The Custom House in Dublin
June 30 - August 2
Spenser's Ireland has not altered
A place as kind as it is green,
The greenest place I've ever seen. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Marianne Moore
Facilities
The Dublin Institute is held with the co-operation of the Faculty of Law of University College Dublin, and Trinity College Dublin, which provides classrooms, library, an office, and housing. Trinity is the oldest and most scenic of Dublin's colleges. Founded by Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1592, it contains architectural styles of several eras, including College Green, a fine example of Palladian style. Cruciform in shape, Trinity is composed of six hollow squares filled with greenery; statues of its famous alumni, Oliver Goldsmith and Edmund Burke, guard the entrance. Trinity's library houses the most important and beautiful Irish illuminated manuscript, the Gospel Book of Kells.
Orientation
The first on-site event in Dublin is Orientation on Monday, June 30th at 4:30pm. Location: Meet outside the Accommodations Office at Trinity College and the Chapel steps. Classes begin Tuesday, July 1st.
Touring
Trinity College is a 35-acre walled island of serenity in the heart of Dublin. Poetry readings, concerts, theater (including the historic Abbey Theater) and art exhibits abound on both sides of Trinity's walls. Places of legal and historic interest within easy reach of campus are: Leinster House (meeting place of the Dail and Seaned, Ireland's Parliament); Four Courts (The Irish Law Courts); The General Post Office (where Ireland's Declaration of Independence was first announced); Dublin Castle (Ireland's "White House") and Kilmainham Jail (where execution of leaders of the Easter Rebellion helped unify the Irish to struggle for independence). Old Parliament House, now home of the Bank of Ireland, is just across the street from Trinity College's main gate. Those who wish to follow Leopold Bloom's 24-hour Dublin odyssey from James Joyce's Ulysses can easily gratify that desire.
Dublin, which is largely Georgian in style, abounds in museums, galleries, churches, pubs, shopping centers and theaters. It is a compact, walk able city where most sites can be reached by foot. The bus system is cheap and convenient. Phoenix Park, the largest in a major European city, is a delight, and Dublin is the home of Guinness Stout.
Dublin also has a long literary history. Jonathan Swift wrote Gulliver's Travels while Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, and English literature is filled with Dubliners: Joyce, O'Casey, Shaw, Sheridan, Synge, Trolloppe, Wilde and Yeats.
Picnics at the beach are available by short city bus rides of two to twelve miles. The more adventuresome may inexpensively rent bicycles and ride to beaches or visit the nearby Wickelow Mountains by bus.
Ireland's national rail and bus transportation system is efficient, convenient and cheap. Travel anywhere in the country for weekend sightseeing is possible. Favorite spots to visit are: Tralee, Killarney and The Ring of Kerry; the fishing villages of the Dingle Peninsula; and the lonely Northwest "Ghaeltacht" region where Irish language and culture still doggedly survive. Overnight accommodations for such adventures can he obtained inexpensively in Tourist Board-approved city or farmhouse "bed and breakfast" residences which serve as Ireland's more genial version of the American motel. You can book through any Irish Tourist Agency, or find on your own. Inexpensive bicycle rental is universally available for local sightseeing.
Extra-Curricular Legal Activities
The Dublin Institute will organize visits of legal interest, such as the courts, parliament, etc.. Informal talks will be held at Trinity with judges, practitioners, and faculty members, that may include persons from the Republic and Northern Ireland, law enforcement, spokespersons for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and lawyers who practice in the anti-terrorist courts. Participation of Supreme Court Justices, the Attorney General, or parliament members would not be unusual.
Enrollment
Last year 49 persons from 13 schools enrolled, 16 of them USD JD candidates. Enrollment is limited.