Cliffs of Moher & Trad on The Prom

Our program did not start until today, but Claire and I arrived in Shannon a day early and stayed at the Park Inn Hotel right outside the airport. When we got back to the airport at 9 AM today, we walked towards the meeting area and were instantly greeted by Kelly, one of the CIS Abroad site directors. Our other site director who is an Ireland native gave us a brief orientation of everything we'll be doing in Ireland. We waited around in the airport until noon when our coach driver arrived, and we packed up the coach and headed for the Cliffs of Moher.


The Cliffs of Moher, located in the southwestern edge of County Clare, rise from 390 feet at Hag's Head to a maximum of 700 feet just north of O'Brien's Tower.  The Cliffs of Moher got its name from an old fort called Moher that once stood tall at the southern part of the cliffs, Hag's Head. It was demolished a few hundred years ago to make room for a new watch tower. The cliffs themselves represent a large part of Irish history and identity, and attracts around one million tourists each year.

Cliffs of Moher

O'Brien's Tower at the height of the cliffs

Claire and I at the top of the Cliffs of Moher

We departed from the Cliffs of Moher and headed to our hostel in Galway, Ireland. I was a bit apprehensive about staying in a hostel, just because I have never stayed in one and only know less than pleasant stereotypes about them. It ended up being really nice. We have 10 girls on our trip in one room together with one bathroom, which can be crazy when we all need to shower in the mornings and use the limited outlets. We all got settled in our hostel and ready to go out to dinner.


After dinner, we all went to see Trad on the Prom, a traditional Irish music and dance performance. One of the performers who played the violin and sang was world-renowned and played for Riverdance. In fact, all of the performers were some sort of the best in their league. Among all the Irish step dancers, they received 16 world titles. My favorite part of the performance was when they mixed traditional Irish music with American bluegrass. When the Irish settled in America, they played their traditional Irish music, which was primarily about immigration, love, war, and working hard. As time went on, the music gradually diverged into Bluegrass, but its roots will always remain Irish.


Late at night, we went out to the pubs and ended up going to a really fun club called Central Park with a group of boys from Cork. The club reminded me of Monday Night Pavs, except every girl seemed dressed like Lady Gaga to some extent.