In the past year alone Ireland has made monumental steps forward. Think the referendum in May, where Ireland became the first country in the WORLD to vote in Same Sex Marriage by popular vote. The world celebrated with us and it got me thinking. I began to think of what a modern Ireland meant to me. I haven't lived on this earth very long, I'm in my twentieth year of life, but I have seen so much change in my country. Positive change and it makes me very excited to be a young person in this country.

I remember the first time I came across Saoirse Ronan's work. I was fourteen years old and was on an aeroplane from Shannon, Ireland to the US. I was bored and started flicking through the in flight entertainment when I came across "The Lovely Bones". From then on, I kept up to date with Saoirse's work. A few weeks ago, which have felt like an eternity, let me tell you managed to get in contact with her PR and I didn't expect any response as I've tried before to no avail. However, I am so excited to tell you that Saoirse responded.

Here goes:

Some of the people I know that like my blog's Facebook page will not like this blog post. Simply because they may not like the artist I'm talking about or they will feel that it'll be uncool to like the artist I'm talking about. Nevertheless I'll continue.

Last week the trailer of the latest adaption of "Macbeth" was released, starring Michael Fassbender and actress Marion Cotillard.

I suppose this caught my eye because I studied this world renowned Shakespearan drama for my Leaving Cert in 2014. God knows I remember Ms Barrett giving us quote after quote to learn off by heart. At the time I hated spending hours and hours, studying character questions and reeling off quote after quote in front of the class.

The film looks really really interesting and I'm going to talk fondly about this familiar play:

For those who are new to the blog, I have a huge interest in film. I’m always checking Youtube.com for new film trailers, or watching old ones. I like to keep up to date with the films generating Oscar buzz and some of the more lesser known films. While on Youtube I found myself searching for film trailers..

Recently I came across a beautiful film trailer of an upcoming film. It’s called “Le Petit Prince”.Of course, there is an English language version being released, but the French version was the one I discovered first.I studied the language for six years and am by no means fluent, but I still enjoyed the trailer.This is the first animated feature film adaption of the novella and was shown at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

I was genuinely moved watching the trailer, especially during the scenes between The Little Prince and the fox.

Animation is something I absolutely adore, when done right it can be breathtaking. Some of my favourite films are animations. I did a blog post on Oscar nominated Irish film studio Cartoon SaloonThe animation in "Le Petit Prince" is lovely and what I really really like is that the animators are French and the work is not done by internationally famous animation studio “Dreamworks”.
I like when other animation studios get their big breaks. The film was animated by a small French-based studio called ON Entertainment. What is particularly notable is the animation of the little Prince and the fox. The story genuinely touched me and no doubt countless French children were brought up being read this novella.



The film is directed by Mark Osbourne, the director of "Kung Fu Panda". The film is done in an interesting way, the dream-like sequence of the story of the little prince is done in stop motion animation whereas the little girl's story is CG-animated. The two types of animation work together brilliantly in my opinion and I have to confess I prefer the stop motion animation sequences. Nonetheless, the film is beautiful.

The plot of the story goes as follows:

We meet The Little Girl, who's being prepared by her mother for the an adult world.
Then she meets The Aviator, her eccentric and kind neighbour who tells her his story, of how he met The Little Prince and the world from which The Little Prince came from. The Little Girl begins to learn how being a child is essential and that human connections are what really matters.


The film, not the first of its kind, is based on a novella first published in 1943 by French aristocrat, writer, poet and aviator Antoine de Saint- Exupéry.

I hope that it’s see the French language version here in Ireland as opposed to the English language version, because I think that because the film is based on a French book, it would be better to see it in French, with English subtitles.

The author himself illustrated the book and even the cover of the book is lovely. It features The Little Prince and the planet from which he came from.

Antoine de Saint- Exupéry's "Le Petit Prince" is said to be an "iconic masterpiece", many film adaptations have been made, but never an animated film, until now.

Co. Limerick has been my home from September to December of 2014. I'm living there because I go to college in the University of Limerick.  The last few months have been an eye-opener and I think that more than ever that you shouldn’t believe everything you read or hear. Especially when it comes to the Irish media's portrayal of Limerick.

I will put up my hand and say that because of living in Leinster and only ever hearing about Limerick through the news in a negative light, I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting a derelict and decaying city. Of course, some parts of it are, but that's the case with many cities here in Ireland.
However, I was not expecting to see as much cultural heritage and art.

There are so many murals dotted around the city.

