguing. According to our guide John, the shift in religion all started in the 5th century A.D. The Irish were all pagans. The southern province of Ireland, known as Munster, was under the rule of King Angus. At the time, Cashel had long served as the seat of power for Munster’s rulers. Enter Bishop Patricius, now canon-ized as St. Patrick. He arrived in Ireland to convert its people to Christianity. Patricius’s approach was quite practical: Convert those in power and the people will soon do the same. Though this is the official history, legend tells that St. Patrick was convert-ing locals to Christianity, and that Satan was flying high above with a rock called the Devil’s Bit in his mouth. Satan was so astonished by this mass conversion that he dropped the Devil’s Bit. Part of the stone landed in Cashel and soon became the Rock. Aside from bringing

A view of the Cashel countryside.

Christianity, St. Patrick is also credited with driving all snakes out of Ireland. Once Christianity had established a stronghold in Ireland, Carmac Cha-pel was constructed upon the Rock of Cashel in the 12th century. Its interior was painstakingly carved out of lime-stone and sandstone deposits. Though not as ornate as most Roman Cathe-drals, likenesses of gargoyles and bish-ops still grace the arches and jambs. Our tour guide noted that the site was a pagan sanctum in pre-Christian times. In fact, the gargoyles and bish-ops were originally pagan figures. A castle was built soon afterward and completed in the 1400s. There is also a bishop’s residence that has worn down over the ages, and in 1837, in an event known as the Night of Big Wind, a section of the residence fell off. A large piece of the original ma-sonry still lies there. Tuesday morning, we took the bus to Blarney Castle. Possibly the most fa-mous castle in Ireland, it houses the legendary Blarney Stone. If one were to ever imagine a castle in a land such as England or Ireland, Blarney might be the poster child. The castle itself sits atop a lone hill nestled among a small creek and a maze of billowing, flowery trees. Though Blarney has been uninhab-ited for centuries, its exhibits revealed what was once a well-guarded yet comfortable dwelling. The castle of-fered several different views of the lush

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Karleigh King cooks up some grub (left); Student, Jason Maynard gets caught in a piture while taking a picture (center); and student Melissa Tyler checks out her own shots.

hillsides, and the rooms not used as fortifications were large and spacious. The famous Blarney Stone is perched atop the bulwark of the castle. Allegedly, it was not part of the origi-nal design, but was eventually incorpo-rated into the structure as a tourist trap. Folklore declares that those who kiss the stone are given the “gift of gab,” or a talent for speaking. One fellow stu-dent of the program, 21-year-old Mar-risa Neal, swears it to be true, having been awarded for three different occa-sions of public speaking since visiting the Emerald Isle. Acrophobes have nothing to fear. Although tourists kissing the stone are suspended over a steep ledge, a steward at the top holds them securely. There are also safety rails winding up the staircase and along the bulwark.. Our last weekend in Ireland, we stayed at Cabra Castle, a picturesque replica of a castle which now serves as a four-star hotel. The castle is located seven miles outside the town limits of Kingscourt, which is roughly 45 miles away from Dublin on the east coast. Cabra could be considered the ar-chetypical castle. It is tucked away in the lush countryside; it sports keeps (round towers used for protection against invaders); and it has its own ghost story. During its heyday in the late 1700s,

the original castle was owned by a man with one daughter and two sons. One of his sons fell in love with a servant girl named Sarah. It goes without say-ing that this sort of romance, the kind between a servant and an heir to vast wealth, had to be kept a secret. And so began a story on par with Romeo and Juliet. Eventually, the couple married in secret. However, they decided to take things to the next level in their mar-riage. Months later, Sarah was preg-nant, and the secret was out. The castle inhabitants were in an outrage, as one could imagine. In their determination to quell this relationship, the family ordered Sarah to be mur-dered. According to folklore, she was taken from the servant quarters and brought into the nearby forest where she was hanged from a bridge over-looking a small creek. As the story goes, the cries of a baby are still heard on a quiet night. There is also rumor that Sarah’s ghost can be found wandering the castle grounds. Those not looking to get spooked should not worry, as there is more to this lavish, world-class hotel. Ameni-ties include: plush bedding; private baths with adjustable water tempera-ture; a sprawling golf course that offers breathtaking views of the countryside and the castle itself; a gorgeous lobby

and parlors decorated with vintage portraiture, mirrors, chandeliers and statuettes; a restaurant that offers an extensive menu to suit all tastes; and a well-stocked bar downstairs with access to a sunset patio. Monday morning, everyone was gathered in the dining hall eating break-fast. We enjoyed one last huge meal in this beautiful castle. Afterwards, the men of the group fit everyone’s lug-gage tightly in the bus’ undercarriage, and everybody paid their last respects to Oscar, Cabra’s friendly Irish Wolf-hound, and the castle itself. Our first stop on this bus ride would be an ancient burial site called New-grange. Like many points of interest in Ireland, this large mound is tucked away in rolling emerald hills, hidden from highways and heavy traffic routes. Archaeologists date the tomb at Newgrange to be 5000 years old. Sim-ply put, this site was around before the Great Pyramids at Giza were even thought up. The statistics of this mound are fascinating. For starters, its builders gathered large stones uphill from long distances in a time before horses or the wheel. According to our tour guide, the estimated weight of the building is 250,000 tons, or 500 million pounds. But perhaps the most interesting thing about this mound is its “roof

Student, Hannah Wallingsford kissing the Blarnet Stone.

box,” a small, square hollow that sits above the entrance. Although this hole begins over the heads of visitors, the hill’s very gradual incline guides them upward towards the main chamber. By the time they have reached this very small room, the ground level is higher than that of the roof box. Though the roof box may seem ves-tigial or pointless, it may be the struc-ture’s most crucial element. Without the retrofitted lamps inside the mound, visitors would find themselves in total darkness. However, due to the geom-etry of the building, the roof box illu-minates the main chamber entirely, but only for five minutes in the early morn-ing of the winter solstice on December 21 and a few days preceding. While we did not get to witness the full spectacle of this phenomenon, the tour guide was able to activate the lamps one by one to simulate the passage of sunlight coming through the entrance. The astronomical and geometric accu-racies of this structure are so precise and ahead of their era, some archae-ologists believe construction was aided by technologies beyond what mankind had to offer at the time. Because of this speculation, Newgrange has been fea-tured on the History Channel’s novelty series “Ancient Aliens.” With the tour over, we spent a few final moments taking in the beautiful scenery and lovely Irish weather. We

loaded up the bus once more and soon found ourselves on the road to Dublin. Our bus driver Mick gave us in-depth tour of Dublin. The first sight we came across was the Samuel Beck-ett Bridge. It is a suspension bridge, meaning it is held up by strong metal cables, styled into the shape of a harp, the national symbol of Ireland. Among other spots included was Trinity College, a renowned university that has given the world the likes of writers Jonathan Swift (Gulliver’s Trav-els), Bram Stoker (Dracula) and Oscar Wilde (The Picture of Dorian Gray), as well as a multitude of historians, mathematicians, and political and reli-gious figures. We also caught a glimpse of Phoe-nix Park, a green space comparable to Central Park in New York, only bigger. This vast stretch of land is home to the US Ambassador’s residence and that of the Taoiseach (pronounced Teh-shuk), Ireland’s head of state. But if you’re not into building spotting, perhaps you’ll enjoy the Dublin Zoo, whose claim to fame is the roaring lion affiliated with MGM-Grand films. The bus later passed by St. Stephen’s Green, a small clearing surrounded by ivy-covered Victorian buildings. As a matter of fact, whenever Queen Victo-ria visited Dublin during her reign be-tween 1837 and 1901, she would stay in this neighborhood. The door of what

was her residence still has its original black wood and white cast-iron design. Once the bus tour was over, we arrived at the Arlington Hotel where we’d be spending the next few nights. Located half a block away from O’Connell Street at the threshold of the street’s famous bridge, the Arling-ton is a perfect location for scholars and world travelers alike. On one side of the bridge is the Dublin Post Office. Nowadays just a mere courier of foreign and domestic mail, it is a site of great historical im-portance. Flip to any page in the history of Ireland, and there will probably be mention of the British dabbling in Irish affairs. The Easter Rising is no excep-tion. On Easter morning in late April 1916, a group of Irish nationalists begat a rebellion against English oppression. The Easter Rising itself lasted only one week but resulted in a 6-year-long war that ended with the establishment of the Republic of Ireland. The Irish had finally gained their independence! If history and war aren’t your thing, cross the O’Connell Bridge to the oth-er side of the River Liffey. O’Connell Street eventually leads tourists to Graf-ton Street, a mecca of boutiques in Dublin that boast the latest fashion and jewelry. Dublin even has a little something for nightlife enthusiasts, as one might

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to one another. Our return flight home went straight to Atlanta, no layovers. After seven hours on the plane, we arrived home. Back to the Georgia heat. Back to reality. The dream was over, but our Facebook notifications would go into overload over the next few weeks. The photos and statuses now serve to forev-er preserve the abundance of memories we all made together. Any work of art takes much longer to craft than to enjoy. This trip to Ire-land was no different; it is the collective efforts of Augusta State communica-tions professor Debbie van Tuyll, her husband, history professor Hubert van Tuyll, music professor Carl Purdy and study abroad director Maria Darley. Darley has been working with the Study Abroad Department for four years. Her family is of Greek heritage, and they return to the Aegean Sea as often as possible. Although she never studied internationally as a college stu-dent, she has been fortunate enough to see the world through the lens of another culture. “I have the ultimate study abroad experience throughout my entire life!” Darley said of her travels. This worldliness proves invalu-able in dealing with the study abroad programs, especially since the idea of classes abroad is gaining in popularity. “Right now, I am currently very busy setting up travel arrangements for the 2012-2013 trips so we can have all of these published before the start of the school year,” she explained regard-ing the initial phases of program co-ordination. Darley spends the fall semesters recruiting students for programs and helping with fundraisers. When all the applications and fundraiser proceeds have been submitted by December, she commits the spring semesters to put the finishing touches on the travel programs, as well as making sure ap-plicants pay all their dues and receive orientation about their respective coun-tries of study. On average, Augusta State students can choose among 16 to 21 programs; six of these are offered through the University System of Georgia’s Euro-pean Council series; the rest are with Augusta State. These programs attract approximately 250 Augusta State stu-

expect. Though there are no Sweeney Todds in sight, Fleet Street attracts quite a crowd once the sun has set. A few blocks from O’Connell Bridge, this block boasts Temple Bar, Dublin’s cultural epicenter, similar to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The next afternoon, students and professors took a bus to St. Stephen’s Green for tea at the Shelbourne Hotel. To passersby, this may be just another high-end stay in the Irish capital. On the contrary, this is perhaps the single most relevant building in the entire city. Founded in 1824, the Shelbourne has long been a symbol of wealth and power in Dublin. World-famous diplo-mats frequently grace the hallways and parlors of this posh hotel. The list of visitors is quite impressive, boasting historical figures such as Queen Vic-toria, Winston Churchill and the Ken-nedy family. As Mick said , “This is where the politicians and he rich really take care of business.” Needless to say, everything about the building overwhelms the eye in the most pleasant way possible. The door-men standing out front are all clad in gray blazers, top hats and white gloves. They gladly open the door, and those who enter find themselves in an expan-sive foyer with high ceilings and coral colored walls. Off to the left is the main bar. Its walls are white with pastel murals, cream-colored drapes, a vast selection of fine spirits and a large display of chilled oysters. We climbed the staircase, which

seemed to wind on forever upward, and found a parlor on the second floor. The tables were draped in a fabric similar to a wedding gown and topped with fine china and silverware and napkins folded to look like boats. This was just the beginning. Snacks include a selection of sand-wiches ranging from cucumber to salmon to egg salad, Irish scones, tiny cups made of fudge filled with orange marmalade (similar to jelly) and shot glasses filled with a creamy, sweet cheesecake. Servers bring guests their choice of fine teas. Everybody gawks over the menu and fancy environment. This kind of treatment is usually of-fered only to royalty, politicians and the wealthy. On this day in particular (Tuesday, May 29), 34 college students and professors get to enjoy the same experience, one that most people will not be able to claim in their lifetime. The next day was a free day. We spent our time scrambling around the city to see various places of personal interest, complete our shopping lists of souvenirs and pack our luggage before dinner and the bars. Our last day in Dublin: this was so surreal! At 5:30 a.m. Thursday, May 31, ev-eryone assembled in the hotel lobby with all their possessions. Some of us were rested, others were just coming in for the night. We got on the bus for the last time. Next stop, Dublin Inter-national. After the long, weary check-in process and security clearance, every-body who is not catching up on sleep was ardently paying their last respects

Students and faculty gather to reflect on the day’s activities.

