by MU Blogger May 10, 2024
The richness of the Irish language, illustrations by Catherine Geaney
blogs , Culture & Lifestyle , Elisabeth Koopal

Mothú sa bhaile in Éirinn: how language gives a sense of belonging

Introduction Illustrations by Catherine Geaney When I told my Dutch family I was learning the Irish language, they were confused: ‘Do you mean you’re learning to speak English with an Irish accent?’ More than once, I’ve had to explain that Ireland has its own language. Irish – or Gaeilge – is one of the oldest and most historically written languages in the world. It has been spoken in Ireland for over 2.500 ...

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by MU Blogger February 12, 2024
MU blogger Elisabeth Koopal
blogs , Culture & Lifestyle , Elisabeth Koopal

How holidays bring us together

From Halloween to Sinterklaas: how holidays bring us together Introduction During my exchange in Maynooth, I celebrated the Irish festival of Halloween, as well as Sinterklaas; a traditional Dutch holiday. Partaking in various celebrations, I saw how holidays bring people together, both within and across cultures. In my inaugural blog post, I’m going to tell you more about these holidays and my experience celebrating them in Ireland. Halloween: an ancient Irish holiday Halloween – ...

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by MU Blogger July 18, 2023
blogs , Culture & Lifestyle , Elena Schroder

GAA Croke Park

One thing I didn’t know about Ireland before I got here, was that the Irish have different national sports that you won’t find anywhere else.  While soccer is the most popular sport in Ireland and a lot of Irish follow the Premier League, Gaelic football and hurling are ranked on the second and third place among the most popular sports here.   I was lucky enough to go on a tour ...

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by MU Blogger June 6, 2023
blogs , Culture & Lifestyle , Elena Schroder

Culture shocks I had when moving to Ireland

Moving to a different country will confront you with a lot of new things: a new language, new cities and a lot of culture shocks you won’t be prepared for!Here are the biggest culture shocks I had when I first moved from Germany to Maynooth, Ireland. The Weather Still in Germany, everybody predicted that there would be a lot of rain and mostly bad weather in Ireland and when I arrived in ...

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by MU Blogger August 2, 2022
blogs , Campus life , Culture & Lifestyle , International Summer School Contributors

Have Fun and Be Free

Music festivals are a big part of young life, especially in the summer. You get the chance to see many of your favorite artists at one event rather than a typical event. I was so excited to find out there was a festival in Ireland and it did not disappoint. There was plenty of food, merchandise, and people everywhere. There were people all over Ireland and I even met someone ...

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by MU Blogger July 18, 2022
blogs , Campus life , Culture & Lifestyle , International Summer School Contributors

From Texas Tech Uni to Maynooth this summer

Hello, my name is Stephanie Gregory and I am currently studying Circuits II and Anthropology of Ireland for six weeks while at Maynooth University over the summer. I am from the United States of America, more specifically Houston, Texas though I currently attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas getting my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering. Ireland is lovely and I can’t wait to soak up all of the things it ...

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by MU Blogger January 7, 2020
blogs , Culture & Lifestyle , Fred Valdez

Meeting Irish friends

As new international students, we are constantly invited to introduction and integration events, where we can meet people from all over the world and start friendships that you will enjoy and probably never forget. Unfortunately, there are not many occasions in which we can hang around a lot with Irish people, besides the classroom during the initial couple of months. I have seen Erasmus students plan their days with other Erasmus students only, which may be ...

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by MU Blogger December 28, 2018
blogs , Culture & Lifestyle , Hoa Nguyen

Galway and Cork – truly cool and amazing destinations!

According to the 2018 Condé Nast survey, Ireland has three cities in the top ten friendliest cities list, with Cork (third place), Galway (number five), and Dublin (eighth place). I can feel this friendliness with all my heart. Galway, a harbour city on Ireland’s west coast, is located in the place where the River Corrib meets the Atlantic Ocean. The destination is a cultural hotspot with many theatres, art galleries and ...

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