The Oxford of Ireland-Oxford, Mississippi that is

Well first things first, greetings and thanks for taking the time to follow my journey through Ireland. I  went back and forth about blogging but in the end I think it is going to serve as a great way to hold me accountable for putting my pen to paper (or should I say keyboard).

Since this is my inaugural post, I want to let yall in on the place I will be calling home for the next year. Maynooth.

Maynooth is located west of Dublin, about 25 miles or so. It is connected to Dublin by bus and train.  (I’m going into Dublin tomorrow on the train for the first time. Since I traveled over with two super big suitcases I thought it was best to splurge on a cab ride from the airport instead of dragging my bags through public transit.)

Maynooth claims about 12,000 residents but an exact  count is difficult because the city a town of college students. The town is home to a branch of the National University of Ireland and is historically significant as the home of St. Patrick’s College, the national seminary of Ireland.

St. Patrick’s College is was and still is the training ground of most Irish priests. It is beautiful and picturesque, just like you would imagine an old stone castle built in 1795.

 (the main building of St. Patrick's with a cathedral attached to the right wing)

From what I understand, during the Vatican II (1962-65) St. Patrick’s began expanding in the hopes that the new leadership at the Vatican would inspire people around the country to flock to the order.

At the same time that St. Patrick’s was expanding it also allowed “lay” students to enter the University. By the mid 1970s there were more students not on the fast track to priesthood than there were. Eventually in the mid 1990s the Irish government established a separate University for the “lay students”, creating the National University of Ireland-Maynooth.

As St. Patrick’s was buying up land and buildings for a planned growth in the priesthood during the 1960s, an ironic twist began to take place in Ireland and around Europe in the decades to come.  Ireland began to turn against the once iron first of the Catholic Church (I plan to post more on this later) as the rest of Europe moved away from Christianity and organized religion all together. So since independence in the 1990s the secular NUI-Maynooth has slowly begun to buy building by building from St. Patrick’s.

This has left the University with a north and south campus. The South Campus is home to the picturesque stone buildings of St. Patrick’s and the North Campus is filled with modern construction and the amenities of most college campuses. There are cafes, bookstores, a sports complex and dorm rooms.

(entrance to South Campus is through this set of gates with a guard cottage)

(the Maynooth Castle still has remnants standing that great visitors on their entrance to South Campus)

I live on the North Campus in an apartment style dorm in Potter’s Hall, a part of the larger section of River Apartments (but I have yet to see a river). I have a private bedroom and bathroom but share the “flat”, a kitchen and living room, with 3 other “mates.”  My room is small, but perfect for a single person who only brought suitcases for a year (no matter how big-still just suitcases).

(my building-Potter's Hall. In total there are probably 10 other buildings like mine)

(Welcome to my office, walk in closet, dining room, kitchen, den, and living room)

My room could not handle the amount of furniture and matching fabric that makes Martin at Ole Miss the special place that it is, but for a year in Ireland I think its going to be just great.

(my window over looks a large athletic field)

The campus is just a few minute walk from the small downtown of Ma-noot (as said by the locals).  I think it takes me maybe 5 minutes from my dorm to the start of downtown.  The first sign of downtown is a newly opened shopping mall that has a Dunnes Store, which is a one-stop shop for almost anything you could need.  The rest of downtown is a mix of local shops, pubs, restaurants and chain fast food like Papa John’s and the Irish version of Burger King (Chicken King).

(the main intersection of Maynooth, not quite a one stop light town)

(Mantra-recently built, this is Maynooth's largest dance club and apparently one of the biggest dance clubs in Ireland. I have yet to fist pump there.)

(sweet downtown)

The President of the Student Body at NUI-Maynooth describes the town and university like this, "Maynooth is about 50:50 students to residents and has seven pubs, a seminary, two massive supermarkets, four pizza places, a University and nowhere to park. It's the strangest and best town in the world." 

Sometimes I think we could easily say the same thing about Oxford, MS. A strange and wonderful place...

I hope to update everyone soon about my coursework, interesting Irish history, irish drinking culture, etc.  Stay tuned.

Cheers!
 Chelsea