The group gathers for a photo after a tour of the Rock of Cashel.

dents annually. The efforts of the Study Abroad of-fice are vastly successful, as a wealth of students (myself included) return to the Study Abroad office to pursue such an experience again. I have been to Spain twice and Ireland once, and can honestly say I have yet to be disap-pointed. While Darley makes the arrange-ments with travel agencies and places of business for these programs out of the country, Debra van Tuyll was re-sponsible for planning everything. Van Tuyll first became intrigued with Ireland as a child when she saw the Disney movie, “The Fighting Prince of Donegal.” This 1966 film chronicles the life and times of Irish prince Hugh O’Donnell, who be-comes king when his father dies, and must face the task of fending off Eng-lish invaders in the mid-1600s. Typical, huh?! Van Tuyll’s first visit to Ireland was in 1989. She stayed in Mullingar in eastern Ireland, and took day trips to Kells, also in eastern Ireland, Galway

on the west coast and Dublin on the East coast. Her academic program took its first voyage to Ireland in 2010, with a total of 37 students and three professors. Al-though there were more students and fewer professors in its first year, the program was not as intensive. In oth-er words, they did not cover as much ground as we did in 2012. Van Tuyll said she was able to do more this time around because of a better availability of funds for students and the program alike, and because she and Maria Darley had more time to spread the word to and better allot their budget. “I try to match up places of inter-est, places suitable for a teaching en-vironment and places [...] the students will enjoy,” van Tuyll said about brain-storming an itinerary. Though the program is more or less still working out its kinks, she said she enjoyed the bonding students experi-enced over the trip and being able to do more this time around. She encour-ages students to think about joining fu-

ture Study Abroad trips. “It’s an experience that can’t ever be recreated,” she said. Like Darley, van Tuyll encourages going abroad because it gives students the opportunity to enrich their lives, gain social experience and “get an eye for the world.” We’ve heard this adage countless times: “There’s two sides to every sto-ry.” This saying is especially appropri-ate when dealing with an international excursion. If you’ve ever looked into a pro-gram abroad, you’re probably aware that the application deadlines are sev-eral months in advance of the actual program dates. There is a great deal of planning and communication that takes places prior to each of the study abroad trips. Darley books these pro-grams through travel agencies. In turn, these travel agencies set up the itiner-aries by contacting airline companies hotel managers, restaurants, public transport, museums, tour guides and the like. All the months of grueling pre-

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Students Laura van Tuyll and Shannon King pose for a picture.

planning, phone calls and emails even-tually pay off, though. Once students and teachers gather at the airport, ev-erything falls into place from there. But what about the hotel managers, restaurant owners or anyone else in-volved with a program abroad? How difficult is it for them to prepare for large bodies of foreign college stu-dents? Surprisingly, most of the bur-den falls on those who organize the excursions. For the accommodators, this routine is just another day of work; and they can’t wait to meet their new guests. I’ll start first with Mick Flynn since he was the first Irish native we came into extensive contact with. Flynn has been driving buses for a charter company over the past 34 years. Although he has a wife and children, he said his career has not made much difference in personal matters. “It doesn’t affect [my family life] at all because I expect [driving buses] to happen,” Flynn said. “I was ready for it.” He also expressed his contentment with driving buses. It has given him the chance to keep fresh his history of Ireland as well as to learn an intricate past of lesser-known areas. For instance, the first story he told us upon leaving the airport was an encounter famous aviator Charles Lindbergh had with an anonymous local farmer upon landing in western Ireland near Shannon. When a disori-ented Lindbergh asked the man where he had landed, he replied, “You’re on Casey’s land now; you understand that!” Flynn also expressed his passion for meeting new people with every out-ing, and seeing places he’d “never see in normal life.” The only downsides he listed were bad weather and break-downs, which seldom occur. Naturally, after getting off the bus from the airport, we made our way to lodging. Mick gave his aspect on help-ing steward a trip abroad. But what about the people who house and feed these groups of students? Being part of a bustling hotel chain, I decided not to interview the manage-ment of the Old Ground Hotel; rather, I waited until the much cozier Cashel Holiday Hostel. Enter Patrina Leonard, a jill-of-all-

trades around the hostel. Sshe is a bub-bly spirit with a penchant for hospital-ity. Our group consisted of 34 students, and, according to her, the hostel offers a grand total of 57 bunks. Surprisingly, though, she said accommodating such a large number of guests was “really no problem at all.” “There’s a lot of space, and we found out months in advance,” Leon-ard commented with a smile. Leonard said accomodating such a large body of people was easy because of the time of year. She explained that peak vacation season in Ireland runs between June and August, thus de-mand for rooms in May was not very high. She added that in the off-season, the hostel maintains a steady flow of young students who come to town to participate in camps or sports tourna-ments. Leonard prides herself on her work. When asked about the biggest com-plaint the hostel receives, she cited broken windows and radiators, both of which can occur as a result of bad weather, something out of human con-

trol. “My goal is for people to feel at home, comfortable,” she added. It certainly seems Leonard is achiev-ing this goal in stride. She proudly mentioned the biggest compliment guests have about the hostel is its cleanliness. This is due to her devo-tion to guest courtesy. She assures that everything gets washed, cleaned and changed on a daily basis. Leonard debunked the myth of the perilous hostel. But what did students think of it? While there were a healthy string of complaints from many of them, including a handful who defect-ed to a nearby bed-and-breakfast hotel, it appeared to serve as an important part of the trip. Senior public relations major Tif-fany Looman could not have explained why any better. “I will be the first to admit that I was not happy with my [intial] impres-sion of [the hostel],” she said. “But in hindsight, it was the best thing that happened to me. It made me realize that as an American, I can be very ma-terialistic. We have much higher stan-dards than other countries.” Looman mentioned that after a few days, she grew used to life in the hos-tel, and by the end of the nine days in Cashel, she was reluctant to leave. “I made life-long friends in the hos-tel, and I would suggest that future trips stay there for that reason,” she added of her experience. Looman’s feedback could be con-sidered exemplary for any potential study abroad student. She is in her early 30s married with children who went on the trip. But this was her first

Karleigh King and Oscar.

The sun setting over Hoare Abbey.

time out of the country; this was the other woman’s third time. She noted that she was initially anxious because she didn’t know any-one when she first signed up. Within the first few days of the trip, though, this changed drastically as everybody warmed up to each other. By the end of the trip, the group seemed to be one big family. Looman had only positive things to say about her trip to the Emerald Isle. The one complaint she had by the end of the trip was the brevity of the stay in Dublin. “I was disappointed we didn’t have more free time,” she asserted. “I love big cities, and I felt a little rushed there.” But whereas Looman enjoys urban life, the other married mother on the trip has a taste for the bucolic. Meet Shannon King, a 32-year-old senior theater major and mother of three. This departure to Ireland marked her third excursion out of the United States. King served as an interesting comparison against first-timer Looman in the sense of gauging the progress of van Tuyll’s program to Ireland. King commented on the improve-ment of the trip since 2010. She said she “laughed a lot more on this one,” and that the itinerary was more orga-nized, the students visited more places and there was a better variety of pubs and restaurants. She was also thrilled,

as we all were, about staying in a castle. King recommends that potential students to Europe read up about the hostels at which they’re staying before coming, stay positive and keep an open mind. “You are in a foreign country and able to experience all the wonderful things that go with that,” she explained. “You are limiting your experience by remaining negative. Instead of thinking [you] have to stay here, [you] have to eat this, [you] have to be participating, you should think [you] get to.” Tiffany Looman learned this lesson early on in the trip, and she claims it was the best part of the whole expe-rience. But there were other students who also kept a positive spin on things. Junior computer science major J.P. Reis was one of them. Like Looman, this was also Reis’ first venture overseas. His enthusiasm for the trip was obvious from his wide eyes and a big grin. Reis had was elated to be in Ireland, going to a myriad of sites and towns, having “such an awesome bus driver” and staying in a castle. Reis also came well prepared for his maiden voyage abroad. He explained that since this was his first time away from home, he made his best efforts to prevent any inconvenience. This included checking Euro rates and the Irish weather forecast online constantly and stocking plenty of bat-

teries and a spare memory card for a camera. He also brought photocopies of his important documents in case he lost them. This is all a glimpse of how one group of study abroad students spent 17 days together in a foreign country. While there were some good moments and some bad, we all came to an over-whelming unanimous consensus that the whole experience was well worth it. Although everyone had a few min-ute details we would change if we could, there was not an individual among us that was disappointed. Eeryone should look into a study abroad program. There are a variety of locations to choose from in the Study Abroad Office, as well as a variety of opportunities to raise money towards your desired trip. You won’t regret your decision to travel abroad. d

J.P. Reis.

Amanda McBride

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Sports are a universal phenomenon Sports are an important compo-

nent of most cultures, but the form they take varies according to the coun-try -- even when the sports are called the same thing. In the United States, foot ball is one of the most popular ports. It is in Ireland, too, but the two have little in common other than that they both involve a ball. Very different balls. American football was developed from numerous divergences from rugby football and originated in England. Walter Camp, a player and a coach, is known to be “The Father

By: Hannah Wallingsford

Sports across

Cultures

of American Football” and credited for instituting the sport. The first Intercollegiate football game was played in 1869 between the Rutgers and Princeton (Camp). Since then, college football has become a prominent feature in the panorama of American sports . It’s not the only version, though, that gets a lot of attention. In 1892, William “Pudge” Heffelfinger became the first player to be hired to play football for a professional team. The first professional footall game in America was played on September 3, 1895, in Latrobe, Pa. It pitted the

Jeannette Athletic Club against the Latrobe YMCA. Not until 30 years later would the first professional football league form in America. The National Football league formed in August 1920 with Jim Thorpe as its president. Today, football -- from little league to high school to college to profession-al -- is a halmark of American culture. All three major forms of football bring together fans and supporters together to engage in that all-American past-time of cheering on the home team as it chases an oblong ball around a 360-foot-by-160-foot field in order to see who can score that elusive 6-point touch down, 1-point PAT, 3-point field goal, or 2-point conversion. Gaelic football, the sort played in Ireland, has been around much longer. The Irish have played what they call football since the 17th century, but it wasn’t until the Gaelic Athletic Asso-ciation (GAA) was formed in 1884 that proper rules were developed. The GAA is the largest sporting or-ganization in Ireland and controls Ire-land’s top four popular sports: football, camogie, hurling, and rounders. Gaelic football, known in America as soccer, is strictly amateur. Players, coaches and managers prohibited from receiving any form of compensation. (L-R) Talles Cardoso and Kristopher Wells celebrate scoring a point.

Layout contributors Allegra Blair and Katie Rhoden

Kristopher Wells takes a shot at scoring a point.

The sport was first defined in 1887, al-though it has links to older varieties of football played in Ireland and known collectively as caid, which is sometimes still used to refer to Gaelic football. Gaelic football is played with a found ball on a rectangular pitch of grass measuring 130-145 meters (426.4 feet by 475.60 feet) in length and 80-90 meters (262.4 feet by 295.2 feet) in width with H shaped goal posts set up at both sides of the field. The matches last 60 minutes separated into two 30 minute halves. Each team has 15 players on the field at one time with the option of up to 15 more players on the team to keep as substitution. Typically, the set up of the players on the field are as follows: goal keeper, two corner backs, full back, two wing backs, center back, two mid-fielders, two wing forwards, center forward, two corner forwards and a full forward. The game is played with a round leather ball that mostly resembles the appearance of a volleyball. During the game, the ball maybe kicked or hand passed. In order to score, the ball may go over the crossbar of the goal in which a point is scored and a white flag is raised and one point

is granted. A point can be scored by either kicking the ball over the crossbar or by fisting it over. Fisting the ball entails a player having his/her hand closed while striking the ball in one swift motion. In order to score a goal, the ball must go below the crossbar which results in three points and a green flagged raised. A goal can only be scored by kicking the ball, not by fisting. Hurling is equally popular in Ireland, and while it is a uniquely Irish sport, it does have followers in the United States. Even Augusta has an amateur hurling team, and one of its

star players is GRU’s own Kris Wells who works in Media Services and is a graduate of the communications program. Hurling is an ancient sport; it’s been played for at least 3,000 years and is considered the fastest field game in the world. Hurling has some things in common with football. For example, it involves a ball called a sliotar and a wooden stick, sort of akin to a at in baseball. The objective of hurling is to score points by getting the ball between the opponent’s goalposts. This is usually done by hitting the sliotar, kicking it, or carrying it -- though here, it’s a bit like basketball beause players can’t carry the ball more than four steps. Players who need to carry the sliotar more than four steps must bounce it on the end of their stick, called a hurley. Like most sports, hurling is governed by a complet set of rules that seem incomprehensible to those who are unfamiliar with the stport. From the perspective of a spectator, though, while hurling and Gaelic football clearly have their uniquely Irish components, it’s also clear that sports in Ireland and America serve similar cultural roles. They bring commnities together -- it’s impossible to drive very far in Ireland without seeing the colors of the county teams flying from homes or fences. Irish fans wear the jerseys of their favorite teams, and sports is a perennial source of conversation.d

Visual

Photos byTop left - Sara Tafazoli,The cliffs of Galway Bay

Bottom left - Sara TafazoliThe woods at Craggaunowen

Right page - Andre Yandow, The Rock of Cashel

Design by Amy Hunter

Storytelling

24

If a picture is worth a thousand words, these

photos by Sara Tafazoli and Andrew Yandow sum

up Ireland’s story. From the majestic cliffs of the

west shore to the green inland forests and valleys,

Ireland is a land of astounding natural beauty.

