Oakland CC MI and Sinclair CC OH Ireland Program May 6-19 2019

We were delighted to welcome Oakland Community College  from Michigan to Ireland, for the first OCC /ISAI program. Our OCC group were joined by Sinclair Community College students and faculty on their first study abroad trip to Ireland with us.  On our first day, we traveled to beautiful Donegal via Loughcrew Megalithic Centre where we climbed up to the ancient cairns, and then it was onwards to the Fairy Bridges and Wishing Chair in Bundoran.  On day 2, we did a class on Kingdoms and Colonization, followed by a visit to Red Hugh O’Donnell, Donegal Castle, and Donegal Abbey . We also did a bit of ice breaking at Donegal Adventure Centre, on the high ropes course. We were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather for our hikes, horse rides and surf, and our visit to Sliabh Liag was just breathtaking (in every sense!) After our Civil Rights class we visited Derry City in Northern Ireland- first to the Bogside, the Bogside Artists’ ‘People’s Gallery’ murals, and the Museum of Free Derry, where John Kelly spoke to us about Bloody Sunday, Justice and the Peace Process.  On May 11, we were so proud of the students from both Oakland and Sinclair, who participated in the worldwide ‘Darkness into Light’ fundraising walk for mental health. Congratulations to all who were in involved.

Sinclair folks got to stay a bit longer than our Oakland folks, and we missed the OCCs when they left us, but hopefully next year they will add on those few extra days. All in all it was a great two weeks with two lovely groups, many thanks to Jillian, Bob, Deborah, Tillie for making it happen.