9 insights from 9 days in Dublin

Undergraduate | Mar 01, 2017 | Jacqueline Herlan

There’s a difference between studying Dublin from a Keating classroom and actually experiencing the city in person.

The 13 undergraduate students on a recent global immersion trip got to try out both.

Here are the top nine insights they gained over the course of their nine-day Dublin trip:

1. The Silicon Docklands in Dublin are home to the international offices of companies such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, eBay, Yahoo, and IBM. 
2. The final scene of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was filmed at the top of Glendalough’s monastic remains in the Wicklow Mountains.
3. Google Dublin’s primary focus is on cloud computing, and the company encourages a yearly reorganization.
4. Enterprise Ireland, a government organization that promotes and supports local Irish entrepreneurs, plans a 2017 focus on female entrepreneurs.
5. Ireland’s Newgrange stone-age passage tomb was built in alignment with the winter and summer solstices.
6. The Institute of Technology at Tallaght offers students from all over the world the opportunity to work directly with on-site entrepreneurs on their endeavors.
7. The Book of Kells at Trinity College is an incredibly small exhibit, where photography is prohibited, but it’s a Dublin must-see.
8. Former Minister of Education Noel Dempsey points to the quality of education in Ireland as the reason behind the 12.5 percent corporate tax rate.
9. Former President Obama’s speech in which he famously said, “you could say there’s always been a little green behind the red, white, and blue” was held at College Green, which was home to many former members of Irish parliament.