Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Trip with Irish Friends

Edinburgh has been on my bucket list of Mitchell-year travel destinations for a while, and I realized a few weeks ago that a three-day gap I had during the first week of UCD’s spring break would be the perfect opportunity … Continue reading

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Exploring the role of sport in historic Irish identity and modern community life

This month I started work on my master’s thesis. I am studying the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and its impact on towns in Ireland. Specifically, I’m looking at the degree to which non-Irish immigrants find that GAA clubs increase their … Continue reading

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Irish Theater and the Recurring Theme of Identity

Too often I have found myself too occupied with my own coursework or social advocacy that I’ve been unable to fully explore the arts, creating an experience throughout my high school and undergraduate tenures that seemed to be all-encompassed by … Continue reading

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Hey Joy! Who are you?

Happy 2022 to everyone! The end of 2021 was absolutely revolutionary for me as a student as well as in my artistry. On November 8, I started classes in my MFA program at the Lir, and we really hit the … Continue reading

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Birds Through Ireland

Before I returned home for winter break, Maysa—my fellow Belfast Mitchell—bought me a book by Conor O’Brien called Ireland Through Birds. On my flight home, already missing the moody grey-green landscapes, I found solace in O’Brien’s journey to glimpse twelve … Continue reading

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Much to look forward to

The coolest person in my creative writing program is called Margaret. Now nearly 60, in her youth she escaped Mugabe’s regime in her home country Zimbabwe through force of will, spiriting herself and her infant children to Ireland. We get … Continue reading

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ii. peace through love

Three weeks after I submitted my last blog post, the love of my life landed in Dublin. This began our incredible, bicontinental adventure. I have found so much peace from living each moment in love –love for myself, love for … Continue reading

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Eating My Way Through Ireland: Ice Cream Edition

Ice cream has always been a distant treat for me. One only enjoyed as a reward for a job well done, in celebration of a birthday, or for simply getting through the week. As a pick-me-up, treat, reward, side, dessert, … Continue reading

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Reconciliation

My upbringing in Oklahoma and college life in New York City taught me a great deal about pseudo-intellectualism. On one hand, there are those who invent facts with which to craft whichever realities best suit their own ideologies. On the … Continue reading

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Extending Trust… and Deadlines

I requested exactly two extensions throughout four years of college, one of which I did not receive and one of which I received only after being chastised for asking (five days in advance, I might add). In my experience, students … Continue reading

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Are We Laughing?

It was Northern Ireland which revealed to me the inanity, the raw tedium of the American argument. There are outliers of course, but syntactically speaking, a dispute between two Americans will in the main have only three components: some accusation … Continue reading

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Ode to the Sea

The Irish Sea is the most complete form of emptiness I have ever witnessed. On the coast, the line between loneliness and solitude is thin and can shift quickly, like the tide. Everywhere I go, the sea is there, brushing … Continue reading

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