Storytelling

Kevin Rafferty, center, editor of the Irish Times, leads the morning news conference to determine what is going to make it into that day’s newspaper. Students on the study abroad trip were invited to sit in on the news conference and then stay for tea and biscuits

26

In Europe, glamour is “the thing.” Europeans have been leading the

pack in the arenas of fashion and trend-setting for decades. Americans and people all over the world have looked to their European counterparts to define “glamour,” but when a group of Augusta State University’s commu-nications students traveled to Ire-land, they were surprised to hear that one of the most “glamorous” careers across the pond is one that is regarded as, well, less than glamor-ous back home: journalism. In the American mind, journal-ists wear fedoras. They’re quiet brooders. They don’t make much money, so they must be doing the job because they love it…and that’s sad. In the United States, actors, sing-ers, and even socialites are cata-pulted to celebrity fame. Americans plaster larger-than-life images of these people inside their homes.

Layout contributors were Eva Hollingsworth,

Daniel Browning, Kayla King and Chad July.

ournalismJprofession

Ireland'sBy: Lauren Kellems

'vintage glam'

28

Americans watch television shows and read magazines about celebrity lives. They even refer to them on first name basis and their fellow Americans know who they are talking about. Ce-lebrities certainly have the most glam-orous lifestyle in America, followed by certain well-paid professionals such as surgeons, physicians, and lawyers. But in Ireland, journalists write a completely different story. In Ireland, street posters and flags display images of writers. Writers and other profes-sional artists are exempt from paying income taxes, which, in a nation that has long fought financial woes, is es-pecially significant. So what does this say of Irish literature and its role in Irish culture? Contrarily, what does it say about American literature and its role in our culture? Newspapers in the United States have a 51% market penetration, but that number is swiftly declining thanks to a technologically advancing soci-ety. By comparison, studies by the Joint National Readership Survey show that the market penetration of news-papers in Ireland is 190% for dailies, and 350% for Sunday editions. That means that the average Irishman reads two newspapers a day, and three-and-a-half on Sundays, while only one out of every two Americans bothers to read a daily paper. Technologically savvy Americans would rather surf the net for news -- or forego it all together. By no means does Ireland shy com-pletely from technology. Many public locations offer free Wi-Fi hotspots, just like those in the United States. Cellu-lar carriers offer data packages similar to those offered in the United States for service subscribers. Irish people use social media and other websites just like Americans do. Still, Internet is slower in many places in Ireland than it is in the United States, and newsstands are in operation all over the country of-fering the old familiar friend—the daily printed newspaper. The troublesome economy also contributes to the lagging newspaper sales in the American market. The Economist reports that in 2008 alone, 120 American published papers folded due to the economic downturn, result-ing in some 20,000 lost jobs. Newspapers are struggling glob-

ally, but are especially dying out in the United States, where the economy is in a downturn just like that of other for-eign economies such as, say, Ireland. By contrast, Irish readers are still buy-ing and reading newspapers despite the more extreme economic difficulties the nation faces. One of Ireland’s most popular publi-cations, The Irish Times, a daily broad-sheet produced in Dublin, has seen the ups and downs offluxes in readership. Assistant Editor Paddy Smith says the newspaper has been fortunate to keep many of its loyal readers, but that the switch to technology and the younger generations’ dependency on the Inter-net has certainly lead his team to evalu-ate how they are going to keep up and keep their operation in the black. The newspaper’s website, www.irishtimes.com, was launched several years ago, when news sites served simply as supplement to the money maker: the physical, black-and-white, hard-copy in hand, daily newspaper. Of course, as time has elapsed and as the demand for “news now” has exploded, the website has become, for some, a primary means for receiving the news. In effect, the Irish Times Trust, the entity which owns the news-paper, implemented a fee schedule for access to the website. The changes were not well received, and so the access to the website became free of charge again, while the hard-copy pa-per continues to struggle. Smith says the company looks to tweak the exist-ing policy, as well as the former one, in order to find the delicate balance between reaching the consuming mar-ket and making money. According to

Smith, “The choice is not there to be offline.” He adds that doing so would cause the Times to “hand readers over to competitors.” Many American newspapers have made a similar choice, including the Augusta Chronicle and even the New York Times, both of which struggle to keep up with the Internet news indus-try. The difference is that in Ireland, newspapers remain the most popular form of news delivery and consump-tion, Smith says, while that is far from true for the United States, where peo-ple are consistently turning to other media outlets. So what is it that the Irish people value about their daily newspapers? In order to fully delve into this question, it is important to first compare other aspects of the Irish lifestyle. In the United States, if you fail to get out of bed and become productive later than 9 a.m., you are lazy. In Ire-land, an early riser is a rare find. In the United States, lunch often consists of a fast food combo served through a drive-through window and eaten in the car. In Ireland, fast food barely exists. People break for lunch and sit down at cafes, pubs, and diners for a meal, a conversation, maybe a Guinness, and a hot cup of tea to make the experience last a little longer. In general, Americans prefer things that are faster, even available upon de-mand. The Irish people have a slower way of life, more conducive to picking up a broadsheet and reading it every day. Although the Internet and tech-nology are well-received and better integrated into the American lifestyle than in Ireland, perhaps the Ameri-

Students in the lobby of the Irish Times.

can lifestyle is missing something else, something old-fashioned, and some-thing less glamorous than the newest and best of all possible things. In Ireland, citizens value journalism and the press because they genuinely enjoy their benefits. In the United States, people are often too busy with their daily lives to appreciate the tradition of newspa-pers. Maybe Americans should take note. Taking it easy looks good on the Irish. By comparison, Irish people have slightly a longer lifespan than Americans, as well as a significantly better bill of health overall. The Irish are more informed of current events both domestic and abroad, and tend to be better conversationalists, according to reports by www.ifitweremyhome.com, as well as studies by England’s University of South Hampton. Taking into account the effects of

web technology as a primary means of communication, many of Ireland’s news consumers do not wish to ever make a transition fully to electronic media. For many, the cost of purchas-ing a daily newspaper is far less than the price of sacrificing that non-digital staple. Although Europe is forward on fashion and the United States is more abreast with technological trends, there is no doubt that Ireland will not be surrendering their newspapers anytime soon. There is an ongoing national appreciation for the art of writing and for the maintenance of the deep respect it receives. Writers in America may continue to be pegged as emotion-ally poor people in fedoras, their Irish counterparts will likely long continue to be held at the highest esteem sim-ply because they deliver the daily news. Irish people appreciate technology, but

still manage to keep it at an arm’s dis-tance in order to preserve their appre-ciation for physical art and writing, If for no other reason, than because it’s an old tradition that has withstood the test of time. Respecting one’s elders…now that’s vintage glam. d

Irish MediaIrish newspapers are politically and socially aligned. Upper-crust read read the Irish Times, while middle class and blue-collar workers are more likely to read the Independent. Find Irish newspapers at:

www.irishtimes.comwww.independent.ie

Find RTE, Irish television, atwww.rte.ie

Ireland has 75.5 cell phones per 100 people. America has about 48.8 for every 100 people.

91 percent of Irish read a newspaper each day; 35 percent of Americans read a newspaper each day.

TimesTimesTimesTimesTimesTimes

x 14Ireland has six daily newspapers.

America has 1,476.

+ 4

The Irish watch about 23 hours of television eachweel. Americans

watch about 28 hours.

30

My plan for walking into Campions Bar in Cashel,

Ireland was to walk in, have a drink, get an interview or two for a story on etiquette while visiting a pub, and be done for the night. I convinced two of my roommates to go with me. “It won’t be more than thirty minutes,” I told them, but I was way off. My thirty minute interview turned into a two-hour conversation with Brendan O’Dwyer, 30, of Cashel, Ireland. O’Dwyer is in charge of delivering liquor to Campions Bar and other surrounding areas. I couldn’t get this man to stop talking, even if I had wanted too. Truth be told, I didn’t. His raspy voice and Gerard Butler looks made the conversation even more interesting. My roommates and I were hooked into wanting to know more about him. He seemed to be more interested with the conversation once we told him we were from America. O’Dwyer excitedly told us he used to live in New York. I then told him I had visited New York for the first time this year. He started to lift up his shirt, which was unexpected. As he lifted up one side of his shirt, we saw a tattoo. O’Dwyer had a tattoo of the twin towers that almost completely covered the left side of his torso. O’Dwyer may be Irish, but he experienced Sept. 11 in a way unlike the three Americans he was talking to at the pub. When he was 18 years old, O’Dwyer made a spur-of-the-moment decision to move to America. “Me and my best mate James got a couple of bottles one night, and while looking at a picture of New York City, we just decided to go,” O’Dwyer said. “A week later we landed at the JFK airport.” The first thing he experienced in New York was culture shock with the lack of hospitality New Yorkers offered. “People don’t talk to each other on the streets there,” O’Dwyer said. “I asked a fella—Sorry can I ask a

Layout by Katherine Dyches

My plan for walking into Campions Bar in Cashel, Ireland was to walk in, have a drink, get an interview or two for a story on etiquette while visiting a pub, and be done for the night. I convinced two of my roommates to go with me. “It won’t be more than thirty minutes,” I told them, but I was way off. My thirty minute interview turned into a two-hour conversation with Brendan O’Dwyer, 30, of Cashel, Ireland. O’Dwyer is in charge of delivering liquor to Campions Bar and other surrounding areas. I couldn’t get this man to stop talking, even if I had wanted too. Truth be told, I didn’t. His raspy voice and Gerard Butler looks made the conversation even more interesting. My roommates and I were hooked into wanting to know more about him. He seemed to be more interested with the conversation once we told him we were from America. O’Dwyer excitedly told us he used to live in New York. I then told him I had visited New York for the first time this year. He started to lift up his shirt, which was unexpected. As he lifted up one side of his shirt, we saw a tattoo. O’Dwyer had a tattoo of the twin towers that almost completely covered the left side of his torso. O’Dwyer may be Irish, but he experienced Sept. 11 in a way unlike the three Americans he was talking to at the pub. When he was 18 years old, O’Dwyer made a spur-of-the-moment decision to move to America. “Me and my best mate James got a couple of bottles one night, and while looking at a picture of New York City, we just decided to go,” O’Dwyer said. “A week later we landed at the JFK airport.” The first thing he experienced in New York was culture shock with the lack of hospitality New Yorkers offered. “People don’t talk to each other on the streets there,” O’Dwyer said. “I asked a fella—Sorry can I ask a question? He told me no. I laughed at him though because I had warned him.” After a few stories about what he thought of Americans, O’Dwyer made his way to the jukebox behind the table.

