The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,800 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 8 years to get that many views.
Despite, my blogs retirement, I am happy to see that others are still finding my postings on residencies and Fulbright in Ireland helpful!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,900 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.
Looking for more Fulbrighter blogs?
Thinking about applying?
Have you been accepted?
Check out
This is a book that is being created by Thomas Burns, Fulbright alum,
that the shares experiences of Fulbright alumi, myself included.
It will divulge all the information we wish we new, as we were going through the application process,
geting ready to depart,
and then arriving abroad.
There will be feedback from those of us who have been there
as well as Grants of Proposal that been accepted.
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 2,600 times in 2010. That’s about 6 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 20 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 34 posts. There were 480 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 1gb. That’s about 1 pictures per day.
The busiest day of the year was May 24th with 141 views. The most popular post that day was Opening Night in Dublin .
The top referring sites in 2010 were digg.com, android-vs-ipad.co.cc, healthfitnesstherapy.com, slashingtongue.com, and stumbleupon.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for cill rialaig residency, fulbright blog, cill rialaig, fulbright statement of grant purpose, and statement of grant purpose.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Opening Night in Dublin May 2010
1 comment
Cill Rialaig live/work Cottages (inside and out) March 2010
7 comments
Fulbright Application: Statement of Grant Purpose September 2009
Fulbright Application: CV (as of October 2008) September 2009
Final Report: 2010 Portfolio March 2010
I believe this will be one of my final entries, though if Fulbright/Ireland related things pop up, I will be sure to post them somewhere in here. But from here on out, it will be a lot slower. Please refer to my website http://www.erintreacy.com for update news.
People often ask me what you “have to do” at the end of your Fulbright. To me, it is a really funny question, because in all honesty the answer is really, nothing. Once you are awarded a Fulbright Fellowship, you have a lot of room to dictate what you will be doing and can even deviate from your original proposal, if justified. Many Fulbrighters have incorporated “final projects” into their proposals, but it is not mandatory by the commission.
For me, I included in my initial proposal that I would organize two educational exhibitions in Ireland in the final months of my grant. Therefor when I did so in April 2010, this was my choice and I did not need to ‘hand in’ documentation of the events. Additionally, prior to my arrival, the director of Fulbright asked if I would be interested in be included in a proposal she was working on. I happily agreed, and thus in addition to my exhibitions on the west coast of Ireland, I also had a solo exhibition in Dublin, May 2010. Once again this was not mandatory.
The only thing Fulbright asks of Grantees at the end of their time abroad is to complete a Q&A Final Report, summarizing our experiences while also helping to improve on the institution and fellowships.In addition to this Ireland requests a supplemental questionnaire, addressing program specific needs .
In keeping with my original intentions for this blog and in a final effort to maintain full disclosure on my Fulbright experience, I have posted these reports as Pages. After a little manipulation, copy & paste, and some formatting efforts I have put these online questionnaire in plain text in the right hand tool bar.
I am happy to answer any procedural questions regarding the Fulbright and as always my website http://www.erintreacy.com is active for all art related inquires.
Just before my departure, I attended one of The Irish Fulbright Commissions board meetings. This opportunity allowed those of us, still in the country, to discuss our ideas (good and bad) to help develop the Fulbright Program in Ireland. It was here, that I received my completion “diploma” from the board. A bit cheesy, but a nice final image to post up here, and a good closure for a great year.
Now:
It has been a little under two months since I have been back in the States, it was only a few days ago that I finally decided on what city to live in. Being back, does take a bit of adjustment for anyone. For me, spending two years in Ireland (first year, not on a Fulbright) has left me more sad about my departure then expected. Yes, it is nice to be back in a land where if you want something, you can pretty much get it within 24 hours (if not immediately). Yet, my latest conclusion is that it takes two years to really settle in somewhere. The months before my departure were amazing; I met even more interesting people from neighboring “villages” (genoursly speaking), attended wonderful dinner parties, and spent more late nights out at Dublin openings and art events. All this made it harder to leave.
Despite my search for adjunct and full time teaching gigs throughout the northeast-US, Europe, Australia, and the Middle East, I still had nothing lined up. So, when you have nothing to go to, it is awfully hard to leave. It would have been great to stay, but with economies hurting the way they are, it is nearly impossible for Americans (we no longer have a golden ticket) to get a job overseas.
So, I am back in America, and settling in alright. I am teaching an Art History course online and I am remaining hopeful in my job hunt-broadening my search to now include museums, non for profits, and administrative positions. I am moving into Sunnyside Queens, and am very excited to settle in and start back in the studio, after the last two months of sketching.
I look forward to my traveling adventures, but I am not sure when or where they will be. I have told my niece that I will take her anywhere in the world for her thirteenth birthday, which will be loads of fun. Trying to deposit the traveling bug early on and get her interested in the beauty and diversity of other cultures . Until then she needs to decide…she has a presentation to give me at the end of the summer of her finalist, and from there we will choose and start planning! Education tied with traveling is my favorite way to learn, and is something I will continue to share with people.
