<p>I was recently offered the chance to be part of a month long study abroad program in Ireland. It’s a homestay program where you live with a family and spend at least half of your time with them. I’m really interested in it and think it’s a great opportunity to experience the country as a local. That said, I’ve never been to Ireland and know very little about the different areas. I get to choose which part of the country I would like to live in. I don’t want a completely touristy area as I want to experience Ireland more as a local (I’ve heard Galaway is like this??). I would LOVE to be near or at least accessible to the coast since it looks so amazing and beautiful! However, I’m not sure if I want/it would be better to be in a city (like Cork or Wexford?) or some small village on the coast (perhaps in Donegal?) Really, I have NO idea where I should request to stay. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any suggestion or thoughts on locations? Any experiences you could share would be enormously helpful!</p>
<p>Galway is a great choice. Beautiful city on the coast and gateway to the Connemara area to the NW. </p>
<p>I have liked the west far more than the east, as it’s less populated & ‘wilder’. Areas in County Clare are also beautiful. Limerick is not lovely - gritty city (where my family’s from). We also loved County Kerry - it’s a bit touristy for some, but lots of authentic culture.</p>
<p>I second Galway. It is quite a cosmopolitan city, yet small enough to get the real flavor of the auld sod. Donegal is probably too rural for a young person.</p>
<p>------annual ploughing championships, that’s right, ploughing, that is the largest outdoor event in Europe. My jaw just dropped at the thought (and I go to something called the Sheep and Wool Festival locally). It’s in September if you’ll be there then. Sounds pretty authentic.</p>
<p>Galway sounds like it’s a great area, but I’m also thinking about experiencing life in a smaller village. Again, being near the water would be awesome. I really would love to be around that iconic, green, jagged landscape that you often see in movies. Any advise on a charming, smaller village?</p>
<p>I also concur about Galway. There’s the university there plus a good amount of stuff to do. If you want the Gaelic Irish experience, there’s Spiddal along Galway Bay as a nice local village with bus service to Galway City, near the boats to the Aran Islands, and just miles to Connemara National Park.</p>
<p>I have only spent a week in Ireland but we stayed in County Offaly, right in the belly button of the country. We loved exploring the little villages nearby and we were right between the coasts.</p>
<p>Can you really pick anywhere in the country? How does the program work? Where do you “study”? Just curious.
Kenmare in Kerry is a lovely town, on a bay - small but not too miniscule. The west in general is beautiful. You might also try somewhere in Wicklow.</p>
<p>My daughter did a homestay in the village of Carraroe, which is about 40 minutes west of Galway, and near where the ferries leave for Aran. She was taking classes in Irish at the National University in Galway, and the family she stayed with was Irish speaking. So she lived in a small village, but bussed to Galway every day. Gorgeous area (I’ve been over there myself since then) and you get the village plus the city–and Galway is just fantastic–liked it even better than Dublin.</p>
<p>@lisa58, it’s a summer home stay program, so it’s not connected with any university studies. They have families all over, so although they said they can’t guarantee a specific village, they can get pretty close to the area. However, the goal of the program is to be fully immersed in the day to day Irish experience with little interaction with tourists. They want all of your new friends to actually be Irish. Because of this, they are less enthusiastic to place students in big cities, especially one’s like Galway that will be swarmed with tourists during the summer. It does sound like a fantastic place so I may put it down anyway… My representative said that in the past participants have chosen to stay on islands of the coast, in little fishing villages, in the country right of the cliffs, and various small towns of the beaten path. Because it’s for high schoolers and it’s only a month, the goal is not so much formal learning in an academic setting. It’s very much experiential and getting to know Irish people and learn about their country from them.</p>
<p>I agree that anywhere you go will be beautiful and either on the water or not terribly far from it. The entire country of Ireland is approximately the size of Indiana. Kenmare is a very quaint town with not as much tourist traffic as Galway, Killarney, Cork, Limerick or Kinsale. I have many relatives in the Skibbereen, Co. Cork area so I’m partial to that area. It’s not very touristy at all. Wherever you go, you’ll find the Irish people are very friendly and welcoming. Have fun and take lots of pictures!</p>
<p>My brother’s family took a hiking vacation on the Dingle Peninsula in County Kerry. Looks gorgeous, and I think would also be remote and yet offer some of the touristy things one would want to see - Skellig Michael, beehive huts etc.</p>
<p>“The entire country of Ireland is approximately the size of Indiana.”</p>
<p>Keep this in mind. Wherever your decide to stay, try to make some small trips. Killarney Lakes are beautiful and Muckross Estate (beautiful gardens) is nearby. You may also want to visit Dublin or Cork for a day or two.</p>
<p>I’ll secondDingle–the town of Dingle itself is a neat very small city, many cool seeming villages around the Ring of Dingle, unbelievable hiking past breath taking views. Another town farther up the coast is Doolin. It’s near the cliffs of Moher (a fabulous hike), has ferries leaving to Aran, and some of the best traditional music in the pubs.</p>
<p>Personally, I would stay further South, closer to the Ring of Kerry. Both Killarney and Kilkenny are nice. Cork is also a possibility, however much bigger than the other two.</p>