Category Archives: Uncategorized

In my younger days I was, perforce, an avid hiker. At my sleep-away camp in New Hampshire, weekly hikes were compulsory, and these were no kiddie trails, but steep daylong treks in the White Mountains. No doubt, the aim was … Continue reading →

  As the weather has turned brighter and warmer—not necessarily drier—I’ve had more opportunities to explore this city that I’ve come to love calling home. Last weekend, I took a long stroll through Fitzgerald Park along the Lee and was … Continue reading →

As classes wound down in April, it felt like things were speeding up. One of the main benefits of my Mitchell year has been my proximity to all of the medieval material I’ve studied in Ireland and around Europe, and … Continue reading →

About a year ago, I was beginning to plan my time in Ireland (where I would live, when I would arrive, who would I live with, etc..) and imagining what my life here would be like. I kept thinking about … Continue reading →

My heart cleaves writing my last blog as a Mitchell Scholar. On one hand, being forced to look back over this year and all of the memories I’ve made in Ireland makes my stomach sink: does it all have to … Continue reading →

Coming from a rural area in Maine and moving to Ireland has been shocking at times, but what has shocked me the most is the size of Ireland. Ireland is roughly the size of the state of Indiana and fits … Continue reading →

Yesterday, I went to Mass celebrated by a Polish priest, ate an amazing Indian curry with some Irish classmates for lunch, and jigged to traditional music at my favorite pub with a French friend. Today, the Hungarian trainer at my … Continue reading →

As I write this third blog post of my Mitchell year – seven months into an experience which I still find unbelievable – I cannot help but get a little sentimental. I have one more month of classes until I … Continue reading →

I can trace my growing familiarity with Dublin as a function of how confident I feel as a tour guide. Over the past seven months, my routine for showing people around has transformed from a Google Maps-dependent free-for-all to a … Continue reading →

I ventured up to Ireland’s functional capital—Dublin—from Ireland’s real capital—Cork—this past weekend to watch the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. My friends and I scoped out a great spot just in front of President Higgins and the GPO. It was a … Continue reading →

Spontaneous is not a word I would use to describe myself, necessarily. Nor would I use it to describe my fellow Mitchells: we are planners, and often obsessively so. It is a quality that we share because it has helped … Continue reading →

As I gradually (and perhaps reluctantly) plan my return to the States this summer, and contemplate the start of my PhD program this autumn, I have spent some time reflecting on my academic experience in Ireland thus far. Currently, there’s a … Continue reading →