The Aran islands lays just off the coast of the Burren. A popular tourists attraction, yet ferries only operate reliably during the warm months. Operation times dependent on tides, and like any boat rides to the plethora of islands that surround Ireland are reliant on good weather. Even before the Fulbright, I was here for a year and never got to them, passing through Ireland years ago the Aran Islands plans fell through as well. So I was thrilled that after 2 years of saying I was going to hop on the ferry I finally did! It was a bit chilly, and my 10am ferry did not leave until 11:30, but overall a nice dry day for my visit to Inis Oirr, the smallest of the three islands. As you will see in some of the pics, this is also part of The Burren, with the same geological makeup. I left from Doolin, (ferries operate out of Galway too), only a 20 minute drive away from my house. Upon arrival I was hopping to visit 2, maybe even 3 of the islands and make a full day out of it. To my disappointment I found that was impossible. Three ferries companies operate out of Doolin (though I am convinced they are all actually brothers, putting on a haggling show for the ‘best deal’) , yet they are all pretty much the same and I quote “there is no way to visit more than one island in a day. you must stay overnight at one and then move onto the next the following mid-day”. So I chose the smallest, closest, and ‘most beautiful-untouched landscape’, Inis Oirr. By the time I get there I only had a couple of hours, before the one return boat left (I really did wish I could have spent the late afternoon at another island and then return in the evening- but I suppose the lack of return boats after 3:30 means you ‘have’ to stay overnight and pay for a hotel room-tricky-tricky). All that nonsense aside, at a quick pace I walked 3/4 of the island and got to see everything (except the holy well-which are of abundance in County Clare, so i think I am ok) and squeeze in a toastie before I was back on the boat. My lovely walk (you can take a horse drawn carriage around if you like) took me down little paths between fields and houses (where the horses could not go). The high stone walls blocking the land and its animals from the harsh winds of the winter months. Scattered about the island are remains of churches, castles, ship wrecks, and all those other Irish traditions that reveal its history.Of everything there, I found the Plassy Shipwreck most interesting. I knew of it because of its TV debut in the satirical comedy Father Ted, a sitcom every Irish (it appears) person loves, despite it being denied broadcast on Irish tele, RTE. It was apparently too contraversal, so at that point the BBC was thrilled to put it in their line up, and it has been a huge success every since. That said, when I discovered what actually happened I was really impressed. In 1960 a merchant ship got caught in a wild storm. the signal was made and all fled the ship as it appeared it was going under. Once off the boat the crew saw the ship resurface and made a last attempt to go back and save the ship and the goods. Upon returning to the ship a wave picked up the boat and crashed it into Finish Rock just off the coast of Inis Oirr, in the early morning. A boy walking the coast noticed the ship and returned to the village to tell the others. An emergency siren was lifted and locals responded quickly. Through the use of breeches buoy (a really cool looking life vest,tube of sorts attached to a cable) all of the crew were rescued by the islanders. This was 1960, but if you see some of the photos of the event, you would never guess it was that recent. Below you can see how quickly the weather has aged the remains of the ship, and the rest of the historical sites on this tiny island of 4 square miles and 252 people.
On return to Doolin, I took the Cliffs of Moher cruise for the second time. A great view and comparison to looking down from the top!
My aunt Joan came to Ireland for the opening of my exhibition in Dublin, after which we did some traveling. I have been trying to check off the last bits of my Ireland Must Do list. One of these big checks needed to cover Northern Ireland. Rather then heading straight to Belfast (which I still need to do) we went further north to The Glens of Antrim and then hit the north coast.
The North of Ireland is actually not that big,(well the island as a whole is really not that big-especially to americans) and easily drivable in a couple of days. It is always funny to me how irish people will think us crazy for thinking nothing of driving from one coast to the other (our house to Dublin). One way it is about 3 hours, 3 hours in the US and you’ve barely made progress and more than likely remain in the same state.
Northern Ireland is of course a place that would be lovely to go back (do some more exploring of the interior) but driving along the coast for a long weekend was a great experience.
We spent a night in Cushendall, a small village on the sea, with easy access into the Glens and some waterfalls.
