Tarrant County College TX Geology Program October 4-13 2019

On October 5, we welcomed back the legendary Dr. Meena Balakrishnan, aka Dr. B, with a new troupe of geology students from Tarrant County College, Texas.

Dr. B. is a wonderful Professor, and this was her second visit to Ireland this year, – having enjoyed a great visit in Spring, she came back again with lots of new ideas for weaving her work in Texas through the unique history, geography and culture of Ireland.

Our first day was en-route from Dublin to Donegal, with a stop off at Lough Crew Cairns, a wish on the Cailleach’s Chair, Witches’ Broth at Nelly’s Kitchen, and then a sunset visit to the Kilbarron Castle ruins overlooking the Wild Atlantic Way, before our arrival at base for the week at the Atlantic Apartotel, Bundoran. Over the next few days, our site visits included the karstic landscape of the Cavan Burren, Dunluce Castle and the Giant’s Causeway, Kilbarron Castle ruins, The Gleniff Horseshoe, Ballyshannon Work house and Famine sites, Manorhamilton Castle, Streedagh Beach, The Fairy Bridges at Bundoran, Belleek Pottery, and the Sliabh Liag Cliffs. Our lectures included ‘Landscape and identity’, ‘The Geography of Poverty’, ‘Neolithic Ireland’ and ‘Myth and Magic in Landscapes’ – as well as workshops on Irish history, arts and culture. We also took some time to explore the Donegal coastline on a surf board!

One of the questions that constantly arises about study programming in Ireland is weather- as you can see from the photos below, students were well dressed for cooler temperatures and windy wet Atlantic weather, but we also had plenty of blue skies and sunshine, so don’t rule October out! You really can’t be sure in Ireland what you will get, but generally when you get rain, you get the rainbows too!