He played “The Streets of New York” by the Wolfe Tones, as he continued to tell us about what he referred to as “the classy city of New York”. Months after coming to America, O’Dwyer found a job and a girlfriend. He eventually found himself to be in love with both his lady and the city. He did not think anything could convince him to return home. O’Dwyer was living in Queens, N.Y., but worked in Brooklyn, N.Y. On that fateful day in September, he had no idea he would witness a tragedy that would not only shape his newly beloved city but himself as well. “We could see the smoke from the bay. One of my mates were just freaking out,” O’Dwyer said. “I saw no planes hit. I saw smoke, a lot of smoke. We were like cows, just moving.” He recalls being in a state of shock once he realized what was happening. There are moments he doesn’t remember, but he knew he wanted to be home in Ireland. He watched the news days after the attack and was shocked by all the conspiracy theories that surfaced. This sparked a conversation at the pub about 9/11 conspiracy theories. We all laughed uncomfortably as each of us began recalling conspiracy theories we had heard. I glanced over at O’Dwyer. Discomfort became visible in his eyes as this conversation continued. He finally stopped one of us midsentence.

“Sweetheart there is conspiracy theories for everything, and they will continue to exist for hundreds of years,” O’Dwyer said. “You just have to think about the people in the building, their families, not who done it or why.” His statement struck me, and I immediately felt that old familiar pain. The pain of loss that leaves you chocked up. I felt it, and I knew O’Dwyer had lost someone that day, even though he never stated it openly in our conversation. “Weeks after we were in Jersey and I continued to see all the shit,” O’Dwyer said. “One of my mates had already left. I was 19 and living with my girlfriend at the time. She wanted me to stay, but I missed my family. I had to leave.” O’Dwyer explained that he loved New York, but after something that tragic happened he just wanted to be in the comforts of home, in Ireland. “One fella was playing music on the street,” O’Dwyer said. “He was a fireman. I just took a look at him, and I decided to go home.” At that moment he decided he was returning to Ireland. We all have our own story about what we were doing on Sept. 11, but for those who were in. I was in fifth grade, and we watched everything unravel in the news, O’Dwyer was seeing, smelling, hearing it all happen in person. While I shed tears for strangers and their loved ones, O’Dwyer shed tears fearing whether any of the victims were his friends. O’Dwyer explained to me that the city I visited earlier this year may look the same as it did when he lived there, but if he ever returns it won’t be the same to him. He doesn’t regret leaving. He knows it was the right decision at the time, but he continues to idolize the city. “If I had ten grand now, phew,” O’Dwyer said. “I would go back. The only country I would ever go back to is America, to New York. It is just f---ing classy.”d

32

Will PollockPhotographer,

Writer, Mentor

Layout contributors Amy Hunter and Victoria LindquistBy Sara Tafazoli

If a picture is worth a

thousand words,

Will Pollockwill never run out of

things to say.

Will PollockPhotographer,

Writer, Mentor

Layout contributors Amy Hunter and Victoria Lindquist

34

With a fitted baseball cap and sun-glasses on, a camera and electric

cigarette always in hand and a laugh that could make a the Dublin castle guard flinch, it’s extremely difficult not to notice Will Pollack, a 44-year-old Garth Brooks look-alike. Pollock, who owns Stone Four Media, a media consulting company in Atlanta, served as “visiting profes-sional” on the study abroad trip. He helped coach the writing and photo-journalism students as they worked on their projects. Pollock believes that everything a professional communicator does goes back to storytelling. From blogging, to websites, to social media and articles, there are far too many outlets of ex-pression available to simply be saying nothing. “If you have something to say, don’t wait,” said Pollock. “Get out there and start saying it.” Pollack put his words into action when he traveled with Augusta State University’s study abroad trip to Ire-land in May 2012. Although he went primarily for his own leisure, Pollock ended up serving as a personal writing and photography guru for students on the trip. He demonstrated photog-raphy techniques, critiqued student work, and helped students develop story ideas. Pollock came to be the visiting professional on the trip when Deb-bie van Tuyll, professor of commu-nications and director of the Ireland study abroad trip, mentioned the trip to Pollock and his partner, Jason May-nard, who was the choir director at her church. Maynard, 34, worked with Carl Purdy, ASU professor of music, while he lived in Augusta and said that van Tuyll invited him to assist Purdy in Ireland as well. “Both Will and I were glad for these opportunities,” Maynard said. “And also to make this trip one of our first big vacations together as a couple. Personally, it was a great chance for me to spend time with Debra van Tuyll and her husband, with whom I be-came very close during my years in Augusta.” According to van Tuyll, Pollock’s role as visiting professional was help-ful.

“Students always like having access to a professional, and Will likes work-ing with students, so that’s one of the biggest advantages,” van Tuyll said. “He can supplement what I teach with his own experiences.” Van Tuyll said she and Pollack might pick different components of student work to critique, but they al-ways agreed with what the other was suggesting. “I think his advice was excellent,” van Tuyll exclaimed. “I did see that the critiques improved the photography of

students - and I’ve had several tell me that they felt like the critiques were a big part of them being able to improve their work.” One of these students was Tiffany Looman, 31, who was taking the pho-tojournalism and directed studies in writing courses while in Ireland. She found approaching Pollock less intimi-dating because she knew he would not be grading her work. “He was overly enthusiastic to help me once I approached him,” said Looman. “He could have quickly an-

Pollack enjoys the sun at Tramore Beach in Co. Waterford.

swered me, but he sat down with me and took his time like he really cared about my story. He offered me great advice and new perspective that I hadn’t thought of before. You can tell he’s passionate about what he does.” What students recognized as Pol-lock’s passion for what he does is simply part of who he is as a person, Maynard said. “He is passionate about people and telling their stories,” Maynard said. “He possesses a keen intuition for finding special stories and thinks outside the box as he develops projects. These are attributes which I admire very much, and they are ones which I believe al-low him to achieve a very high quality of work. Will is very much the artist in the sense that his professional and per-sonal selves tend to coexist, without a dramatic distinction between the two.” This passion that Pollock possesses is no exaggeration. In fact, one could say it is simply in his blood. “My mom is a big inspiration be-cause she is a painter and an artist, and I think I got my sense of artistry from her,” said Pollock. “I mean, I can hardly paint a stick figure, but if I’m doing fine art photography, there is a lot of artistry to it if you take that mind set when you’re shooting.” Pollock values artistry so much, he created ARTvision Atlanta, a collective of artists who donate their time and artistry for the benefit of those who are less fortunate. According to Pollock, this is the accomplishment he is most

proud of thus far in his career. “We’ve raised nearly $35,000 over six years for various charities through the effort,” Pollock explained. “The art-ists love it, the donors love the pieces, and it’s a chain of good karma that just bounces around.” Pollock says that the generosity of the donors for ARTvision never ceases to amaze him. Even in 2008, when the economy was not doing well, ARTvi-sion still had an amazing turnout. In fact, Pollock believes that people are more willing to give during hard eco-nomic times. “People told me, ‘Will, you can’t ask people for money in a year like this,’” Pollock said. “And we had our best year to date.” One-hundred percent of the dona-tions to ARTvision go to its benefi-ciary, Positive Impact, an organization that serves people affected by HIV in Atlanta. “I chose Positive Impact as our ben-eficiary because they do exceptional work helping people affected by HIV through mental-health counseling and testing services that are unrivaled in the city,” Pollock said. “People are living longer, but still need to be educated about the facts – and, to be sure, live comfortable, vibrant lives. Positive Im-pact helps them do that, and we sup-port them in that effort.” Pollock was born and raised in Manhattan, N.Y. He received his bach-elor of arts in English—literary stud-ies from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and his master of science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern Univer-sity in Evanston, Ill. He says he chose

Medill because, at the time, it was one of the finest journalism schools around. Pollock said his experience at Medill assured him that his choice of journalism as a career path was the correct one. After graduating from Medill, Pollock received the Charles Hor-ton Award, which he says happened mainly because he secured an inter-view with tennis legend Zena Gar-rison, about whom he was writing a profile for a special pull-out section of his school magazine. Pollock received a $1,000 scholarship with the award, and said that the award was a great end to his experience at Medill. Pollock said he did not always know he would be a journalist, but he has always been a naturally curious per-son. Pollock believes he knew he loved to write when his relatives called his mother to compliment his writing in a letter he sent them when he was younger. He also said one of his pro-fessors and adviser at Skidmore, Victor Cahn, contributed to his love for writ-ing as well. “[Cahn] got us comfortable and ex-cited for perfecting our craft – all the while preparing us to not have it per-fect the first time around,” Pollock said. “I wrote to him after I got my first job in journalism to let him know how much he meant to me.” With all the schooling Pollock has received, one would be surprised to learn that his photography skills were completely self-taught. “I’ve never taken a class in my life,” said Pollock. “So, that’s a source of pride, but it’s also a source of frustra-tion because I’m not the technical pho-

36

tographer that I should be.” Despite his lack of formal training in photography, Pollock is a firm believer in learning by doing. As a child, he faced a learning disability, undiagnosed dyslexia and bullying by his peers. Yet, even with all the reasons to give up, Pollock never stopped believing that a person can develop the skills he doesn’t already possess. That is exactly what Pollock wit-nessed within the students he met in Ireland. From the first photojournalism critique to the last class meeting, there was a significant and very obvious change in both the students’ photog-raphy skills as well as their confidence. “You went from a shutterbug to en-gaging in a craft,” Pollock said. “And for somebody who is self-taught to be able to inspire you guys with whatever experience and understanding of a subject and a technique, that was really gratifying and that’s one of the high-lights of this trip for me, definitely. Be-ing able to play a role in that is some-thing that I will remember for a very long time.” The most inspiring piece of advice Pollock gave students became a quite

popular expression by the end of the trip. Pollock told them to “shoot the hell out of” everything that caught their eye. He encouraged students to chan-nel their inner curiosity and not simply give up and settle after one decent shot. He also advised students to trust their instincts. This advice transformed the students’ outlook on the art of pho-tography. “I would argue that instinct is every-thing for photographers, everything for writers,” Pollock said. “To really engage that curiosity about the whole concept of ‘shooting the hell out of something’ is about being curious about how to set the subject in the right way.” Being around Pollock during the two-week study abroad program not only helped students engage their curiosity for photography, but it also opened students’ eyes to the possibili-ties they could have with a career in writing. To some students, Pollock’s job seems a little too good to be true. Amanda McBride, an ASU commu-nication major on the public relations track, said she never really considered the possibility of being a freelance writer who works for herself. After get-

ting to know Pollock, the idea sounds very appealing. “I think deep down it’s everyone’s dream,” McBride said. “To be able to travel the world and do what you love at the same time. If I had that oppor-tunity, I would take it in a heartbeat.” According to Pollock, this glamor-ous component of a travel writer’s life is true, to a certain extent. However, Pollock doesn’t let the glamor go to his head. In his opinion, it is the person that makes the writer, not the places the writer sees. “There are some travel writers out there who take it too seriously,” Pol-lock said. “And they take themselves too seriously. So I’m never going to fit into the mold of the people who are self-impressed by the places they visit. ” Out of all the places Pollock has traveled, there are some that stick out in his mind. “Nantucket Island is still the most soulful place to me – despite from all the bad, elitist stuff you hear about it,” Pollock said. “It’s small enough that you can explore the whole place – and there’s no place there where you don’t

Pollock, right, and his partner, Jason Maynard on the grounds of the Rock of Cashel in Co. Tipperary.

Pollock, the mentor, discusses his photos with ASU’s photojournalism students.

feel like you’re right in the middle of the ocean. That, and because it’s so historic.” Along with his experience as a free-lance writer, Pollock has also experi-enced the corporate side of writing. Before he started Stone Four Media, he held several positions ranging from research assistant at a local computer magazine to managing editor of Na-tional Real Estate Investor magazine. He has bounced around from the magazine industry to corporate com-munications to freelance writing. It was not until he received a corporate writ-ing gig that he decided to stay on his own. This gig was an internal communi-cations writing job for GMAC Home Services from 2002 to 2007. Pollock started working for GMAC Home Ser-vices right after graduate school, and he said his job duties included commu-nication to real estate agents, brokers, management and company executives. According to Pollock, this job gave him the passion to explore other areas, which led him to eventually start Stone Four Media. As a freelance writer, Pollock choos-es where he travels and finds his work through a balanced combination of getting calls from editors he has que-ried before, previous clients who con-tact him and through finding his own travel and leisure stories to pitch. Pollock says one of the most well-known consumer magazines that has-published his work is Art & Antiques Magazine, where he was the book’s auction and how-to contributor. How-ever, Pollock said the name is not what’s important to him. “For the record, I don’t measure success that way,” Pollock said. “I want to work with great, dynamic people and that can be in the business sec-tor, magazines, websites, newspapers – whatever.” While it would be difficult for Pol-lock to choose a “favorite” story that he has written, there is certainly one that is most memorable and meaning-ful to him. The story, “Meeting Margaret Cho: Diva Inspires Gay Man’s Cancer Fight,” is very personal to Pollock, because it was for his friend, Bryan Raybon. Raybon was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma in 2006.

