1. International Community Experience Year 5 Part 2 – Ireland 2019
Emily Eaton
1st Kedington Rangers

2. Monday 8th April – Flight and Ballyhoura Luxury Hostel
We started the day at 6.30 am (way too early) by flying from Stansted airport to Shannon airport with Ryanair.
We then got a transfer via coach to our hostel. It was by far the nicest hostel I have been to!
The owners were super welcoming and made us feel right at home. There were even two dogs that we could pet and play with out in the court yard.

3. Monday 8th April – Flight and Ballyhoura Luxury Hostel

4. Tuesday 9th April – Lough Gur and Limerick Cresent Retail Centre
After breakfast and washing up had been done, we headed to Lough Gur.
We learnt about the Grange circle (Irelands equivalent of Stone Henge but much older).
After taking in the views of the lake at Lough Gur and learning about all the local folk tales, we headed to the shopping centre for about 2 hours of some good retail therapy.

5. Tuesday 9th April – Lough Gur and Limerick Cresent Retail Centre

6. Wednesday 10th April – Guided 18km with Morgan Murphy
We had a pretty chilled day (apart from our normal morning chores of course) until about 3pm when Morgan Murphy arrived.
Morgan is a very wise, local guide who somewhat put us through our paces hiking up and down a local hill (or what felt like a mountain).
We hiked up the mountain, stopped for a quick break and then back down again. We returned to the hostel at about 9pm.

7. Wednesday 10th April – Guided 18km with Morgan Murphy

8. Thursday 11th April – Community Service at Limerick Animal Welfare Centre
We went to the local animal sanctuary (LAW) and took some rescured dogs for a walk in groups.
We had to keep the dogs apart as they only knew the other dog they lived with and many of the dogs had anger or anxiety issues.
We also then played with and entertained the kittens.

9. Thursday 11th April – Community Service at Limerick Animal Welfare Centre

10. Friday 12th April – Bunratty Castle and Folk Lore Park
After loading up the coach with all (there was a lot) of our stuff, we went to a castle called Bunratty Castle and spent the whole day there.
We also explored the Folk Lore Park and saw some escapee pigmy goats, some chickens and some medieval style building recreations.
After this we then went to Shannon airport and had dinner and flew back into Stansted airport. It was a very long day for us all as we didn’t land until about midnight!

11. Friday 12th April – Bunratty Castle and Folk Lore Park