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Sphere Within a Sphere

Italian sculpture Arnaldo Pomodoro donated this globe in 1982 and sits in front of the Berkeley Library. The sphere has a 3d shape and is sculpted out of bronze which gives it the shiny gold exterior. It almost gives off an abstract feeling with the middle gaping open to reveal some sort of gears. I personally think this is a unique sculpture that makes one think about what it might actually mean.

Doctor Lawson

This bust caught my eye because, out of no where, my cousin started getting really excited saying "That's my name! That's my name!". I could not find any historical information on Doctor Lawson but I did note the detail in the way the bust was carved. The cream hue of the sculpture is pretty normal for busts complements the dark tones of the library very well. I'm glad my cousin spotted this sculpture.

The Old Library

This library at Trinity College houses 200,000 rare books. The ceiling has a barrel vault all the way through the room. It was originally built between 1712 and 1732 but then renovations were done around 1856 for more space for all the many books. My first impression of this library was that I just walked into the library at Hogwarts. I was mesmerized by all the old books and the tall majestic ceilings. It made me wish Harry Potter and Hogwarts were in the real world. 

Documentary Response 4: St. Canice's Cathedral & Round Tower, Magnhild Opdøl's "Pilot" & "Invitation to Love", & Magnhild Opdøl's "Fear of the Unknown" & "Fawn"

St. Canice's Cathedral & Round Tower
The cathedral and round tower are found in Kilkenny, Ireland and were established in the 6th century. The cathedral is of gothic architecture with all the pointed arches that are found in the cathedral.

For over 800 years there have been worship services in this cathedral. The cathedral has a number of stain glass windows and two of those windows were from the Harry Clark Studio in Dublin. 

A picture of some of the stain glass windows in the cathedral

One of the sights in the cathedral is the Bishop of Ossory's chair which has been around since 1120. 

The Bishop's chair

As for the tower, it is known to be one of two towers in Ireland that still allows access for people to climb. The tower is also the oldest structure in Kilkenny City that is still standing.

I really enjoyed seeing the cathedral and climbing the tower. When I first went in the tower, I thought it was going to be another tower with a spiral staircase but it was totally different. It was back to back ladder staircases that were extremely nerve wracking to climb but it just made the experience at the top that much better because the climb was a difficult one. 

Magnhild Opdøl's Pilot & Invitation to Love

After visiting St. Canice's Cathedral and Round Tower, we went to the Butler Museum, also in Kilkenny, to see Magnhild Opdøl's art exhibit. Two of the pieces in her exhibit were called Pilot and Invitation to Love. 

These two pieces were essentially a donut box before it was folded and put together and donut boxes stacked on top of each other. The Pilot seemed almost like a blue print that was put on the wall to show what the boxes were made out of. 

The Invitation to Love was built in a way that looked like a building made of pink donut boxes. It was very neat to see that each box had a specific place and a specific purpose in that place. 

The artist was referencing the TV series Twin Peaks with these pieces which I have never seen but she emphasized the desserts in the series and went with the donut for the dessert since it was a cop show.

I was completely fascinated by the design and structure of the donut boxes and just how many boxes there were was extremely amazing.

Magnhild Opdøl's Fear of the Unknown & Fawn

The second Opdøl piece I chose to write on was the Fear of the Unknown and Fawn. 

The first piece showed a postcard on the wall of a doe and two fawn staring of into the dark while the second piece was a bronze casting of Bambi in a glass dome gazing off after the doe and two fawn. 

I really liked how the artist chose a real Bambi toy to make the fawn gazing at the other deer because it made the fawn more innocent and sad while incased in a glass dome. The fawn is all alone and looking almost longingly at the other three deer who are not noticing the fawn because of their own issue with the darkness ahead of them. The way these pieces were set up where the fawn was turned and gazing upon the three deer was really amazing. The distance between the deer was real and was felt because the actual distance between the pieces was real.

Me and Bambi

Documentary Response 3: Ross Castle, Muckross House, & Blarney Castle

Ross Castle
Ross Castle was built in the 15th century and was originally owned by the O'Donoghue's. During the 16th century, Lord Muskerry aquired the ownership during the Second Desmond Rebellion. Muskerry rented out the castle and lands to Valentine Browne where, during the Irish Confederate Wars, the castle was one of the last castles to surrender to Oliver Cromwell's Roundheads. The only reason they surrendered was because of the prophecy that said the castle could not be taken until ships on water appeared around the castle. Once they saw ships around the castle, they grew nervous and surrendered. After the wars, though, the Brownes were able to take back the property and lands once they proved that their heir was not old enough to partake in the rebellion. The castle itself had five stories inside plus a roof. The castle was made out of stacked and mortored stone with very thick walls. A parapet was found on the roof to protect the soldiers when shooting their arrows or guns. I actually thought there would be more to the castle that would be visible to us in this day. However, it was still beautiful grounds and the cute little tiny doors were adorable.