Pollack celebrated his birthday with afternoon tea at Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel.

According to Pollock, Margaret Cho was a personal inspiration for Raybon. During his illness, Raybon believed that meeting Cho would lift his morale and give him more inspiration in his battle against cancer. Thanks to Pollock, Rabon was able to do just that. Pollock said he took the initiative to contact Cho’s manager and shortly after, a meeting between Cho and Raybon was arranged. Unfortunately, Raybon passed away earlier this year. However, Pollock said he believes that this story is a testament of what he, or anyone, is capable of doing. According to Pollock, the best part

about his job is the flexibility and free-dom he has with his schedule. It gives him the opportunity to frequently visit his loved ones in Charlottesville, Va., and help them run their family busi-ness. However, there are some disad-vantages. With such a strong affinity for people, Pollock does miss the inter-action he had in the office. Since he no longer has that interaction, Pollock val-ues collaboration more than ever. Even though he works for himself, he still takes advantage of collaborating with his editor and friends. He also enjoyed having the opportunity to collaborate with ASU students in Ireland. Maynard describes Pollock as the

38

kind of person who loves life. “He dreams with expansive vi-sion, lives in hopefulness, and loves the happiness that comes with sharing experiences with others,” said May-nard. “These qualities inspire me very much.” Just like any job, freelance writing comes with many challenges. There are times when a story is not developing or the writer is rejected. So what push-es freelance writers to keep going? “I think a lot of artists, photogra-phers and writers – people who share their creative experience – think that somebody’s going to tap them on the shoulder one day and say ‘Listen, we’re

Pollack attempts to get cell phone reception at Cabra Castle, Co. Cavan.

on to you. We know that you’re full of shit and you can’t do anything,’” Pol-lock said. “And I think some artists are motivated by that fear.” Even with the fear of being re-jected and criticized by others, one of the toughest obstacles for a freelance writer is not doubting one’s work. For Pollock, there is an internal drive that pushes him, and having confidence in his work is one of the most important factors for success. “One of the biggest challenges is to not second guess yourself,” Pollock said. “If you know you have it and you can do it, don’t listen to people. Don’t let people get you down and

stay focused on what you have to offer, which is storytelling. I always go back to storytelling. I don’t know what the point is, other than that, because writ-ing is an art form, not just a delivery mechanism.” This art form is one that we all pos-sess. Everyone has a story to tell. We encounter stories every day, whether we realize it or not. There is a story in the people we meet, the places we go and the experiences we face. Believe it or not, a person doesn’t have to be a freelance writer to tell a story. A person just needs the confidence and the desire to share it. According to Pollock, hav-ing what it takes to be a writer simply begins with having something to say. “Follow your dream,” Pollock said. “If you feel like you’ve got something to say, don’t be quiet. Get out there and use the tools that are out there to make it happen because it can happen. Some people scoff at the idea that any-body can do anything in our country, and I don’t know why they do that be-cause I think it’s true.” d

Layout by: Taylor Helms

DublinShopping in

You are thinking about taking a trip somewhere you have never been. You want to find out everything you can be-

fore you go. There are most likely three main things that you will think about and then hopefully research before traveling to your determined destination. Number one: What do they have to do, where I am going? Number two: How is the food and what are the best places to eat? Last but really first, Number three: How is the shopping?

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runs from the General Post Office on O’Connell Street to Liffey Street. If you are looking for bargains in Dublin, Henry Street is the place you want to be. Henry Street hosts some 200 stores housed in shopping centers, corporate stores, and small shops. The shopping centers located on Henry Street are ILAC Shopping Centre and Jervis Shopping Centre. ILAC shopping center is known for its bargains. Mostly people with lower budgets shop there. Jervis Shopping Centre is not as thrifty and has more of the British chain stores. You can get clothing items as low as a Euro at the Penny’s on Henry Street. Also located here are H&M and Zara. These are corporate stores that also have locations in the United States. Both sell clothing and accessories for the whole family. Henry Street is also home to a variety of department stores. Arnotts is a major department store located there, just up from the famous British chain Marks and Spencer. Arnotts is similar to a Macy’s or Dillard’s. The store carries anything from clothing to home accessories. Their prices vary from item to item, but they are still on the higher end of things. Henry Street also features two bargain stores similar to Target or Walmart: Debenhams and Dunnes. These stores have just about anything that you could want. The prices are also similar to Target and Wal-Mart. Along with the corporate chains and department stores, there are several small independent stores located on Henry Street. These stores include Envy, USB, Next, Sasha, Merc, A-Wear, Oasis, Wallis, Diffneys and Evans. They are all small clothing stores where you will find some of your great deals. The problem that I found with some of these stores is that some of their items are cheaply made and you can tell by looking at them. There are still some really great finds on Henry Street; you just have to be diligent. If you are looking to take something home with you or for your friends and family, souvenirs are not lacking on Henry Street. There are all sorts of souvenir shops with Ireland or Guinness writing and symbols on the collectibles. It is definitely a place where you can purchase things for

So why do people think of these three things before they travel? It’s im-portant to experience activities and go sightseeing in a new place so that you can learn about the place you are visit-ing. Eating local food in a new place is a priority because it helps you get a sense of the culture and gives you the opportunity to taste things you have never tried. Shopping is also very important for some people when visiting a new place because it also helps give them a sense of the culture. Participating in activities and food tasting are great things to do when you are in a new place, but the thing about shopping is that you actually get to bring something home with you. The experiences you had and the food you tasted can sometimes be forgettable, but if you have something to bring home, you can remember your trip forever. Another great thing about shopping when traveling is that you get to go to places that you may not have in your hometown. Therefore, you can get items that are unique to your tastes. During the summer of 2012, I, along with several other students trav-eled to Ireland for study abroad. The main reason I wanted to go was to ex-perience the culture, the food, and the shopping. I wanted to see what makes Ireland different through those experi-ences. Irish food I ate was not my favorite, though I greatly enjoyed the Italian and Thai food I had in Ireland. The aightseeing was unbelievable; but I was most pleasantly suprirsed about how great the shopping was. The thing about shopping in Europe is that the fashions are ahead of the United States. Paris and Milan are two of the top places where fashion and trends originate. Those trends and designs trickle down to everyday people in Europe and befroe making their way to the United States. When I got the opportunity to shop in Ireland, I knew that I would be able to purchase items that are new and unique because the items simply haven’t made it Augusta yet. “When I went to Ireland, I liked the fact that the stores carried things that were unique and somewhat different from home,” said Taylor

Helms, Augusta State University communications major. “The clothes are more modern in Europe or ahead of the US in trends.” Two cities we visited particularly offered good shopping: Dublin and Waterford. Waterford is the home of Waterford Crystal, and it is a must see. They have beautiful items made out of crystal, including chandeliers, full-length mirrors, football trophies, and glassware. Of course, all these items come with a hefty price tag, but it is fun to window shop. Waterford has a wide variety of boutique-style shops for men and women, along with independent retailers. There are also the typical chain stores that we have here in the United States. One of my favorite department stores in Ireland was their version of J.C. Penneys. The name for the store is fitting because you can literally buy some items there for just pennies. Seriously, if you are looking for a bargain, this is place to go. They have menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, and home goods. After traveling around much of the country, it is safe to say that Dublin is the best place for shopping. Obviously, it is the largest city, so it is going to have more stores and a greater variety. Dublin is similar to Atlanta. Many people in Augusta travel to in size, and just like in Georgia, many people in Ireland travel to the big city to do their shopping. The cashier at a chain boutique store called Monsoon said that they have had people from all over the world come into their shop on Grafton Street. The two best known shopping areas in the central part of Dublin are Grafton Street and Henry Street. Both are filled with shoppers all day, hustling and bustling up and down the streets, going in and out of stores. The best thing about these shopping areas is that they are set aside as pedestrian-only boulevards, so you don’t have to worry about dodging traffic. Your only real shopping worry in Ireland will be the rain. Henry Street is located on the northern side of the River Liffey which flows through the middle of Dublin, dividing the city into its northern and southern halves. Henry Street

your friends and family without having to spend a lot of money. If you are not really interested in shopping for clothing and home accessories, Henry Street still has something to offer you. There are jewelry stores, outdoor stores, sports stores, and music shops. Really, there is something for everyone. Street vendors from palm readings to food are located out on the streets if you dare to partake. You could spend a couple of days just browsing all the different happenings and stores on Henry Street. The other Dublin street known for shopping is south of the Liffey.: Grafton Street. Traditionally, Grafton Street was where the wealthy shopped while Henry Street for the less affluent. Today, that is only partially true. There are shops on Grafton Street that cater to all price ranges. Like Henry Street, Grafton Street is very long, running from St. Stephens Green to College Green. Grafton Street is loaded with all different types of shops. I concentrated most of my Dublin shopping here on Grafton Street. The area is very nice, and it just has a neat feel to it. Grafton Street is also home to shopping centers, corporate stores, department stores, small British chain shops, independent boutiques, and music stores. Also located on Grafton Street are restaurants, cafes and bars. These shops are all a bit trendier than what you will find on Henry Street, so their price tags are a little heftier. St. Stephens Green Shopping Centre is one of the most popular shopping places on Grafton Street. It has more than 90 shops and restaurants., ranging from clothing to shoes to home goods to hobbies. Gift shops located in St. Stephens Green Shopping Centre are good places to look for something for friends and family. Another shopping center that is just off of Grafton Street but very close by is Powerscourt Shopping Centre. If you enjoy looking at antiques, art and Dublin’s own fashion designers Powerscourt, a specialty shopping experience, is the place to you want to be. There are antique shops including Courtville Antiques, Silver Shop and Delphi Antiques. There is a design center known for its unique clothing created by some of the best of Dublin’s

fashion designers. The designer clothing in these shops definitely comes with a higher price tag, but it is at least worth a browse. You will have the chance to see how the clothing is different from the clothing here in the United States. Also located in Powerscourt are art galleries that carry work from local artists. People’s Art Hall is one of the galleries and is a great place for people with a small or large budget because it carries items that vary in cost. There a few department stores on Grafton Street with some of them being the same as the ones on Henry Street. Department stores on Grafton include Marks & Spencers, Brown Thomas and BT2. Brown Thomas department stores are equivalent to a Bloomingdales or a Saks Fifth Avenue. It carries top designers in all fields from all over the world. If you are on a low or college budget, I would not advise going in Brown Thomas. It could be said that the reason Grafton Street has been known for the wealthy, is because Brown Thomas is there. You can just admire it from the street. The upside is that Brown Thomas has a discount store called BT2, also located on Grafton Street. BT2 is similar to what you would find at an Off 5th, which is Saks’ discount store. BT2 is still somewhat on the pricey side, but you can find some deals there, especially in the sale and clearance sections. There are not many large corporate

stores on Grafton Street because it mostly consists of smaller chains or independent boutiques. One of the major corporate stores located on Grafton Street is Topshop. The retailer began in the United Kingdom, therefore the contents of the store strongly follow the European trends. The United States now has Topshop stores located in Chicago, New York and Las Vegas. Topshop has prices ranging from €30.00 to €400.00, a little something for everyone. Boutique stores or small retailers are very prevalent on Grafton Street. There are shops dedicated strictly to men, women, kids, shoes, décor, music and books. Some of the clothing shops include Vero Moda, Oasis, River Island, Wallis, Monsoon and Dalvey. The footwear shops include Korkys, Barratts and Nine West. Avoca, sort of a mini department store, has a huge variety of home goods. Dubray Books located on Grafton Street is an independent bookstore in Ireland. River Island is a wonderful small chain store based out of the United Kingdom. They carry items for men, women, boys and girls. The prices at River Island for the most part stay under €130.00. River Island is located in several places throughout Ireland and Europe but does not exist in the United States. The clothing and overall style at River Island is very young and modern. Dalvey is a store strictly for men. The small chain that has more of a traditional style is based out of

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Grafton Street has a plethora of shops to meet a person on any budget. The overall aesthetic of the street is inviting and clean. If you are in Dublin you have to check out Grafton Street, you will not be disappointed. Dublin has a vast array of stores. Any shopper can find anything you are looking for on Henry Street or Grafton Street. Henry Street is known to be a shopping experience for the shopper

Streets in Dublin, Ireland are filled with shops, pubs and restaurants.

