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| Aurora Borealis at the Giant's Causeway, 2025. |
PROVISIONAL ITINERARY (still subject to change)
TUES. JUNE 2 (arrive Dublin, morning)
10:00 - 10:30 AM, DUB airport (meeting place Roasted Notes by Terminal 2 exit just beyond baggage claim; I will meet you there; we will take cabs to campus)
11 AM - 11:30 AM, Drop off bags Glasnevin Campus, DCU. Short tour of campus.
12:00 PM - 1:30 PM, group lunch, All Hallows meal hall (not included) w. DCU Writer-in-Residence Colin Barrett (Young Sins, Let's Go Kill Ourselves) in conversation w. Dave Rudden.
2:20 PM, Power Ballad @ Lighthouse Cinemas, Smithfield, written/directed by Irish filmmaker John Carney (Once). Set in Dublin, it follows a past-his-prime American musician (Paul Rudd), who fronts an Irish wedding band called Bride and Groove. Also featuring Jersey boy Nick Jonas.
4:30 PM, Live Irish trad at Cobblestone Pub, also in Smithfield (celebrated, but authentic and non-touristy).
7:00 PM, You may go to sleep!
WEDS. JUNE 3
8:30 – 9:30 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Workshop/Class, All Hallows Campus, DCU
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM, Lunch (not included) @ All Hallows meal hall w. Ferdia Mac Anna (The Last of the High Kings), novelist, screenwriter, filmmaker (initially gained fame as the lead singer of punk/roots rock bands, Rocky De Valera and the Gravediggers and the Rhythm Kings) in conversation with Dave Rudden.
4:00 PM – 5:30 PM, Booker Prize finalist Kevin Barry (Night Boat to Tangier), Reading/Q&A, in conversation w. Dave Rudden, All Hallows Campus, DCU
6:00
- 10:00 PM, Group Dinner with Sophie White (Where I End) Reading/Q&A/Welcome Event, in conversation w. Dave Rudden, Loft @ Drury Buildings
THURS. JUNE 4
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Workshop/Class, All Hallows Campus, DCU
1:00 PM – 5:30 PM, Free Time
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM, Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl), Q&A/Reading, in conversation w. Dave Rudden, All Hallows Campus, DCU
8.30 PM, Dinner/Drinks w. Eoin Colfer at the Cat & Cage
FRI. JUNE 5
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Workshop/Class, All Hallows Campus, DCU (letters home)
1:00 PM, Lunch @ All Hallows Meal Hall (not included) w. Laoighseach Ni Choistealbha (Mainistir na Feola), DCU Writer-in-Residence, specializes in Irish language and ecocritcal poetry, in conversation w. Dave Rudden.
2:00 – 6:00 PM, Free Time
6:30PM – 8:30 PM, Sarah Davis Goff (Tramp Press, Silent City, Last Ones Left Alive) Reading/Q&A (in conversation w. Dave Rudden), All Hallows Campus, DCU
SAT. JUNE 6
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Workshop/Class, All Hallows Campus, DCU
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM, Free Time
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM, The of Kells Experience (Trinity College)
5:30
PM – 7:00 PM – Myth & Epic Fantasy vs Magical Realism and Southern Gothic; Celtic Myth at Home
& Abroad: Discussion/Q&A/Reading w. Dave Rudden (Knights of the Borrowed Dark, Sister Wake), Sarah Reese
Brennan (In Other Lands, Long Live Evil), Deirdre Sullivan (Tangleweed and Brine, Savage Her Reply), and Alex Dawson (The Devil & Daisy Dirt, Welcome to White Hart), incl. comp copy of Sister Wake, Books Upstairs, Dublin
7:00 PM, Free Time
SUN. JUNE 7
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
10:00 AM - 12:30 PM, Enterprise train to Belfast (lunch on train)
12:30 PM, drop bags off at Maldron Hotel (5 min walk from station)
1:45 PM, Game of Thrones Studio Tour (pick up and drop off, Belfast City Center, 9 Donegall Square, 3 min walk from Maldron Hotel)
6 PM, settle into rooms at Maldron Hotel Belfast City
7:00 PM, Dinner/Pubs (optional, not included) - Dirty Onion/Yardbird (delicious rotisserie chicken), Kelly's Cellars (drinks)
MON. JUNE 8
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, Group Breakfast, Maldron Hotel
10:30 AM, Game of Thrones Window walk
NOON, Free Time
1:30 AM, Private Bus to Giant’s Causeway
3:00 PM, Settle into Causeway Hotel rooms (right on the cliff!)
