J2A in Ireland

We woke up early to return to the Dublin Airport to pick up our rental cars. After some confusion about where to go, and how to drive on the opposite side of the road, we set off in the direction of Galway. After only a few kilometres, Cheryl and Andrew quickly got the hang of it. Halfway across the country, the pilgrims detoured south to visit the 1500-year old monastic site founded by Ciaran at Clonmacnoise. Hilly and green, the site features the ruins of the monastery, and the shell of the ancient church. Dozens of Celtic crosses dot the fields, and archeologists believe a full city is buried beneath, awaiting excavation. The crosses at Clonmacnoise Sean, Des, Andre, Mary and Cheryl with our mascot Cormack Naoi at Clonmacnoise From Clonmacnoise, we continued due west to Galway, a lively, crowded port city, whose streets were filled with people of all ages, celebrating Galway's Pride parade (earlier today) and preparing for tomorrow's all-Ireland hurling fin...

We had a very full day on the second day of our pilgrimage. After a hearty breakfast at the hostel, we toured the campus of Trinity College Dublin, where we learned about and saw the Book of Kells.  The Long Room (the Old Library) was also very impressive. Before the tour at Trinity College After a quick lunch at a deli counter, we hopped on the bus to see Kilmainham Gaol. We learned about the key figures in the Easter Uprising of 1916, who were imprisoned and hanged at the jail. We also learned about the spike in crimes during the Potato Famine of the 1840s, and the subsequent admissions to the jail. It was perhaps better in jail where one could get fed on a daily basis! Touring the storied corridors of Kilmainham Gaol The jail had a special exhibit commemorating 100 years since the birth of Nelson Mandela. In our evening back at the hostel, the day's leaders, Desmond and Andre, prepared a delicious meal of burgers and salad. Dinner's served! Afterwar...

During our first day in the city of Dublin, we first arrived at our hostel, then headed out for lunch in the city. After careful deliberation we ended up at the small, but very lively restaurant. Here, we met the funny, knowledgeable and passionate Paul, the manager of the restaurant. He was our waiter for the day and taught us about Irish history, by the end of it, we were very good friends with him.  Waiting in the Toronto airport for our flight to Dublin!!!  We took a "hop on hop off" bus tour of the city. We saw many sites like Trinity College, the birth place of Oscar Wilde and the Guinness brewery.  The jet lag was getting to all of us by the end of the bus ride, especially Yaro.

As our Pilgrimage commences, we had our official send off at the church and were taken to the airport. We have now safely arrived at the Toronto airport and are waiting to board our flight to Dublin! We would like to express our gratitude to all those who came to the church to wish us well on our journeys, and all those who may not have been able to come see us at First United, but our thinking of us. A special thank you to Peter, Margaret and Pat, who were kind enough to drive us to the airport. You're generosity has not gone unnoticed :)

Welcome to J2A 2018!                                                                                                    Hello and welcome to our blog, we hope you enjoy and follow along on our journey of self discovery and adventures, that will take place in Ireland. As a group we chose Ireland as our pilgrimage destination, because we found it the best option for us, out of our top three choices; Costa Rica, British Columbia and of course Ireland. We are all very excited as we approach our date of departure. Youth: Miranda Beaton, Yaro De Maio, Desmond Thomas, Sean McBride, Andre Malavoy Mundle, Silvia Varga-Toth Mentors: Cheryl Farris-Manning, Mary Donaghy, Andrew Sacret