Troubled Man in the Land of Troubles: Summer 2023 Abroad in Ireland

What's a home away from home? Well, for this 21-year-old Wisconsinite on the trek to Ireland, a pub -- any pub, really -- is certainly a good start. Throughout my trip to Ireland, I have transformed into a fish in the proficiency and resiliency I have become with my drinking exploits, of which were frequent, cathartic, and an opportunity to take the backpack off my shoulders (sometimes quite literally) and relax for a bit. While I have no cause for concern that this extended episode of frequent drinks and pints at some of Ireland's most established pubs will translate into a problem of some sorts with my alcohol intake, I will admit that I had never consumed this much alcohol in a month-long period. But nonetheless, when I have ever felt down and out with the world in my time in Ireland, there was always a pub waiting for me, a pint waiting for me, a bartender waiting for me, and hopefully a friend waiting for me. To me, for these reasons, a pub is not just an establishment for...

The period of the Irish revolutionaries -- fighting justly for republicanism in early 20th-century Ireland -- is looked upon retrospectively in Ireland as being philosophically akin to past successful revolutions worldwide such as the French Revolution or even the American Revolution. In fact, all three revolutions (or periods, as it is to be known in Ireland) share similar structures: tyrannical oppressors and their tyrannical actions lead distressed subjects to revolt against unruly kingdoms not just to change leadership, but essentially to send in a demolition crew, dismantle the political system, create swift regime change, and bring prosperity, freedom, and liberties back to the people where it belongs. So, it was only out of a matter of righteousness that some of the most tactical, methodical, and brave Irish men, women, and children band together for the name of republicanism to turn the oppression on its head and pave a way out of humiliation, oppression, and gore into a new av...

In our various excursions throughout the Emerald Isle, I have been made aware repeatedly throughout our stops on the history of early 20th-century Irish revolutionaries who fought and often died for the noble cause of Irish republicanism. While I -- an American -- acknowledge the disconnect between myself and a devoted, staunch Irish citizen in paying respect to many of the fallen revolutionaries of yesteryear colonial Ireland, I can't possibly refrain from acknowledging how vital these brave men and women were to fostering and cultivating the Irish republic. As to pour one out for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice or who lived to see strides towards the horizon, I paid a visit to the Glasnevin Cemetery -- the final resting place for many of the most consequential revolutionaries in Irish history. The final resting place of many of the most storied revolutionaries is in suburban Dublin at the Glasnevin Cemetery, known for its unapologetic Catholic imagery prevalent throughout. ...

Kids, when I was a young man unsatisfied with various aspects of UWL and all it inflicted upon my social life, I booked my study-abroad trip to Ireland so as to escape towards something out there that gave me some relief from the more anxiety-inducing events that I encountered in the past three years in La Crosse, even if it would only turn out to be marginal, temporary happiness. That, of all ideas, led me to the wonderful, curvaceous, and tall specimen that you now know as the Cliffs of Moher, the geographic gem of the Emerald Isle that I met at a very strange time in my life. In all seriousness, I had seen the Cliffs of Moher from afar before -- again through pop culture -- namely in The Princess Bride when Inigo Montoya looks to get back at his father's six-fingered murderer by defeating him in a duel; he fails miserably and takes the L on the "Cliffs of Insanity". Of course, the cliffs -- as most cliffs in fact do -- looked pretty cool as a tourist attraction, often...

In booking my trip to Ireland to study the art of Irish memoirs and Irish politics, I was delighted to find out that one destination on the list of class-sanctioned excursions was to the beautiful town of Galway. Of course, as an American, my sole connection to the city of Galway came from a certain musical composition created from a certain English musician (fellow-ginger, one of the only redeeming qualities about him) that seems to talk about everything about stereotypical Irish culture. So, it was to my utter lack of surprise that I totally walked into The Song That Should Not Be Named as a cultural reference in our introduction to the O'Connell's Bar in downtown Galway. A classic Irish pub with an outstanding scene in the backyard beer garden, the bar has a sad history of being eternally connected to that song for being the main location of filming for the events featured in the lyrics. (At least it featured beloved Irish Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan, which brings...

For someone whose absolute joke of a social life has led him to attend no formal concerts throughout my life, I found it to be advantageous to attend a concert in Dublin for the 1975 -- a band who I had heard of but not heard a single note of a song of. In roughly a week of preparation and homework of the band, whose millennial voice on Gen-Z issues in society has drawn some critical acclaim, I came to the calculation that this was not necessarily a band that I would covet having to see live, but also one that I could have a decent time watching (if that makes any sense). In the grand scheme of things: why not? I was tired of having a social life distinguished as having had no actual fun, and I came to Ireland to change that exact purpose, so a concert could make that change for the better. Come concert day, after our excursion to Dublin City Hall, I was ready to go. After having studied the five studio albums released by the 1975 since their inception (and only remembering a few of th...