We pulled into Dublin, and our first attraction was the General Post Office that was destroyed in the Easter Uprising in 1916. As it was Good Friday, storefronts were shuttered down and bars and some museums were closed. John Byrne, our tour guide said there have been efforts to lift a prohibition ban on Good Friday, but the ban is not vehemently opposed. “I suppose 363 days is enough,” he said.
We spent the first part of our afternoon at the Islamic Cultural Center of Ireland, one of two mosques in Dublin. The males in our group joined the more than 700 men on the first floor while the females in our group, each wearing headscarves, sat upstairs with about 200 women. The faces in the mosque reflected the growing immigrant population in Ireland from countries around the world, but also included those born in Ireland. “I met two women who had converted from Catholicism,” Sarah Morgan said.
The mosque, built in 1979, felt open and expansive, with tall ceilings and a large dome space in the ceiling’s center. “The building got my attention,” said Pilar Conci. “It was big and new. None of the mosques I went to in New York were like this.”During the service, Imam Hussein Halawa spoke in Arabic and then the mosque secretary translated the sermon in English. Halawa, who came to Ireland from Egypt in 1996, spoke emphatically, even yelling at times. The congregation prayed together, standing in perfect rows and kneeling their heads to the ground. Betwa Sharma said she enjoyed listening to the prayers in such a large crowd. “I liked when they all said “amen” – the echoing,” she said. “I liked that we got to hear that.”
O’Dowd said the mosque was a powerful experience for him because it reflected the country’s recent increase in diversity. “It has transformed dramatically,” he said. “I lived in Dublin 10 years. I never met a Muslim. Today I saw 1,000. The diversity is incredible.”
After the mosque, some students explored and reported in Dublin, while others went to the Hill of Tara, where St. Patrick achieved victory over pagan druids in the fifth century. With strong winds roaring around us, we walked up a hill to see monuments dating from 3500 B.C. to the seventh century A.D. Two rings of man-made ridges mark the hill’s crown. In the middle of one ring, a circle of stones surround a phallic monument called Lia Fáil, or stone of destiny, where the High Kings of Ireland were crowned. Legend goes that if the would-be king met a series of challenges, the stone would cry out. When O’Dowd placed his hand on the stone, a call was heard; however, some observers suspected it was self-manifested.
The green hill stretched out for miles and a herd of sheep grazed near the monuments. Their peaceful afternoon was interrupted, however, when Sharon Udasin and Rachel King pursued them with clicking cameras.
“I went to say hi to them and they ran away from me,” Udasin said on her return to the group.
Rather than visiting the Hill of Tara, Laura Isensee was among those who stayed in Dublin to explore the city. The group had been warned that shops were closed, so Isensee said she was surprised to discover Easter sales. “It’s a sign of the times,” she said. “Stores are open and they are having Easter sales. And at the hotel, they served alcohol at dinner. It didn’t feel like Good Friday.”
O’Dowd said he also noticed a change in Dublin’s atmosphere that has developed over recent decades. “Years ago, Aran sweaters represented all of Ireland,” he said. “Now it’s U2 and there are movies made here. It’s a hip place now.”
The day concluded with an evening gathering dubbed "trip prom" at the hotel where we celebrated and reflected on our week with toasts and gifts for the trip leaders. The holiday prevented us from touring the Dublin pubs, but after a busy reporting week, some students were grateful for an early night.
“It’s a forced opportunity to sleep,” Liz Bello said. “Now we will have energy to go to the pubs tomorrow.”