Scotland. They carry everything from casual clothing to business attire. They also have great accessories and gifts for men. You can find items at Dalvey priced anywhere from €30.00 to €400.00. Monsoon is a boutique style store that carries items for women and children. The store is based in the United Kingdom. The shop on Grafton Street only sells women’s clothing and accessories. The prices at Monsoon are very reasonable and any woman can shop there, whether young or old. Barratts Shoe Store has shoes for anyone at very reasonable prices. The majority of the shoes at Barratts are under €50.00. The store is based in the United Kingdom but has stores in Ireland. Barratts has a wide range of shoes for any occasion. Dubray Books, which is considered Ireland’s top independent bookstore, sells all types of books. Ir is similar to a small Borders. Typically, when you think of an independent bookstore, you imagine a place with a variety of books but with only one copy. This is not the case with Dubray, but it is a great place to go buy books. Along with shops, restaurants and bars Grafton Street is known for its street performers. Throughout the day and into the night there are street performers that setup along Grafton Street to show the crowds their talents. The talent consists of a variety of acts from singers and musicians to writers, gymnasts and mimes. If you really enjoy their performances you can compensate them accordingly. It is always entertaining to walk the street and see what the new performers have created to entertain you.

on a lower budget, but Grafton Street is a street for the shopper on any bud-get. Either way, you cannot go wrong visiting either one of these streets. Just remember when you are out shopping to pick-up something unique to bring home so that you remember your trip by. Oh yeah, bring something home for your friends and family too! You do not want to upset them. d

Castle Irish

By Joanna OrdonezLayout contributor Tanisha Hawkins

Life in an

When I learned my Study Abroad group would be spending two

nights in an Irish castle, I had no idea of what to expect. I visited my fair share of castles on a July 2011 trip to Spain. I saw small, drab castles tucked away in rural hills and expansive, posh palaces nestled among bustling city streets. The vibrant exterior of the Real Alcazar de Segovia in central Spain, for example, had inspired Walt Disney in the creation of Magic Kingdom, but the inside was somewhat plain since it was more stronghold and less year-round residence. That experience rendered me a bit anxious about spending the night in a castle. Not so anxious, though, that I didn’t drift off to sleep as we drove the three hours from Cashel in Co. Tipperary to Cabra Castle near Kingscourt in Co. Cavan. I woke up as the bus was turning into the castle entrance. Besides a few small granite buildings in the distance, there was no sign of civilization anywhere. For better or worse, we were in the middle of nowhere, stuck spending the weekend miles away from a modern town. The castle grounds seemed to sprawl on forever past the roadside. When we finally got to the castle, our first sight was of an ivy-covered courtyard to the side of the front entrance. The courtyard was decorated with statues and white cast-iron table sets. On the other side of the front door was a canvas-covered terrace closed in by a side entrance. An open golf course surrounded the castle. In the old days, the grounds consisted only of the castle itself and its outbuildings, including a dairy and a laundry. Our group would be sleeping in the old dairy. Our rooms were pleasantly furnished with plush beds, soft, pastel-colored chairs and a spacious tile bathroom. After settling in, I went to explore everything the castle had to offer. Like many buildings in Ireland, the outbuildings were encased in ivy. A quiet courtyard between the outbuildings featured more tables and chairs as well as life-sized marble statuary of women carrying baskets of flowers. The weekend we stayed at the castle,

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other guests included a wedding party. You could tell who was there for the wedding by their elagent dresses, suits, ornate hats, and shoes like I have never seen before. Even the children were properly suited. To get to the main part of the castle from the outbuildings, you followed a small hallway whose green walls were covered with vintage portraits of previous castle residents and their Irish wolfhounds. Ssuits of armor guarded every corner. This corridor seemed to continue for half a mile until it opened up into parlors and lobbies. The public area of the castle featured lavish parlors and a marvelous grand staircase. To the right, an equally astonishing restaurant that offered savory three-course meals with a view of the rolling green hills outside. The main entrance to the castle was in this area, and it fit right in with the rest of the castle. It, too, was decorated suits of armor, gleaming chandeliers, grandfather clocks, mirrors and portraits of long-dead former residents. The walls on this floor were crimson red, and the doors were creamy white. An inviting fire burned in a hearth across the room from the check-in desk. Gaudy, yet appropriate, armchairs and leather sofas surrounded the fire. The most ominous object in the front foyer, however, was a large dog-hair covered pillow that belonged to Oscar, the castle’s official Irish wolfhound. Oscar roamed the grounds casually, offering guests a head to rub or a shoulder to scratch. He was not shy about protecting small castle guests from interloping canines who strayed onto the castle grounds, nor was he shy about helping himself to any guest’s dinner. I was enjoying a nice salad on the courtyard when Oscar dropped by and helped himself to my dinner. I let him have it.. Irish wolfhounds are one of the largest dog breeds in the world. No one argues with Oscar. Opposite the staircase, leading up to the second floor was another common area. Imagine a great big, fancy living room. Off to the right, the hotel bar offered an array of top-shelf spirits and wines. That evening, the sun was setting, and the weather was perfect for a glass of cabernet sauvignon. For anyone lucky enough to stay here, this is truly a private paradise!

The iteration of Cabra Castle in which we stayed was not the original castle building. Ruins of the original are a of couple miles away. The older castle belonged to the O’Reilly family until Cromwell ransacked Ireland in the mid-1600s and transferred the castle to a British colonel Thomas Cooch. Soon after taking ownership of the renamed Cabra Estate, Cooch wed a woman named Elizabeth Mervyn. The two had a daughter, also named Elizabeth, who would go on to marry Joseph Pratt and have a son, Meryn, with him in 1687. When Cooch died in 1699, the Pratts inherited the castle. Over the next century the Pratt family produced an overabundance of male heirs, all confusingly named Mervyn. In 1780, the family elected Henry Foster as their estate trustee. Early in the 19th century, Foster began an effort to rebuild Cormy Castle, now called Cabra Castle Hotel where we stayed. As a result, he exhausted personal funds, plunging the estate into debt. The Pratt family was forced to sell Cabra Estate due to financial difficulties in 1964. The purchaser was a Mr. Mansour, a diplomat serving in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Originally, Mansour planned to use the castle as a personal dwelling. However, the state of affairs in the Middle East demanded that Mansour also give up ownership. Luckily, a family called Corscadden assumed ownership of the estate in 1991. They renovated the premises to create a hotel. Their efforts have brought smiles to hundreds of thousands of guests over the past 20 years, including one

Above: The castle courtyard serves as open air seating for guests to enjoy meals, a cup of tea or even a pint of Guinness; Middle: Oscar, the castle’s resident Irish wolfhound, helps a slightly intimidated Joanna Ordonez’s finish her dinner; Bottom: The grand staircase features an intricate chandelier but is dominated by a portrait of Oliver Cromwell who seized the castle from its original owners and gave it to a British officer.

Above left: The reception room is warmed by an open fire; Castle bed-rooms were cozy despite the stone walls. Above right: Breakfast was a luxurious repast in the group’s chandelier-lit din-ing room; Suits of armor greeted visitors at virtually every twist and turn within the castle.

small group of students from Georgia and their professors who planned an epic two week trip abroad all over Ireland. Perhaps the most attractive attribute of Cabra Castle is it ghost. According to local legend, the castle owners in the 1700s had a son who had eyes for Sarah, a castle servant. Anyone who’s read Shakespeare can tell you that what is about to unravel will certainly end in tragedy. And they would be right. Since the marriage of a wealthy young man to one a servant would bring shame to the family name, the two arranged to marry in secrecy. While their wedding gathered no attention, Sarah’s pregnancy was a bit harder to hide. Soon after she began showing, the word was out, and the son’s family was furious. They demanded pregnant

Sarah be hanged by the neck from a nearby bridge until dead. It is rumored that on a quiet night guests can hear the unborn child crying out for its mother. Regardless of whether guests believe in the supernatural, there is no denying the charm that radiates throughout

Cabra Castle and the surrounding grounds. This was one of the many experiences our group was able to relish in while in Ireland, and besides providing us all with lifelong memories, it makes us all long for more time with each other in the beautiful Emerald Isle. d

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Irish pub etiquetteA little guide to

Layout contributors: Richie Iannacone and Andrew TarrBy Erica Wright

Tourists run the risk of embarrass-ing themselves if they don’t know

proper etiquette expected in an Irish pub., as a group of study abroad stu-dents, myself included, learned in Ire-land this summer. Our first night out in the “Emerald Isle” and we went out for some live music and to enjoy the night at a pub in Ennis, Ireland. We walked in and the lights were dim and the room filled with warm colors. I could see the wooden barrels outside through the window. It looked like a pub right out of a movie. Only a few band members were setting up. A group of us decided to sit at a high table in the corner. We ordered some drinks at the bar, Guinnesses and Bulmer’s ciders, of course, and to pass the time, what did we American students decide to do? Play a bar game. As we were laughing and listening to the band that at some point started to play, I looked around and realized people are looking at us. A family was sitting at the table directly in front of me. An Irish death stare. Yikes! We were clearly unprepared, our first pub experience. Our professor provided our first les-son, a mini-lecture, the next day. Do not play loud obnoxious bar games in a pub where people are sitting, re-laxing and listening to live music, she explained. It is called a pub for a rea-son, and it is not the same thing as an American bar. Pubs are formally referred to as public houses. Those that frequent pubs often live in the surrounding community and use the establishment as a meeting place with others. Clubs are places that feature a cer-tain sort of entertainment such as danc-ing, and cater to specific clientele. There is etiquette for pubs, but it varies from place-to-place. Richard Morris, 58, a bartender at The Temple Bar in Dublin, explained that each pub has something different to offer. “I like to go into a pub and read a paper,” Morris said. “Certain people like music. There is a time and place for everything.” Morris recommends scoping out a place with live music if you’re looking for crowds of people. Try searching

Irish pub etiquette

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Augusta State University study abroad students enjoying a few pints after a long day of touring.

for a place with fewer people if you’re looking to relax. Go to a club, if you are looking for more of a loud dance party scene. Brendan O’Dwyer, 30, of Cashel, Ireland explained that certain behavior has to be maintained in a pub. “When you walk into a pub’s doors it’s like someone’s home. You have to respect,” O’Dwyer said, “if not, there is the door.” Margaret Scanlan, in her book “Culture and Customs of Ireland,” ex-plained why a pub is like someone’s home. Originally, and in some cases today, pubs were an escape for men who lived with their families in overcrowd-ed and wretched rooms. It was their home away from home where they could speak freely for hours, as Scan-lan explained. Traditionally, pub owners were re-spected figures and served multiple

roles in the community as a respected figure. According to Scanlan these roles included dispensing loans, me-diating disputes, offering sage advice, even reading and writing letters for il-literate customers with family overseas. She even mentioned a licensing law in 1872 that allowed pub owners “an absolute right to refuse service to any customer and bar him at will without having to cite any reason.” This grants pub owners as much control of their pub, as they do of their homes. Before heading into a pub abroad, here are a few tips gathered from Mor-ris, O’Dwyer and others. One night while in Cashel, I sug-gested that a small group of us go out to get away from the cramped hostel. I thought what better place to go out in Ireland than a pub. My good friend decided she was not going to change her clothes. Her outfit consisted of a gray and green Ireland study abroad

t-shirt, jeans, and a pink Masters cap. We walked in as a group, stood around for a few seconds, finally sat down at a table, then continued to look around, and eventually one of us got up to order drinks. We fit right into O’Dwyer’s descrip-tion of Americans at a pub. “American women come in groups, look around for a while, sit down and then only one person orders the drinks,” O’Dwyer said. “We walk into a pub, look around and say hi.” He then explained that the Irish go to the bar and order a drink. According to O’Dwyer, what you wear will say a lot. Sneakers are called runners. Wear them with a pair of jeans and people will know you are a tourist. Fellas, take some time to people watch in Ireland and you’ll spot your fair share of Irish men wearing “run-ners,” but many have on dressier shoes when they go out.