    

Muckross House

Muckross House was designed by a Scottish architect who was hired by Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife. It was built in 1843 in the design of a Tudor style. In the 1850s, some enhancements were made to the mansion in planning for Queen Victoria's visit in 1861. Because of these improvements, some financial struggles came upon Herbert and he was forced to sell the estate. Eventually, it was bought by William Bowers Bourn, who was a wealthy Californian, to give to his daughter as her wedding present to celebrate her marriage to Arthur Rose Vincent. In 1932, it was given to the State by The Bourn's and Arthur Vincent in memory of their late daughter and wife. The house was under construction the day we went to see it so it wasn't as glorious as I'm sure it usually was and as I said before, it was built in the style of the Tudor mansion. The grounds were what really caught my eye, though. There was so much open space and it was absolutely beautiful scenery with the water in the distance and the huge field of grass.

Blarney Castle

Around 1210, Blarney Castle was built in Blarney, near Cork, Ireland. However, it was destroyed in 1446 but rebuilt by McCarthy, Lord of Muskerry. The castle was attacked during the Irish Confederate Wars and was taken by Parliament but was once again given to a McCarthy after The Restoration. During the Williamite War in the 1690s, McCarthy was seized and his property and Blarney Castle were taken by the Williamites. The ownership changed multiple times until the 1700s when it was bought by the Govenor of Cork, Sir James St. John Jefferyes. During the 19th century the Jefferyes and the Colthurst descendants married and the property is still owned today by the Colthursts. What makes the Blarney Castle so popular today is the fact that it is home to the Blarney Stone, which some say once kissed, will give you the gift of eloquence. I enjoyed experiencing the Blarney castle and stone. It was a little nervewracking walking up those tiny stairs to get to the stone but once I was up top, I was thrilled to be there. The castle had a parapet just like Ross Castle and a turret.

     

Documentary Response 2: Rebellion Centre, Vinegar Hill, Johnstown Castle

Rebellion Centre
The first site we visited on our field trip was the National 1798 Rebellion Centre. The structure that I found fascinating was the chessboard room. When you walked in the room you saw all the people involved in the rebellion as life-sized chess pieces set on a black and white tiled floor. As soon as I walked into the room I was immediately reminded of the life-sized chessboard in Harry Potter. I thought it was a great way of capturing people's attention by telling the story in such a creative way.

Vinegar Hill

The Battle of Vinegar Hill happened on June 21st, 1798 on Vinegar Hill outside of Enniscorthy. There were about 20,000 rebel men, including women and children, on the hill and during the battle of Vinegar Hill about 1,500 were killed. More would have died if General Needham hadn't arrived late to his position on the hill and left a gap that allowed many rebels to escape the battle with their lives. This gap was called "Needham's Gap".

 The view of Enniscorthy from the top of Vinegar Hill

Johnstown Castle

Johnstown Castle was built during the 15th or 16th century by the Edmondes who settled in Wexford in the 1170s. During the 1640s the estate changed ownership multiple times before being possessed by John Grogan in 1692. His family remained the owners of Johnstown Castle until one of the descendants gave the castle to the nation as a gift in 1945. Today, Johnstown Castle may be used as a wedding venue for couples looking for the fairy-tale wedding. Looking at the castle with your own eyes is just a magnificent experience. I could have taken a million pictures and it would still not do the castle justice. It is beautiful with the long, thin windows and the towers that rise above the castle.

Taken from one of the towers across the lake

Documentary Response 1: Waterford Crystal, Tintern Abbey, & Hook Lighthouse

Sitting on the bus as we were driving through Waterford for the first time, I could not believe what I was seeing was actually real. It was everything I thought it would be and even though I had only had an hour of sleep since the previous day, I felt wide awake and excited! However, once we were settled in the dorms and we started our day out and about in Waterford, I was suddenly looking for a stump or a ledge or a bench to sit on rather than looking at the beautiful city. It was extremely hard to focus on what the tour guides were telling us because their accents were lulling me to sleep as I was trying to find every surface I could to prop myself up on so I could at least pretend I was awake enough to understand what was being said. I found myself being very frustrated with everything and everyone because I really wanted to learn everything about Waterford but my jet lagged brain would not cooperate with me. Overall, I was very sad that my first impression of Waterford was through bleary eyes so that I couldn't take in everything the first time around.