3:30 PM - 7:30 PM, Free Time
7:30 PM, Dave Lecture/Discussion followed by Group Reading in Hotel Lounge
TUES. JUNE 9
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, Group Breakfast, Causeway Hotel
11:00
AM, Cabs (incl.) to Dark Hedges (Kingsroad), Ballintoy Harbour (Iron
Islands), Cushendun Caves (Melisandre’s shadow baby), Dunluce Castle
(Pyke), the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge
1:00 PM, Group lunch at Fullerton Arms (incl.)
4:00 PM, Return to Causeway Hotel
4:30 PM – 7:30 PM, Free Time
7:30 PM, Alex Lecture/Discussion followed by Group Reading in Hotel Lounge
WEDS. JUNE 10
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, Group Breakfast, Causeway Hotel
10:00 AM – 12:30 PM, Group cliff hike (Red Trail out - moderate, Blue Trail back - easy)
12:30 PM – 7:30 PM, 1:1 w. Alex/Dave (half hr), Free Time
THURS. JUNE 11:
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, Group Breakfast, Causeway Hotel
10:30 AM – 7:30 PM, 1:1 w. Alex/Dave (half hr each), Free Time
FRI. JUNE 12
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, Group Breakfast, Causeway Hotel
10:30 AM - NOON, private bus to Dublin
3:00 PM, Settle back into to Glasnevin, DCU
3:30 PM, Free Time
SAT. JUNE 13
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Workshop, All Hallows Campus, DCU
1:00 – 7:00 PM, Free Time
7:30
PM – 10:00 PM, Publicized Closing Ceremony w. Student Readings (hosted
by Dave and Alex, who will also read), The Oratory, All Hallows Campus,
DCU (open to the public and all DCU students,
10:00 PM, “Night on the Town” w. Dave Rudden (!)
SUN. JUNE 14
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Workshop/Class, All Hallows, DCU
1:00 - 3:00 PM, Free Time
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM, Campus Scavenger hunt (w. prizes), All Hallows Campus, DCU
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM, Pub Quiz (w. prizes), All Hallows Campus, DCU
6:30 PM, Free Time
MON. JUNE 15
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM, Breakfast @ Student Cafeteria, Glasnevin, DCU
9:30 AM, Cabs to DUB airport
*
ACCOMMODATIONS (included):
Eight nights (6/9-6/13; 6/19 -6/21) in Dublin: Glasnevin, DCU (single occupancy apartments with private bathrooms and shared kitchen/living space, breakfast included). Address: DCU Glasnevin Campus, Ballymun Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland (Eircode: D09 W6Y4).
One night in Belfast, Maldron Hotel Belfast (double occupancy for the most part, breakfast included, wonderful reviews), four nights Giant’s Causeway, Causeway Hotel (double occupancy for the most part, with terrace and balcony overlooking the sea, breakfast included, excellent reviews). Address: Maldron Hotel Belfast City, 20 Brunswick Ave, Belfast, BT2 7GE. Causeway Hotel, 40 Causeway Road, Giants Causeway, Bushmills, BT57 8SU.
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| All Hallows Campus |
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| Causeway Hotel, Giant's Causeway |
*
MEALS (included):
Complimentary breakfast every day, Group Dinner/Event @ Drury Buildings Loft w. Deirdre Sullian and Sophie White, Group Dinner @ Cat & Cage with Eoin Colfer, Group Lunch @ Fullerton Arms.
*
TICKETS (included):
Power Ballad, Book of Kells & The Old Library, National Museum - Archeology (Bog Bodies), National Museum - Natural History, Game of Thrones Studio Tour, Dunluce Castle, Dark Hedges, Cushendon Cavers, Iron Islands, Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.
*
TRANSPORT (included):
Two week Leap pass (Dublin), cabs to/from Dublin airport, train to Belfast, shuttle to Game of Thrones Studio Tour, private bus hire to/from Giant's Causeway (from Belfast/to Dublin), cabs to/from Dunluce Castle/Dark Hedges/Iron Island/Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge.
*
BOOKS (included):
Sister Wake