The Savoy Cinema on O’Connell street in central Dublin is one of the oldest cinemas in Ireland. For generations Dubliners* have enjoyed films in a cinema that is famous for it’s old fashioned style. Nowadays many of us download the films we want to see but everyone agrees that the cinema experience is still something special. English School Dublin loves the cinema and we have cinema nights twice a month. This evening we are going to the Savoy to see ‘The Great Gatsby’. Leonardo DiCaprio is the star of a film that is based on* a famous novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The cost is just €4 and all are welcome!

Dubliner* – (informal noun) A person from Dublin

to be based on* – (phrasal verb) When something is used as a model for a film, a book or art. The film ‘Titanic’ is based on a real event.

Chester Beatty was an Irish-American millionaire who lived from 1875 to 1968. While millionaires of today spend their money on football teams, fast cars and mansions, Chester was a little different – he loved to travel and he loved art. He travelled the world collecting artefacts, objects, books and art that he found interesting. The result is the beautiful Chester Beatty Library that English School Dublin visited today.

The impressive interior

The building and grounds are located in central Dublin and the architecture is very impressive. The students of English School Dublin saw ancient manuscripts from the middle East, religious statues from Asia and much much more.  It’s free to the public and we fully recommend a visit.

The building is located on Kildare street, central Dublin

The National Museum of Ireland has a wonderful collection on Kildare Street in central Dublin. The group from ULearn English School are visiting a building that is home to objects from prehistoric Ireland (stone tools from 7000BC), Celtic Ireland, Viking Ireland and Norman Ireland. One of the most important sections of the museum is the collection of treasure from Celtic Ireland.

Broighter Gold Boat

The Broighter Gold is a collection of gold artefacts from the Iron Age  (1st century BC) that were found in 1896 by Tom Nicholl on a farm in the north of Ireland. The collection includes a 7-inch-long (18 cm) gold boat, a golden bowl and some other jewellery. The images have appeared on currency and postage stamps in Ireland.

The Ardagh Chalice is a famous chalice from 8^th century Celtic Ireland. It was discovered by two young boys in a potato field in 1868. It was assembled from 354 separate pieces and is one of the most complex pieces of metalwork from that period. It has become symbolic of Celtic Ireland and a replica of the chalice is presented to the All-Ireland Gaelic Football champions each September.

The Derrynaflan collection was discovered in 1980 by Michael Webb and his son. They were exploring the site of an old monastery with a metal detector when they made their discovery. The objects are spectacular and the most important piece in the collection is a large chalice. They are among the most valuable objects in Ireland.

It is certain to be an interesting visit for English School Dublin.

The music festival is an important part of the Irish summer. If you are studying in English school Dublin you can see how lots of Irish people enjoy their summer.  There are festivals for all interests and tastes in music. Electric Picnic and Oxegen are the most famous but we think there are better and cheaper alternatives out there for music fans! Here we take a look at three festivals we think ULearn English School Dublin students might enjoy in summer 2013.

Longitude

Longitude has a few advantages over the other festivals.  Firstly it is in Dublin so you don’t have to organise long and expensive transport to get there! Also you can go home to your comfortable bed at the end of the night and return to the festival the next day. Finally and most importantly, the line-up is brilliant! We think that Friday in particular looks excellent.

Knockanstockan

Knockanstockan is a festival that takes place near Blessington, County Wicklow in a beautiful location. This festival has been on for a few years now and the idea is to support and promote independent music and art in Ireland. You won’t find the most famous bands at this festival but you will find some of the newest talent. Also, this festival is smaller than others so you can relax a little more and not worry about huge crowds.

Willie Clancy Week

Willie Clancy week in County Clare gives you the chance to experience some authentic Irish culture. The seaside town of Miltown Malbay becomes the home of traditional Irish music for one week as musicians from all over Ireland come to play their music. This festival is all about the pubs – good drinks and great music!

We had a great day out  Here are some of photos from our ULearn English School Dublin Flickr account.

Oui Mon Capitan!

ULearn English School Dublin

Many people who visit Ireland do not know the story of the saddest period in Irish history which was known as ‘The Great Famine’. During the 1840s the population of Ireland suffered greatly when the potato crop that they depended on for survival was destroyed by a disease (blight) for three years. Over a million people died from starvation and many more emigrated to the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, Argentina and other countries during those years. This history is remembered in the Jeanie Johnston ship and museum which ULearn English School Dublin visited yesterday afternoon. The ship is a replica of a ship that carried Irish people to North America during the years of The Great Famine. It was a very interesting visit.

Lea Talks About Her Time in Ireland and ULearn in Korean. Lea is an Upper Intermediate student but we asked her to talk in her native language so her countrymen can all understand. For everybody else, don’t worry there are subtitles From ULearn English school Dublin on Vimeo.