Ladies, a pair of skinny jeans and a nice top will be fine for a pub, but leave the “runners” at home. Now, if you plan to go out to a club after leav-ing the pub, dress up for the occasion. Looking for privacy? Morris sug-gests sitting at a table. This however does not guarantee people won’t come up and talk to you. Looking to make conversation? Morris suggests sitting at the bar. Chances are the people next to you will spark up a conversation, and if not them, then the bartender. Once the bartender starts talking to you, others will join. The Irish are friendly, talk-ative people, and they love Americans. To order a drink, go up to the bar to order your drink, even if you’re sitting at a table. Don’t wait for someone to come take your order (this applies to most pubs, but exceptions exist, espe-cially where food service is available). If you want an authentic Irish pub drink, do what the Irish do and order a Guinness. You have two options: a pint or half-pint. Order a glass, and you will get a half-pint. Be prepared to wait, though, if you order a Guinness. Morris explained that there is an art to pouring a pint of Guinness, and it requires a two-step process. First, the beer is poured slowly down the side of a tilted glass until just below the rim. After the head has developed, the second pour brings the head to the rim. Pay for your drink once you get it and avoid opening a tab. Reason One: It annoys most bartenders. Reason Two: You look like a tourist for asking. “Here you get a drink, pay for it, you put the change in your pocket,” Odwyer said. “There are so many nut jobs here, you don’t open a tab.” Morris said it is okay to open a tab if there are few people and it’s quiet. “If it’s busy, it’s hard to keep an eye on the customer.” There is no need to tip. The money a bartender makes is not based off tips like in America; they have a set wage they are paid. However, they won’t re-fuse a tip if you give them one, unless their name is Kevin and they work at O’Donnells Pub in Ennis, Ireland. Be respectful and remember it is like

someone’s home. You will lose your spot if you get up in a crowded pub. Do not try to save your seat or table by leaving your drink, jacket, purse or cigarettes on the table. “In Ireland, you leave your drink and cigarettes on the table, you come back, your drinks and fags are gone,” O’Dwyer said. You will be frowned upon and the Irish will think you can’t hold your liquor, if you get wasted or trashed. Enjoy your pint, don’t chug it. The Irish will think you don’t know how to drink if you chug, chug, chug. One

Karleigh King, Jessica Hornsby, Liz Wendling, Marissa Neal and Hannah Wallings-ford relax with some food and beer while enjoying the Irish nightlife.

For those who prefer a louder scene, there are night clubs where people dance the night away.

of our classmates repeatedly decided to chug a few pints down. The stares he received weren’t of fascination. Other things to keep in mind. You will hear “craic” a lot. It means fun. They do not free-pour liquor. There are laws against it, but with mixed drinks there are some exceptions. Save yourself a lecture and do not ask the bartender to free-pour anything. Finally, do not order an Irish car bomb…ever! Some people will take of-fense to it. Please take these tips into consideration and save yourself from an idiot abroad experience. d

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Story by Tiffany LoomanLayout by Gwendolyn Bagley

The lure of home

retraces his grandfather's steps

On the way to the airport, Frank Vaughn, 59, of Augusta, Ga., sat in the rental car with a black leather bound note-

book in his lap. He opened the notebook to show the legal-sized paper that was filled with his grandfather’s writing. Tucked into the pocked of the notebook was a small picture that had yellowed with age. The photo showed Telmer Vaughan holding his grand-son, Frank, as a toddler. Vaughan shut the notebook and looked up with a wide grin on his face. In his eyes you could tell that he was proud to take the journey “home.” He was excited to tell his story to anyone who would listen.

The lure of home

retraces his grandfather's steps

As soon as Frank opened his mouth and spoke, the low rumble

and drawl of his voice hinted he was a “Southern boy.” The slow drawl of his vowels made his stories seem twice as long as the ordinary person’s. The deep lines on his face told that he had a pretty hard life and many stories to tell. Vaughan was eager to talk about his youth. After high school gradua-tion in 1970, Vaughan did not go to college; instead, he found work at vari-ous construction sites, mostly as a pipe fitter. Having taught himself the guitar, Vaughan also performed as a street musician. Coming from a generation that listened to Bob Dylan, Neil Young and The Eagles, Vaughan adopted the classic rock image and musical style. Through the years, Vaughan dealt with many hardships, including a failed marriageand injuries on the job. His spirit never failed because he al-ways had his companion—music. His love for music eventually led him to become a student of Carl Purdy, a mu-sic professor at Augusta State Univer-sity. Vaughan has been studying with purdy for almost three years. Purdy said it was challenging to

teach Vaughan because he was a self-made musician who did not know how to read music. Purdy felt that Vaughan brought a lot to the table, too, howev-er. With each lesson, Vaughan became more disciplined. Not only does Vaughan study gui-tar with Purdy, he is also a member of Purdy’s folk music group, the Sand Hills String Band, which is an ASU conservatory program. Vaughan is also a member of the First Baptist Church of Augusta, where he sings in the choir. He also sings with the Columbia County Choral Society, and in the past, he as sung with the Augusta Choral Society. When Purdy told Vaughan about the study abroad trip to Ireland, Vaughan was quick to sign up. Vaughan re-membered that his grandfather once told him that his ancestors came from Ireland, and he decided the time had come to return to his roots. It was about that time when Vaughan stumbled upon a letter that his grandfather had written to him back during his senior year in high school. Vaughan happened to pick up his 1970 yearbook from Butler High School, and there he found his grand-

fathers words. If this wasn’t a sign to go, he didn’t know what was. The let-ter was the map to the life Telmer had wished for Vaughan. “Dear God, I wish I had taken the time to read them 40 years ago,” Vaughan said. “Would it have made a difference!” After making the decision to go to Ireland, Vaughan started to plan the physical and mental journey that it would take to find his ancestor’s home-land. “Frank joined a gym prior to leav-ing,” Purdy said. “He knew that there would be a lot of walking and that he would be playing at the pub long hours. He wanted to be in this best shape he could be in. He started los-ing weight and walking six miles a day. He did not want to be the one lagging around and cause anyone to wait on him.” In order to go to Ireland with ASU, Vaughan had to enroll as a student. He decided to audit Purdy’s History of Celtic Music course. In preparation for the trip, Vaughan frequently visited the Study Abroad Office and smiled at everyone who entered. He would in-troduce himself and ask if they were

Frank Vaughan taking a picture of a monument in Ballyvaughn.

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going to Ireland as well. With his childlike excitement, he would tell ev-eryone why he was going. “I’m going to Ireland because I love to play music, and my granddaddy al-ways told us that we are from a town in Ireland called Ballyvaughan,” Vaughan said. “I figured I would take a course with Carl Purdy, and then I would have the chance to see where my an-cestors came from.” Finally the departure day came. The study abroad group left on May 14. Vaughan excitedly chattered all the way on the two-hour trek to the air-port. He gave a description of his fam-ily and talked about his family history research. He would occasionally give a huge smile, and his laughter would fill the car. A favorite find in his research was that his great-grandmother was di-vorced. This fact tickled Vaughan be-cause he was happy he wasn’t the only one in he, too, is divorced. After arriving at the airport, the group had a couple of hours before they boarded the flight. Vaughan

pulled out his guitar and started play-ing Bach’s “Jesu Joy of Man’s Desire.” He looked over and gave that boyish grin. It was the first time that many had the opportunity to watch Vaughan play. Once in Ireland, the students trav-eled all around Ireland and visited ev-erything from local pubs to ancient ru-ins, but there was one stop in particular that played on Vaughan’s heart. The second day of the trip, the faculty arranged to make a stop in Vaughan’s ancestoral home: Bally-vaughan. As the bus approached the town, the students looked over to see Vaughan’s reaction, but he had fallen asleep. He was hunched over with his head drooping down. His body was rocking side to side as the bus went around the winding Irish roads. The students were very eager to wake him up and let him know that he was approaching Ballyvaughan. Immediately after the students called out to him, Vaughan pulled out his

camera and started taking pictures. When the bus stopped, Vaughan was able to take a stroll around town. He captured every picture that he pos-sibly could. The day couldn’t have been more beautiful. The sun shone down on Vaughan as he walked around Bal-lyvaughan. He would come across locals and say “Hi, I’m Frank Vaughan, and this is where my ancestors lived.” The students didn’t mind the extra-stop. Everyone was so proud for him, and Sara Tafazoli, a communications major, said that Vaughan’s determi-nation and energy rubbed off on so many students. She said the students were excited for him, especially when the group stopped in his ancestors’ town. “Frank had a deep appreciation ev-erywhere we went,” Tafazoli said. “I never heard him complain. It was fun to see him not only in Ballyvaughan, but also in every location. He was so eager to take pictures. Many students would see his last name on buildings

Top: Frank Vaughan takes a group picture with other study abroad studetns. Bottom: Vaughan and Hubert van Tuyll perform together in a pub. Vaughan was known to play in several pubs mulitple times a week while studying abroad.

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or graves, and we would be so excited to show him. But I think we all espe-cially loved when he played his guitar. Once in awhile you would catch him outside playing his guitar and harmon-ica. His face would light up, and we all knew he was in his element.” When he got back on the bus, he sat in a seat by himself and pulled out the notebook with his grandfather’s writing and stared at the picture of himself as a boy. For the rest of the trip, Vaughan carried the notebook with him. The third night in Ireland, the stu-dents arrived at the Cashel Holiday Hostel, where they were to stay for nine nights. The hostel was set up in a dormitory fashion that had community bathrooms and bedrooms with mul-tiple bunk beds. There was a kitchen that everyone would share and a living room for conversing. Vaughan, being a good 36 years older than his room-mates, seemed problematic for some students until they started to talk to him. Trey Thorne, a 23-year-old commu-nications and Spanish major, was one of Vaughan’s roommates at the hostel, and he got to know Vaughan on a per-sonal level. “At first, sure, the idea of an older gentleman seemed a bit out of place,” Thorne said. “He reminded me a bit of an uncle, so I didn’t know how to present myself to him. So, I figured since first impressions are the best, I’d

just be myself around him, and get a feel from there.”Although Thorne was hesitant about rooming with a 59-year-old student, he learned a lot from Vaughan and is glad he had the experience of getting to know him. Over the next nine nights, Frank became close to his roommates and other students in the hostel. The only issue that students seemed to have with Vaughan was when his alarm clock would go off. The “cockle-doodle-do” would penetrate the walls of the hostel, waking every surrounding student ex-cept for Vaughan. The students were aggravated, but all was forgiven when Vaughan flashed that Southern smile. It was in County Tipperary that the students got to experience Vaughan’s musical abilities. Several students gath-ered at a local pub to watch him per-form. Vaughan was the image of Neil Young (minus the long hair). He was wearing a flannel shirt with old worn-out jeans. He traded his cowboy hat for a traditional Irish flat cap. Vaughan played all hours of the night, but it wasn’t until one sunny af-ternoon at the hostel that the students heard Vaughan sing. Everyone was sit-ting in the kitchen finishing their lunch when they heard this raspy voice come from the courtyard. Then, the sound of a harmonica filled the air. As they ran outside to see where the music was coming from, they saw Vaughan sit-

ting on a wooden bench in the gazebo. He looked up and gave a smile then continued to sing. Everyone sat as he gave them a private concert. Amanda McBride’s favorite moment was seeing Vaughan play at the hostel.“If you would close your eyes, he sounded like Bob Dylan, with a south-ern twang,” McBride said. “It was nice to sit outside and watch him perform. You could tell that he had a love for music.” Vaughan, students can say that he followed in his grandfather’s footsteps in another way, too: He became an in-spiration to every student. Age didn’t matter. Being around Frank gave stu-dents the ability to see that it is never too late to follow your dreams. For-ty-two after high school graduation, Vaughan took his grandfather’s advice. He seized the opportunity to find his roots. “If I took anything from meeting him, it would be to not worry about what others might think of you,” Thorne said. “I’m sure he felt awkward around such a younger crowd of men and women, but that didn’t stop him from having a good time. If ‘Carpe Diem’ could apply to anyone on the trip, I think Frank would have been the biggest candidate.” During the rest of the trip, Vaughan never missed a day of class. He spent most of his time performing at local pubs. During his free time, he would search for different pubs where he could play music. He seized every op-portunity to take pictures, in order to bring them home to his family. As Vaughan traveled around Ire-land, so did his grandfather’s picture. Forty-two years later, he took the ad-vice of his grandfather, and he was able to follow in the footsteps of his hero. Vaughan still looks at his grandfather’s notes for advice. His grandfather had once told him that one never finishes his education and that we learn some-thing new daily. With the memory of his grandfa-ther’s words fresh in his mind, and the fact that Vaughan enjoyed his trip, Vaughan decided that he wants to en-roll as a full-time student and major in music.d

Frank Vaughan’ with his ubiquitous guitar and Irish cap.