The next day was a million times better. I was fully rested and ready to get my Waterford history lessons started!

Waterford Crystal
One of the places we saw on this day was Waterford Crystal, which is a factory that makes crystal.

On the way to tour Waterford Crystal

It was started in 1783 by George and William Penrose in the city of Waterford. The factory is said to now melt over 750 tons of crystal a year. One thing that I was very impressed by was all the workers that go into making this crystal.

A man working hard, sawing and buffing the edges,

 to keep buyers from cutting themselves

Another thing that surprised me was that I had no idea that Waterford crystal created the championship trophy for the BCS games. Being a college football fan I was really excited about that little fact.

Experiencing Waterford Crystal was a great experience and I am very glad I am able to now tell people that I have seen where the crystal was originally founded.

Tintern Abbey

Tintern Abbey was founded by William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, in the year 1200 after he was caught in a terrible sea storm and made a vow in order to be saved from the storm. The Abbey is found on the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford and was populated by the monks from the Tintern Abbey in Wales where William Marshall was also a contributor. The Abbey consisted of huge gothic archways which were pure beauty.

I was very impressed with how large the whole property was; William Marshall found 9000 acres to build this Abbey and grounds on and I could not even imagine how huge that actually is.

Hook Lighthouse

Hook Lighthouse was probably my favorite site we have visited so far. It is situated at the tip of the Hook Peninsula in County Wexford and the present structure has been standing for almost 800 years. It is one of the oldest lighthouses in the world and is in fact the oldest functioning lighthouse in Ireland. The light of the lighthouse was opened for the public in 2001 which I am very happy for because it just gives it that much more realness to the lighthouse when you are able to see the light that guided so many.

The lighthouse is constructed of limestone

and is white with two black stripes

Before Departure: I'm Going on an Adventure!

Hey Everybody! My name is Sarah Barber and I am a senior at Georgia College and State University studying Psychology. I will actually graduate at the end of summer (woohoo!) so I'm taking my last classes of undergrad ever in Ireland and I couldn't be happier! I am very thankful for my family and my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me this opportunity to learn and experience life in this other country that I have always wanted to visit. I enjoy doing many things and am easily entertained so I can't wait to start a new adventure in Ireland!

Last summer as I was taking some summer classes for my major, my teacher, Dr. Chiang, was telling all of us students about the trip to Ireland. At first I didn't really think it applied to me because I would be graduating in May and didn't see the point in extending my actual graduating just to go to Ireland. As fall semester started and Dr. Chiang was continuing to tell her students about this opportunity, I felt like this might be something that would be a good experience for me but I still thought that it was silly to extend my graduation and spend all that money when I could just finish and graduate in May. One day, my cousin Lawson called me and told me that she was thinking about going to Ireland for the summer for study abroad. I asked her with what program and it turned out to be the same one that I was interested in experiencing. We knew then that it was a sign for both of us to go and we couldn't wait to participate in this journey together.

I am very excited about learning a new culture in Ireland. I have always wanted to go to Ireland and see the Irish culture and I'm thrilled that I get to have that dream come true in this study abroad trip. I'm also excited about seeing castles and just the scenery in general. I know it's going to be beautiful and I can't wait! Another thing I am excited about is the music! I love Irish music and I am delighted that I am going to have the opportunity to hear authentic Irish music. Some things that make me nervous about this trip would be the plane ride, dealing with a different type of money, and not being able to focus on my classes. I  have never flown in a plane before and I have never gone out of the country so I am nervous about flying for the first time and going somewhere that is unfamiliar to me. I know that trying to figure out the money is going to be a challenge for me and I am nervous that it will be too much of a challenge trying to figure out euros. One thing that I am nervous about, that seems a little silly, is actually focusing on my classes in this beautiful country. I am going to Ireland to learn and experience Ireland as well as take classes and I'm afraid that I will become entranced with the Irish way of living and neglect my studies. I hope it doesn't come down to that because I really want to learn about Ireland and the classes I'm taking!