Limerick City

Limerick city is full of historical complications. From the time that the vikings came in to pillage and sell Irish redhead women to Istanbul in 950, to the reclamation by the Irish folk and establishment of King John's castle and St. Mary's Cathedral in the 1100's, it has seen plenty of war and strifing. 

Cannonballs are still cemented into the church, and bulletholes still riddle the red cement walls of the buildings nearby due to the revolution. After all, the stone on which treaty of limerick 1691, the engraved Latin motto translates to "old stone city schooled in war."

The city is also home to old stone walls from city settlement, a girl's nunnery school, an old castle, and the largest rugby stadium in the Isles. I visited on the 850th anniversary of the city.

St. Mary’s Cathedral was quite a treat. Lots of history lies in this candlelit cathedral that fueled the English crusades. It is also here that I learned that the origin of the Irish flag is for Dutch prince William the orange (north republic) and green for southern Ireland, and the white as peace between the two.

Irish coffee was also invented here by the chef on duty at the docks in WWII. He wanted a way for sailors to calm their nerves while remaining awake and alert. My Irish-inspired recipe can be found in a later post.

King John's castle is where the Magna Carta was signed. It was under siege a lot, and ironically enough, most of their resources were used to dig tunnels to fight at the castle foundation. Since O2 was depraved in these tunnels, air was transmitted by tar-soaked pigs set in fire that ran to and down the corridors. these pig's screams would also startle running elephants.

Limerick is also home to lots of global warming issues. The erosion has taken place tenfold. Their car company Skoda has paired with several environmental agencies to help reduce global warming.

There is so much to see in such a little amount of time, including their Milk Market, if you can afford the time. This is one of many fantastic cities I've gone to, and many more will follow suit. Keep updated on my adventures by subscribing to my emailing list.

Some views from the city.

The First Irish Performance

The day after I met Michael McGlynn, director of Anúna and M'Anam, I got to perform in Ireland as well at the Redemptorist Church with several other choirs.

Dr. Redding, our director for the performance, is an african-american choir director in Orlando Florida. He also probably has the strongest work ethic of any conductor I've ever rehearsed under. He was raised by a single mom and has three siblings, and all of them have done very well in their careers. Music was his saving grace, and it was a great morning rehearsal spent with him. The bond created was incredible, and I am very fortunate to have worked alongside this great, globally acclaimed director.

After a day in Limerick (detailed here), we had our first Irish pub food. Bobby Byrnes is incredible. their ice cream shop next door had the best vanilla ice cream ive ever had, which included a chocolate straw. they also had exquisite cauliflower, salmon, and coffee.

Given that it was now night time, it was time for our performance, alongside the Estonian Children's Radio Choir, the Josefinekoret choir from Norway, The Honor Choir from Texas, and several Irish choirs. We actualy received a lot of positive feedback from the Irish choirs for a job well done on our Irish songs and pronunciations. And, needless to say, the concert space was beautiful, too.

And needless to say...

It was immaculate!

And so ends a perfect night of singing, love, and pleasant conversation with complete strangers, all united for one singular purpose; to make beautiful music.

To be continued. Follow and subscribe for more!

Cappa Villa

When I went with perform International to Dublin and Limerick Ireland, I really didn't know what to expect. I just knew that I would be walking around the Campus while jet-lagged and experiencing the Campus as much as I could. For more information on how I cope with jet lag, look here.

What I did find, though, was the beautiful campus of the University of Limerick. Here's a bit more about the experience I had!

Otherwise, we had landed and checked into our dorm rooms. The Cappavilla village contained single apartments with plenty of space to set up amenities and make home. Though there was no air conditioning, and it was unusually warm when we arrived, it was still very worth the stay on this beautiful campus. The campus buildings themselves were gorgeous.

Halfway through campus is the Pavilion, which openly serves alcohol, an amenity not otherwise seen in America. beyond that is the Living Bridge, a bridge that is suspended over a small river and has lots of plants and wildlife. This leads to the other side of campus, which is equally large. There is so much to see and do at the University of Limerick, and there are also a ton of food options. The people of this city truly treat you like family here. Come stay awhile! If you can land a gig in the dorm rooms for cheap, do it - just remember a portable fan and a few jackets.

much more adventures will be posted soon!

