First day for the Friends of St. Patrick!

Laddie G. Shane
Jun 4, 2016
2 min read

Today we started off bright and early from the Dublin Airport! Dr. Tim picked us up and we headed to Northern Ireland through Belfast to our beach house in Groomsport where we will be staying for the duration of the trip. After we dropped off our bags and got cleaned up, Dr. Tim took us to the Edward Bruce Festival in Carrickfergus. To commemorate the crowning of Edward Bruce as King of Ireland in 1315, the Ulster Scots Agency and Mid & East Antrim Borough Council in partnership with the NIEA host the Bruce Festival, featuring The Knights of Royal England, Europe’s premier jousting team. We got to see the joust, visit the Ulster-Scots tent and then tour the Carrickfergus Castle. We also went to the top level of the castle and they had a rug with the game Dragons and Ladders on it. We had a great time playing and was a great bonding time activity. Afterwards we grabbed a quick bite for the drive back to Groomsport to buy some groceries. Dr. Tim was super helpful all day and told us a lot about the Battle of the Boeing on the drive up to the North and gave us a brief overview of what each Ambassador will be doing. Dr. Tim has mentioned that I will be going to the Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont and I'm super excited to learn about Northern Ireland's rich political landscape. Once Dr. Tim got us back to the house we all went out and grabbed a pint at the local pub and all got to know each other. It's amazing to walk on the beach before getting back to our home for the next two weeks. It's truly beautiful and I can already tell this will be a great time. My fellow ambassadors also have super interesting assignments like working with Ulster Rugby and Hospitals and even going over to Scotland with the Ulster-Scots. Tomorrow we head to the St. Patrick Centre with Dr. Tim for more adventure so I will keep you posted on what happens. Off we go...