Telmar Vaughan’s 10 wishes for the youth of 1970

1. Have a few friends who understand you and yet remain

your friend.

2. Work to do which has real value and without which the

world would be poorer.

3. Have an understanding heart.

4. Have moments of leisure so you can look at yourself in the

mirror of life.

5. Have a mind unafraid and guts to travel through un-

charted paths, as your forbearers did.

6. Have a sight of the eternal hills and the un-resting sea

and of something beautiful the hand of man has made.

7. Have the power to laugh and to make others laugh.

8. Gain nothing at the expense of others.

9. Whether in travels on the ground of sailing the seas or ex-

ploring its depths, to always feel the presence of God telling

you to have faith in the hours of despair or sorrow.

10. Have the patience to wait for the coming of these things

and the wisdom to know when they come.

usicaland

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So there he was. After playing tra-ditional Irish music for most of

his life, fiddler Carl Purdy was final-ly in Ireland for the first time ever, playing in the pubs every night for enthusiastic crowds. They loved his Americanized renditions of classic fiddle tunes. They even got up and danced, stay-ing long after the pub curtains were drawn and the bitter darkness of the Guinness had become as congenial as a peat fire on a cold night. Purdy’s bluegrass fiddling, though, that’s what really brought the house down. They stomped and hooted and hollered like crazy peo-ple whenever he played “Orange Blossom Special” or “Soldier’s Joy.” The problem was, bluegrass is hard on a fiddle, especially the bow. All that fast, firm friction breaks the horse hairs. After about a week, Purdy’s bow had shed so much hair, it was becoming unplayable. Under normal circumstances, re-placing bow hair isn’t much of a problem, but Purdy, a music pro-fessor at Augusta State University, was traveling with a Study Abroad group, was stuck in the small town of Cashel. Cashel has a wealth of historic treasures that go all the way back to the mists of time, but it doesn’t have a music store. Nor did it have any sort of transportation Purdy could take to get somewhere that did have a music store. So what was a poor musician to do? According to Purdy, re-hairing a bow is not a hard task. In fact, it’s something he’s done for as long as he’s been a string player -- and he started playing as a yound child. However, there was a complica-tion: he didn’t have any horse hair, nor did he have any of the tools he’d normally use to accomplish the job, including the requisite hank of

usicalJessie's bow

and

By Debbie van Tuyll

The 'tail' of

acgyverM

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horse hair. So, this musical Macgyver, this maestro of mechanical magic, got creative. He talked to P. J. Quinlan, owner of the Cashel Holiday Hostel where the group was staying, about bor-rowing a bit of horse hair. Quinlan, an entrepreneur who also operates a carriage tour of Cashel, called home to his farm just out of town and had his carriage driver bring Jessie to town. Jessie is a lovely chesnut draft horse with a jet black tail. Usually, Purdy explained, bows for smaller string instruments like fiddles use light-colored hair. Dark-er hair, which is coarser than light hair, is more suitable for larger in-struments like cellos or basses that use thicker strings. However, falling as he did, into the “beggar” category, Purdy was in no position to be picky. He relieved Jessie of a couple of hanks of tail hair and got to work. Purdy’s first task was to wash the hair so as to remove as much, well, horsey “organic” matter as he could. Then, he had to dry the hair and comb it straight before cutting it to fit and installing it in his bow. Using nothing more than a pair of fingernail sissors, some sanding paper, a hair comb, an eye-glass screw driver, and some dental floss, Purdy dismantled his bow, removed the old shreded hair and installed Jessie’s hair. The process took a couple of days -- mostly due to the lack of real tools and the group’s tour-ing schedule. Once it was done, though, Purdy had a bow that was better than new. Purdy has been using Jessie’s bow, as it’s been christened, for about six months, and he reports that it’s worked out better than a

lighter haired bow would have. Despite major bluegrass gigs, as well as his usual classical and Irish playing, Jessie’s bow has lost very little hair, and it’s given his violin

Purdy in one of the happier moments in the process of re-hairing his bow. The cov-ered patio at the hostel was an ideal location for the repair job.

such a different (in a good way) tone, one of his bluegrass band-mates even asked him if he’d gotten a new fiddle. d

The old hair after it was removed from the bow; Inset: Using fingernail sissors to remove the old hair.

Purdy’s repairs were accomplished with make-shift tools such as sandpaper, dental floss and sissors. Once complete, though, the bow was even better than new. Nearly a year later, Purdy is still playing with Jessie’s hair -- and he often lends the bow out to students who have special performances or auditons.

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Grafton Street

A harpist plays for Grafton Street visitors.

Story by Joanna Ordonez Layout by Jessica Hanson

Busking On

Dublin is the largest and most pop-ulated city of Ireland. As in all big

cities, there are many interesting things to see and uniquely remarkable people to meet in Dublin. Besides its residents, workers, and tourists who roam the streets every day, there are also artists, singers, and instrument players with all of their equipment, performing their talents on the streets for money, or “busking.” The majority of Dublin’s “buskers,” or street performers, are to be found on Grafton Street, the city’s wealthi-est and most popular shopping cen-tre. There is no vehicular traffic, only people, flower stands, restaurants, ice cream shops, jewelry stores, and all kinds of clothing boutiques. Although busking is seen all over the city, the most amazing of it all is seen on this street. No permit is required to busk on Grafton Street, but buskers must still be careful of where and how they do it. If the Garda (Irish police) believe that they are blocking the entrance to a store, blocking the walking path for other pedestrians, are too loud, or simply being obnoxious, they can tell them to stop or go elsewhere. Wav-ing a hat around asking for money is considered begging, which is illegal, but buskers can place baskets or other things in front of them and hope for the generosity of pedestrian’s spare change. There are buskers who busk for fun, and there are buskers who busk to make a living. Each busker has his or her own extraordinary talent and unique story. Amongst the many who hit Grafton Street every day, there were four who stood out to me during my time in Dublin: Kara Love, 22, of Cork Ireland, a student of Trinity College trying to save money to pay for school; Frederik Rasmussen, 43, of Stavanger, Norway, supporting his family in any way he can; Christopher Flanagan, 23, of Dublin, trying to establish his ca-reer path as a singer and guitarist; and an already established and signed five-part band called “Keywest,” of Dublin, promoting their debut CD. Kara’s family was never wealthy, so throughout high school in Cork, she worked at an Irish retail store called Dunnes. She always dreamed of living in Dublin and going to Trinity Col-

lege, so she has been working to pay for college ever since she legally could. When she arrived in Dublin in 2009 at the age of 19, she had just enough money to get herself settled in to the city, so she had to figure out what to do next. “I didn’t want to come to Dublin and work at its Dunnes, so I decided to pick up my first love, my guitar,” Kara said with a smile. “Just to make sure I have money in my pocket I pro-mote for The Sugar Club some nights, but I’ve recorded a CD, and I try to spend my free time here on Grafton Street.” In order acquire her degree in En-vironmental Science at Trinity College, Kara passes out fliers to club-goers by night, trying to convince them to visit her employer, The Sugar Club. During the day, though, when she is not at school or doing her schoolwork, she parks her guitar, her microphone, a handful of CDs, and her open guitar case, singing covers and some songs of her own. “I can make 20 Euros some days and 70 on good days,” Kara said. “I’ve made less than 20, but also much more than 70, this is just a good guess, you know.” It may be a gamble for Kara, but she enjoys going out to Grafton Street to sing and play her guitar when she can, and since she can make a little bit of money in the meantime, she enjoys it even more. Frederik has been playing the dul-cimer since he was a young boy and recorded a CD with three of his home-town friends in 2008, with the hopes of supporting his family with his mu-sic. He is a husband and a father of two boys. His family resides in his hometown of Stavanger while he trav-els around Europe to busk where he can. “I think not many people have seen a dulcimer,” Frederik said. “So, I bring it to places like Dublin to teach people and to make money, of course.” A dulcimer is a stringed musical in-strument that has strings stretched over a trapezoid shaped wooden board, placed at an angle. The player of the instrument hits the strings with two small mallets and makes soft melodies in the meantime. So far, he has busked in England,

Germany, and he is now in Dublin. He has gone to each place for six months at a time. Frederik says that there are no tourists in his city, and no one there pays attention to buskers, so his solution was to visit big cities. He hopes to one day bring his family to a big city, or at least give them the good life he believes they deserve. “My sons are growing older, and I want them to attend the university, so I will do anything I can to get them there,” Frederik stated. He said that busking in Dublin has been his favorite place so far. He en-joys the curiosity of all the people and Grafton Street, and of course, he has made the most money while playing there. Christopher has been playing the guitar as long as he can remember. He decided long ago that college was not for him, so his goal has been to make it big, whether in Ireland, the UK, or America. “A trip to America is my dream,” Christopher declared. “One day, me and my guitar will be famous. You just wait and see.” Christopher works as a bartender at The Cobblestone Pub by night, and plays on Grafton Street by day. He does not make much money, but he makes enough to make a living in the city he was born and raised.

Visitors Dublin’s historic Grafton Street.

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Keywest is a band that was created in Dublin by two Dubliners, Andrew Kavanagh (Andy), 26, and Andrew Glover (Glover), 26, both of a suburb of Dublin called Artane. Andy is Keywest’s lead singer, and Glover does vocals and plays the guitar. Through many years of struggle and hard work, they have finally chosen the rest of their band members and have released a CD with an American re-cord label. Sam Marder, 24, of Sussex, England is their bassist; James Lock, 27 of Sussex, the lead guitar; and Har-ry Sullivan, 25, of London, England, is their percussionist. “We started busking a few years ago because Sam and James are from Eng-land, and they moved over to be in the band,” Andy told. “They went out trying to get jobs and that didn’t work. They tried to busk on their own, but they’re not very good on their own, so they made no money. So, we all started busking as a group in Galway.” While busking in Galway, Ireland, they were approached by a man who offered to help them record an album; as a result, they were signed by a com-pany. “Six months ago we signed a deal in the U.S.,” Andy explained. “The reason we’re busking on the street is because in that contract we asked if we could exclude Ireland off the deal in case everything went wrong when we went over to America, we would still have what we have here.” Their first single has played on the radio everywhere except for Dublin, so although they are an established band with their dreams very well in the pro-cess of coming true, they decided to

go back to their roots to promote their debut CD, which is busking on Graf-ton Street. These buskers of Grafton Street along with all the rest that fill the street every day, all have different motivations and diverse reasons for their work. Kara loves her guitar, but would love a blue-collar career much more. Frederik has a family to support and a limited amount of resources at home. Christo-pher wishes to one day be a famous guitarist, and the guys of Keywest are simply touching back to where they started in honor of their current careers and how much they love busking. d

A Grafton Street performer entertains passersby with a few magic tricks.

Grafton Street is one of Dublins most famous pedestrian-only streets. Its flower vendors and other shops attract scores of visitors every day, including an occasional leprechaun.

merry travelersBelow: The group at the Rock of Cashel; on facing page, from left, column 1: Drew Hall, Frank Vaughan, Pam Hay-ward, Betina (hostel manager in Cashel); column 2: Jake Mace, Liz Wendling, Erin Russ, Lauren Kellems; column 3: Laursyn Vano, Shannon King, Mick Flynn (bus driver and friend), and P. J. Quinlan (hostel owner in Cashel).

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Stuart Prather

Karleigh King

Hannah Wallingsford

Taylor Helms

Andre Yandow Erica Wright and Tiffany Looman

Joanna Ordonez

Erica Wright and Sara Tafazoli

Jessica Hornsby

Laura van Tuyll andShannon King Hubert van Tuyll

Patrick Kavanaugh andCarl Purdy

Drew Hall Jake Mace

Laursyn Vano

Frank Vaughan Liz Wendling

Shannon King

Pam Hayward

Erin Russ

Mick Flynn

Betina Lauren Kellems P. J. Quinlan

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Immediately above: The group at the Bru Boru Center, an interactive museum devoted to traditional Irish music.

Cara Crawford Jason Maynard andAmanda McBride Debbie van Tuyll

Melissa Tyler

J. P. ReisBriAnne Russ

Top photo: Laursyn Vano, Julie Bennett, Sylvia Allen, Kattie Tuttle, and Carl Purdy enjoy dinner al fresco in the hostel courtyard after a long day touring.

Will PollackKatie Tuttle Marissa Neal

Sylvia Allen Julie BennettTrey Thorne

For information about future programs in Ireland,

contact Debbie van Tuyll at dvantuyl@aug.edu