Thursday, 14 June 2012
Last Wednesday, June 6th the Olympic Torch was taken on a tour of Dublin involving a number of Ireland’s recognizable Olympic medal winners, including Wayne McCullough, Michael Carruth and Ronnie Delaney. Being an outsider it seems that having the torch relay throughout Ireland is very significant and exciting because of how close Ireland is to London, where this year’s Olympic Games will take place. It was even more exciting that the Olympic Torch passed right in front of American College Dublin. At around noon Colum, a few other colleagues, and the study abroad students met outside ACD to see the lighting of the torch. Although Colum mentioned that this was an exciting moment for Ireland, I wasn’t expecting to see the large amount of crowds outlining Merrion Square. Everyone was in such high spirits cheering and clapping as the torch was being carried down the street. The man who was holding the torch was Ronnie Delany he was very friendly and allowed people to come up take pictures with him, as well as touch the famous Olympic torch.
This weekend was the kick off to the 2012 European Football Championship, which is commonly referred to as Euro 2012 with 16 nations all competing to win. Although the games began on Friday, it wasn’t until Sunday night when Ireland would be playing their fist match against Croatia. This match was especially important to Ireland because it was the first time in 25 years that Ireland was qualified to play in the Euro matches. While there was no doubt that Dublin City Centre was expected to crowded with fans, my friends who I had made last year basically demanded that I take the DART to Howth to meet them at their Soccer Club/Pub to watch the game in a “proper Irish atmosphere, far away from tourist.” Even though the match did not start until 7:30, my friends made it clear that I should meet them in Howth about an hour earlier so we were sure to have good seats to watch from. My friend Ciarian met me as I got off at Howth-Junction DART station, and directed me towards his team club called Naomh Barrog GAA Club. This local club consists of two different types of members. You are either a “social member” which means you pay a certain fee to drink there and have free admittance to gigs that occur throughout the year. The other types of members are considered full members which means you play on an intramural team of hurling or football. As we entered the club I felt like we were celebrating St. Paddy’s Day. The club house was packed with all local Irish people (no tourists, well besides me) dressed in their most authentic and festive Irish attire. Everyone was wearing green, some had their face painted, and others were wearing the Irish flag as a cape. It was clear that the Irish were ready to support their team proudly! Throughout the game the clubhouse would burst out in two chants, the first one was “you will never beat the Irishhhh, you will never beat the Irishhhh” and the second was “come on you boys in green” (I was told its usually boys in blue because of the Dublin hurling team at Croke stadium, but it was appropriate to change up the color for the occasion). I knew very little about the Euro prior to the game, but with the help of my two good friends Ciarian and Stix, as well as a club house full of Irish people I quickly learned and got into the game. My friend explained to me while laughing that Ireland is typically “considered the underdog in most sports” so even if they get one goal it will be a huge deal. And what do you know, GOAL!!!! The club house went crazy! We all jumped up in excitement, some people got on the tables, others were dancing around and hugging each other. Although Croatia ended up beating Ireland by 2, I was surprised to see the lack of sore losers in the club house after the lost. I eventually made my way back in to town, where I thought most pubs would probably be closing or empty. I was wrong. Ireland might have lost, but the party was still going on! I am once again reminded why I love this country so much, the Irish mentality is truly unique and amazing. Everyone is just out to have a good time! Hope you all are enjoying my blog, please keep reading to hear more about my summer experiences in Dublin!
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