Then onto Giant’s Causeway…believe all the hype…its really fucking cool, I want to see the other side of the causeway on the Scotland side. The legend of the location, and the variations of it are beautiful as well. As per Wikipedia”
Legend has it that the Irish warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) built the causeway to walk to Scotland to fight his Scottish counterpart Benandonner. One version of the legend tells that Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. When he did not arrive, the much larger Benandonner crossed the bridge looking for him. To protect Fionn, his wife Oonagh laid a blanket over him so he could pretend that he was actually their baby son. In a variation, Fionn fled after seeing Benandonner’s great bulk, and asked his wife to disguise him as the baby. In both versions, when Benandonner saw the size of the ‘infant’, he assumed the alleged father, Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. Therefore, Benandonner fled home in terror, ripping up the Causeway in case he was followed by Fionn.[citation needed]Another variation is that Oonagh painted a rock shaped like a steak and gave it to Benandonner, whilst giving the baby (Fionn) a normal steak. When Benandonner saw that the baby was able to eat it so easily, he ran away, tearing up the causeway.[citation needed]Another version of the legend was that Fionn had spent many days and nights trying to create a bridge to Scotland because he was challenged by another giant. A fellow boatsman told him that the opponent was much larger than he. Fionn told his wife and she came up with an ingenious plan to dress Fionn like a baby. They spent many nights creating a costume and bed. When the opponent came to Fionn’s house; Fionn’s wife told him that Fionn was out woodcutting and the opponent would have to wait for him to return. Then Fionn’s wife showed him her baby and when the opponent saw him he was terrified at the thought of how huge Fionn would be. He ran back to Scotland and threw random stones from the causeway into the waters bellow.The “causeway” legend corresponds with geological history in as much as there are similar basalt formations (a part of the same ancient lava flow) at the site of Fingal’s Cave on the isle of Staffa in Scotland.[6]“
Also near Giant’s Causeway that you can find the old Rope Bridge, now a tourist attraction, but originally built for fisherman to get to the nearby island and fishing cove. You have to pay to go across, but the thrill is quite intense and a bit scary…even for those not afraid of heights (me). The photos from the other side are gorgeous and you can find them below, also keep an eye out for the photo of aunt Joan and Sean that were to chicken to come across with me!
Our time in Northern Ireland ended, when we took the short ferry ride over to Donegal, once again entering the republic of Ireland. Donegal is one of my favorite spots in Ireland and unspoiled by masses of tourists, due to many town being only Irish-speaking and the tiny-squiggly roads!
Over to the peninsula of Inishowen and up to the most northern part of Ireland, Malin Head we went. This is also the most SUNNY part of Ireland, though it was not proven on our arrival. Though the people were lovely and we had a great night stopping in the curiosity shop, finding a perfect B&B tucked on a hill-top, and finding a great meal!
Continuing our travels down through Donegal we stopped at a Famine Village tourist attraction and actually learned a whole bunch, I think I am going to do a tourist guide page…so I will leave it at that for now….Then a slow ride and a stay over in Mayo (next favorite Irish County); the lakes, the mountains, the valleys, the baby sheep (nothing cuter then lambing season), and this whole time no rain on our travels.
Through Connemara, then Galway, and back we arrive home in Clare.
So the crowds were crazy and literally everyone from the village was there…. yes I am talking about the talent show. I, of course, was dying to see it ever since I saw the first advertisement. Others seemed skeptical, considering you had to buy your vote for fiver! Little did us silly americans and young locals know. Actually it was a huge event put on my the local GAA (sports club-and they mean business here in Ireland when it comes to the GAA) to raise funds. Since it was a fundraiser each act (there were only like 8 of ’em,) could actually “sell” votes prior to the event. Apparently each act could only sell 30 or 40 votes, prior to the event, none the less some acts were loaded before even performing.
It was mostly the children that participated, but then again Tomas Fancis did perform the “evolution of dance” (I don’t know how i missed that on you-tube) and Dom as always blew us away with a ridiculous original-poem. He threw on his american accent, some overalls, an a straw hat; tellin the tale of old Ballyvaughan, out in the west!
The turn out was unbelievable and it must have been nuts for any tourist that might have been passing through and caught in the hoopla. But the GAA did raise a couple of grand, so they were happy no matter what.
So the winner, you may wonder, the Ballyvaughan Dancers, of course. Their first performance and the girls won with their set dancing. A trophy and a check for €300.00 (and yes it was an oversized one to play on the drama). As a good friend pointed out when we were shocked that Dom didn’t win, “he never stood a chance, there are about 12 girls in that troop, all with parents, grandparents, and a bunch of siblings, they won before they got here. To top it off look at those families, they are the big players in town, they can rally the votes, and if you look carefully and rearrange the first letter of their last names, I swear it spells MASON”. Obviously this is not true, and the girls were so excited it was adorable, but it does once again reminder us just how many similarities there are between good old BV (ballyvaughan) and the classic film Hot Fuzz!!!!!!!!
The opening reception went very well, installation was a lot easier then normal since the paintings were displayed on easels. Not always the ideal situation, but I think it worked well in the end.
The location is the atrium of Mason Hayes and Curran’s (MH&C) Law Firm in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4. They are one of the leading collectors of contemporary art in Ireland. The director of the Irish Fulbright Commission, Colleen Dube, formed this wonderful relationship with the law firm last summer. Through their collaboration, Fulbright and MH&C held a program of exhibitions, talks, and catalogues throughout April and May 2010. Find out more at http://www.mhc.ie/news-+-events/events/518/ or http://dublin.usembassy.gov/news/events-outreach/launch-of-fulbright-interchanges-art-dialogue.html
MH&C’s chairman, Declan Moylan opened the reception with an insiteful speech on the research and culmination of my Fulbright proposal. Not often you can have a lawyer who not only appreciates art, but can actually discuss it in contemporary culture.
Thanks you to everyone who attended the event and I hop those others in Dublin will find time to see the exhibition, it will be on view through the 28th of May
Erin Treacy's Fulbright Blog 