*Landmark (noun) /land·mark/

English school Dublin, ULearn

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ULearn English School Dublin

Certainly you will see examples of  how Guinness was made, but mostly you can see how Guinness as a brand, and as a product has engaged with the world over the past century, via marketing, multi media etc. It’s a wonderful example of a product became a brand, and how a brand became a legend! (Here’s ULearn’s addition to Guinness advertising on our facebook pageJ )

Of course, it’s not all about marketing – you also get the opportunity to try the world famous stout, as well as learn how to pour the perfect pint of Guinness!!!

Anyways, instead of me going on and on about it, here are the details for our trip to the Guinness Storehouse is you want to come along

Robert will meet the students at ULearn at 1.30pm to go to the Storehouse. The tour, and a pint (of course) normally takes between 1.5 & 2 hours.

Remember – friends, partners etc are all welcome. We hope to see you all there!

If you have any questions about attending, or if you just want to learn more about Guinness (kidding) just email us  at: info@ulearn.ie

www.ulearn.ie

ULearn English School Dublin

Things were happening all over the city, but only in Sandycove can you embrace the culture and go in for a refreshing dip in the ocean. The main street was full of music, costumes with young and old defying the showers. You could have sworn you were back in early 20th century Dublin. Many shops had Joyce’s voice reciting parts of the book through speakers onto the street.

After a quick pint in the infamous Fitzgeralds pub, which was full of Joyce fans in costume singing, we took advantage of a break in the weather and went down to Martelo Tower and braved a swim in the Forty Foot. It was just myself and Isabella from Brazil at first, but soon more followed. After the initial heart attack, it was a really pleasurable swimming experience.

After some food and a pint we took in some scenery and even a pod of dolphins were spotted. There is a resident pod in Killiney all year round. Roll on Bloomsday 2013!

ULearn English School Dublin

If you’re interested in what kind of animals used to roam Ireland before it’s earliest inhabitants then you will love this museum. You will see stags bigger than anything alive on this planet today and prehistoric bones of other extinct beasts now out of existence. There is great insight into present wildlife too of course. You may not know it but our countryside and cities have wildlife in abundance. If you’re lucky and out late at night you might bump into some of our furry friends, even in Dublin there are foxes and hedgehogs roaming the streets at night.

It’s a fantastic opportunity to brush up on your animal vocabulary, regardless of what level you are currently studying. We’ll leave from reception at 1.15pm so I hope to see a few of you there.

Maybe a few more goes, eh? Anyway, the Irish football team may not have done us proud but the Irish fans certainly did. They sang and danced their way around Poland in their thousands. When they were 0-3 down against the Spanish, they filled the stadium with song. The Spanish manager commented how such a display by fans, ‘is what football is all about’. A German TV station stopped commentating so that the German audience could hear the fans for a couple of minutes. Shopkeepers left notes in as best English as they could thanking the fans for their fun-loving attitude and good behaviour. So, when it comes to having ‘the craic’, you probably won’y ever beat the Irish! Come on the Green Army!!

http://youtu.be/rA1I_3na3f0

This Saturday Dublin and Ulysses will come alive with celebrations of the book happening all over the city in commemoration of Joyce and the legacy of his most famous work. The celebrations take place in sites mentioned throughout the book and those places will be awash with dedicated Joycians dressing up like characters from the book, Penny Farthing bicycles and a Joyce look-alike or three. Readings will  also be taking place all over, but particularly in the bandstand in St. Stephens’ Green between 3 and 6pm on saturday.

To celebrate, Ulearn will be going to where the book begins at Martello Tower near Sandycove. Martello tower is where the opening scene takes place and it’s a tradition to take a swim at the 40-foot before enjoying a traditional breakfast of kidneys, heart and liver followed by a nice drink. We will be leaving the school at midday and taking the DART to Sandycove. Hopefully the weather will be good, but bring your swimwear anyway. Hope to see you there. Here is a reading of the opeing scene of the book. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/Kc0x2MaaDAc

This 1986 cult classic see the character Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver,  return to the planet where her crew first encountered hostile aliens. The movie starts at 10.15pm and finishes at 12.15 am. Hopefully the weather will be nice and dry, but either way the cinema and screen will be covered so don’t worry about getting wet!

Here is the trailer! Enjoy!

Bloom 2011 attracted almost 90,000 visitors and this year seemed to be even bigger and better. Now in it’s fifth year running, the festival not only showcases flowers and gardens, but food produce too, making it a hugely popular family day out. This year saw the return of the Garden Expert Stage, with contributions from celebrity gardeners like Les Swarbrigg and Gerry Daly providing expert advice for punters. For more adventurous people, the Tree Climbing Competition provided some great entertainment for everyone.

As Monday’s weather was so good it was obviously the busiest day and had the most punters. It was the biggest day for sale of flowers too and Phoenix Park was teeming with people. Here’s to Bloom 2013! Sorry about the music, not my video!