Ireland – the Emerald Isle – everyone is dreaming his or her own Celtic dream of coming
abroad and experience a year full of fairy tales, pub crawls and good music and I have to
admit that my year at the NUI Maynooth has probably been the best of my life; not only as I
was able to experience the Irish culture and lifestyle and to improve my language skills but
also for me as an individual: There is no better way to learn how to stand on your own feet
than leaving home and to see another part of the world, facing the problems on your way and
creating memories you will have for the rest of your life. And by the way, the NUI Maynooth
is one of the best and oldest universities in Ireland!
St. Patrick’s College (South Campus)
James Joyce stature (Dublin city centre)
Before you come here
If you are one of the lucky ones who have been offered a place at the NUI Maynooth you
should start as soon as possible to request and collect all the documents you need. Believe me,
you will need the time: I applied for on-campus accommodation in March and did not get a
place, so apply as early as possible! Finding a place off-campus can be quite stressful as the
local landlords are not willing to answer your emails etc. as long as you are not in Ireland and
they can meet you in person. In that case you will have to depart from Germany without
knowing where you will actually been living for the next nine months. There are enough
places to live, so do not panic. From my own experiences I would advise you to check
EVERYTHING before making any agreement with your landlord. I was so afraid of not
finding a place to live that I took the first one that has been offered to me – hence living
without heating until I found new accommodation in November! If you should have any
problems whether with your on or off-campus accommodation the Students Residence Office
is a great place to go and they will help you to sort things out.
Another thing you have to check in advance of your stay abroad is your academic timetable.
The problem here is that you won’t be able to get the actual list of available courses until
shortly before you depart, thus you have to work out your learning agreement on the
hypothetical basis of last year’s courses. Changes to this can be made at the beginning of each
semester, though. It sounds stressful, but it will all work out easier than you think. When
choosing your courses please pay attention to the number of credit points as in contrast to
Wuppertal the NUI Maynooth only differentiates between courses worth 2.5 (once a week), 5
(twice a week) and 7.5 (three times a week) credit points. So make sure you pick the right
ones and check if you will be given the full credit back home. I had a lot of courses worth 5 or
7.5 credit points and you will have to study night and day if you have too many of them in one
semester. But again, do not panic. You will be told what to do and which forms you have to
fill out etc. Just remember to do it in time and relax.
The first weeks
When you finally made it to Maynooth you won’t be led alone. There will be an orientation
week including campus and library tours etc. and you will be given all the information you
need in order to register as a student and how to open up a bank account; which is by the way
one of the first things you should do.
The first weeks abroad might be hard but as soon as the lectures start and you are going to
meet new people you will soon feel at home – Maynooth is a small town and you will always
meet someone you know from class.
The Irish are very open-minded and convivial people. One of the most important events is the
Clubs & Societies’ Fair Day. Here you can sign up for Clubs (sport) and societies such as the
Maynooth Gospel Choir or the International Students Society. It is nice to get some routine
and if you are interested in travelling and meeting other people, the International Students
Society with its weekly movie nights is the place to be. By being member of this society you
will also have the possibility to join trips to Belfast (have a look at the Giant’s Causeway &
have a Black Taxi Tour), Cork, Galway, Glendalough etc. And as soon as you settled down
you might as well have a look at Dublin, go to the movies or meet up with new friends at one
of the four local pubs. The cheapest way to Dublin is by bus, unfortunately it takes the longest
(which leaves you some money for having lunch at Eddie Rocket’s). More expansive but
faster is the train. The train station is a five minute walk away from the college. Nice
alternatives to sitting in front of your telly are trips to the nearby coasts at Howth or Bray and
I can more than recommend the Howth Cliff Walk – well, if it is not raining. Which reminds
me to tell you: seriously, remember a rain coat; you will never know when the next rain
shower is coming down on you. Oh, and as many of the older houses only have single glass
windows and since last year Ireland eventually ‘made acquaintance’ with a phenomenon
called snow, think of bringing some cosy hoody, thick jacket and scarf.
St. Kevin’s Kitchen, Glendalough
Giant’s Causeway (Belfast)
College
As I mentioned before the courses you can take might be held several times a week depending
on the number of credit points. The class structure is similar to the one in Wuppertal.
Instructors and students though, address each other with their first names and classes last only
55 minutes. Assessment is taken place by written assignments, which you have to write and
hand in during the semester and by exams at the end of each semester. There won’t be any
semester break between semester one and two (except for the examination period) but you
will be given a study week prior to the exams and once during each semester (Halloween and
St. Patrick’s Week). Another striking difference is the grading system: Do not be worried if
you get 50% in one of your first essays. It does not mean that you have failed: In Ireland 40%
is a straight D and hardly any undergraduate ever gets beyond 70% (A-). Please remember
one thing: Yes, Ireland is a great place to be and you will definitely want to see as much of it
as possible but if you attend less than 50% of your classes you won’t be allowed to take part
in the exams and will fail the course.
And now the good news: As an Erasmus student you do not have to stick to the subjects you
are studying at home. You might as well add some other subjects you are interested in to you
schedule. I for example took several courses with the department of Medieval Irish and Celtic
Studies. The courses in general are really interesting and you are also allowed to take third
year courses (even if you are not in third year back home). For me as a history student it was a
great experience to gain a different perspective on history and to be able to compare it to the
German one. I believe this might be true for any other second subject too.
Ireland has bewitched me and although I made one or the other bad experience I can
definitely recommend coming here. It will be the best time you will ever have!
And do not worry, you will get used to the strange idea of driving on the wrong side of the
road.