Dublin: The City Of Good Craic

I landed in Ireland late August, ready for a semester of fun, culture and new experiences. It has not disappointed.

Dublin is a great place to land for a few months. In my time here I’ve managed to forge friendships with Australians, Irish people and international students. The atmosphere in Dublin is super friendly (even if the weather is rainy), and the cosy culture of evenings spent at pubs having a yarn is truly special.

If you’re worried about meeting people and fitting in – fear not! Irish culture and humour is not too different from Australia’s, and you will meet so many other friendly exchange students. Go to a pub with a friend and don’t be afraid to start conversations with locals!

Trinity college has been a great place to study so far. I’m using my free electives to do some English and history classes here. The tutorials I have are amazing – only about 10 people in them, which has been such an interactive and engaging experience! Although enrolment may be a bit of a struggle (and you don’t get to select your own timetable) you should be able to get all the classes you want if you sign up quickly. The quality of teachers here has been amazing so far – especially in the English department.

I will say, the uni doesn’t really have any social events in orientation for visiting students. They do however for ‘Erasmus’ students (students on exchange from a European country).

Although Dublin is amazing, so is the rest of Ireland! I highly recommend doing a day trip to Howth, Bray & Kilkenny. If you have a spare weekend (which I recommend using), definitely check out the south-west Irish coast. Specifically, places like Dingle (check out the peninsula – which you can see here), Killarney (Gap of Dunloe) and most importantly, Galway.

Now, I will tell warn you about a few things about Dublin. There is a housing crisis here, and it has been difficult for Irish students to find accommodation here, let alone international ones. Your best bets are websites like daft.ie or official student accommodations. Trinity does affiliate with Kavanagh Court, a student accommodation in North Dublin, but it’s not in a great area, so I would aim for somewhere else if you get the option. I ended up at a student accommodation called The Tannery, which is pretty average to be honest. It’s in an amazing location though, which is great for going out, meeting young people and getting to uni.

The public transport within Dublin is not amazing – buses are at least usually 10 minutes late and quite often just won’t show up, so plan ahead if you need to be somewhere at a specific time. Good news though! Dublin is super walkable, and you can stroll to lots of different parts of the city (the southeast area is particularly nice).

Although Ireland may have an old rep of average food and poor coffee, this is a lie! Here are some great places you should check out:

• Neon Asian Street Food (they do an amazing lunch deal)
• Bunsen (a burger chain that does great student deals)
• Cornucopia Wholefoods Restaurant (a healthy, affordable lunch spot)
• Alma (nice café to treat yourself at for breakfast)
• The Barge (amazing pub food)
• Foleys (for a fun night with live music)
• Ryan’s (crazy pub)
• The workman’s club (Newtown meets Dublin)
• Herbert Park Food Market
• Phoenix Park (for a cute picnic)

I promise you will have a fabulous time in Dublin, especially if you put yourself out there. It’s a city full of great people, fun spots and beautiful places. Enjoy the craic!

Camille Penrose

Bachelor of Communication (Public Communication)

Global Exchange student

Trinity College Dublin, Ireland