Sing a Jubilant Song

On the second day I wound up with a bit of a head cold. I had a friend give me some nasal spray after breakfast so that i could function. the soda bread was bland, but the instant coffee and rhubarb yogurt were damn good.

Later on we went to the cliffs of Moher, detailed in a separate post. In a word, they were spectacular.

The Burren, an area we visited on the way back, was the first thing to decline in the potato famine. Blighted American potato seeds killed what was left of the burren villages and their potatoes, until the famine ended in 1921. half of the country's 8 million inhabitants died in that timespan.

The rock formations in the Burren extend back to the Ice Age, and the rare orchids that grow in the limestone were affected by the attempted rescue of the land.  There was also Limina castle outside of Allwee cave, owned by a woman named Myra Rouas, who had four husbands at various points in time.  A lot of history surrounds these parts.

The rock climbers that come to this area enjoy a wide variety of B&B's, cheap pubs, and other cheap amenities. This area is very friendly to eco tourists. 

The accents of the locals are adorable. I love learning their slang and dialect, as it is so unique yet synonymous to only them. You can also chat an Irish person up about literally anything and everything with an open mind. As such, I told a few of my new mates at the bar that my home state of PA, at 120,000 square kilometers, was actually bigger than all of Ireland, at 85,000 square kilometers. In exchange, they told me that the first and most important sentence kindergartners learn is "An bhfuil cead agam dul amach go dtí an leithreas?" This translates literally to "Do I have permission to go and use the toilet?" Aside from Fáilte (welcome), Dia duit (Hello), Conas atá tú (How are you) and Tá mé go maith (I am fine), Go raibh maith agat (Many thanks ( and the response 'Sé do bheatha ( Not a problem), and Slán (farewell), It is one sentence I was instructed to use the most.

Upon our return to the campus, we saw the opening concert for the Limerick Sings International festival. M'ANAM , an all male choir directed by Michael McGlynn of ANUNA, directed beautifully arranged music, including Scottish mouth music, Icelandic, Irish, and English. It was a fantastic show.

The Irish folk who leave to go to Australia and America, as I found out, are often unlikely to ever return home. Irish folk are very family oriented, which makes the departures harder. It is sad because they bond together, especially to disparage over the English. One person at a bar told me that the English had an old saying of things barred from the UK: "no blacks, no dogs, and no Irish". They claim this saying to show how Irish were treated as bottom barrel creatures, which is why they fought so hard through famine and strife to separate from England and the UK. Needless to say, these were very passionate people with a lot of stories to tell.

A path near the university.

The road leading back to the concert cite.

The first of many beautiful cathedrals we had visited.

One lovely night down, and many more to go. Stay tuned for more with a subscription to my blog!

Buns, Rats, and Good Folk

The set of Bunratty Castle and The Folk Park are quite exquisite. This is the first Irish built castle and first stone Castle to ever exist in Ireland, having been built in 1425. the castle was originally owned by the O'Brien's, and then by the Macklemore’s, and then by Lord Court, who was a Viscount in the area. All three of these ruling families helped enforce sovereignty over the people that lived in the village below.

A little view of the cathedral!

The fields surrounding the castle.

There were also cottages that were moved and reconstructed during the potato famine. some of these facilities include the Doctors House, an artisan shop, a pub, a tapestry artist, a printing press company, a post office, a grocery store, and a bar. Other facilities include a tea room, is School House, a landlord house, a farmhouse, a slave labour lodge, a few sheds, a blacksmith’s Forge, and a royal family house.

The O'Brien's submitted to King Henry the 8th originally. Although the king was the Ultimate ruler, the ones in charge of their individual kingdom claimed the most power.

A lot of chests and cabinets in this area dig back to the 1500, and it is a beautiful area to walk around by and by. There's plenty of shopping to do, people to see and talk to, and a site to explore. And, it's not far from two major cities.

This is one of several refurbished castles around Ireland. Check out more as you are able to for yourself. There are many words and no regrets.