First of all, Limerick is home to many art galleries and museums. I have visited the Hunt Museum and Limerick City Gallery of Art and I was more than impressed. One thing, in particular, I like about the art gallery is that it’s never the same each time you visit, new artwork is added, new exhibitions come and go and this keeps the place fresh and exciting. I never knew that Limerick was home to so many talented artists. During my time in Limerick I've gone out in the city so many times that I've lost count, visiting places such as Dolan's Warehouse, Crush 87, Mollie's, Charlie Chaplin’s and I've found that Limerick's nightlife is drastically improving. I'm well used to Limerick at night, I go out at least once a week, in college it is a rite of passage almost! Dolan’s Warehouse is a great place for musicians and also a great place to hold events such as DIE. I love rummaging through O' Mahoney's bookshop to find a good magazine or book. Or taking a trip with my friends to Moody Cow for delicious milkshakes. We have our priorities! I'm preparing to go back for my second semester in UL and I couldn't be more excited. The last six weeks of Christmas holidays have been slow, boring and almost torturous in a way. I never thought I’d say it.


My favourite place to walk in the city is by the Docks, be it late at night where the lights of the city reflect on the water or during the day where you can see hundreds upon hundreds of different birds flying around. The air is really fresh around that area and on more than one occasion I’ve walked along the docks while the sun has been setting. Let me tell you that the sight of the honey coloured sun’s rays reflecting on the rippling water is a gorgeous sight. If you lean against the railings of the docks and look to your left you can where the river Shannon begins to widen and it’s breathtaking. To your right, you can see King John’s Castle. I’ve yet to visit it but it’s on my bucket list for this semester. On Saturday there are markets in the city and if you root around you can find little gems, you just have to know where to look.

You can also find so many sculpture pieces, especially along the Docks

The people of Limerick have been given a mostly negative image by the national media. I feel outraged when I hear this now because I've come across nothing but kindness in Limerick. I remember going into a butcher's in Limerick completely lost and the workers there went out of their way to make sure I could find and get to where I wanted to go. Not to mention the banter I've had with people on my treks through the city.

Take for example the campaign that a young Limerick school girl has started to “Light Up Limerick’s Bridges”. The aim is to put messages of hope and support on all three bridges in Limerick with the hope that it will give support and solace to anyone who is struggling or suicidal. It’s things like this that make me proud of Limerick. There's even a petition related to the cause being signed and it is gaining signatures daily.

No one can say that I'm being biased. I'm an outsider, I'm from the opposite side of the country. But I can still use the hashtag, #Limerickandproud because I'm living in Limerick, and I am proud of it. I want the city and county to continue improving. I'm still so surprised by how much I've taken to the place. I never thought I'd get used to it, but I have and I'm starting to get a proper feel of the place.

The negativity was largely unjustified.

Of course, there's room to improve and I think that Limerick Co Council and the people of Limerick are more than motivated and capable of coming up with new ways to improve and expand Limerick's attractions. I just think that the negativity it’s gotten in recent weeks is completely undeserved and almost crushes the positive change that has been occurring for a while. People took to Twitter and started tweeting their support of their city and also included lovely photos of the many positive things
around the city and county. I even had my own say on the matter. Through this campaign, I've discovered even more sights that I had not previously heard about. I thought I had explored all of Limerick during the last few months but it turns out that I haven't and I'm looking forward to discovering other aspects of the city. I’m looking forward to living here for the next three and half years.

Thanks for reading and I can't wait to get back to UL and see all my friends.

This particular mural was striking.

This cheeky little bird kept watching my friends and I and tilting its head to the side.

Just one of the beautiful views along the Docks.

The three Musketeers.

We happened upon this mural by chance!

As you can see, I love the Limerick Docks.

What a world wind the past two weeks have been. Just over a week ago I received my Leaving Cert results (state exams in Ireland that get you into college), and a week since I was accepted to my first choice of college! Some details: I’m going to be studying New Media and English in the University of Limerick. This is exciting as this particular college is one of the most modern in Ireland. There are lots of of cool societies to join. For me it’ll be the badminton one, the drama one and I want to try and set up a filmmaking one since there isn’t one. Getting very ambitious aren’t I?
I guess it’s something I really want to do and since I haven’t had many opportunities to do it at home I am going to try introduce it to the college. Fingers crossed it’ll work out.

This college has over 70 clubs and societies to join. It is one of the biggest campuses in Ireland. It’s scary! I went up there on August 24th to get a tour of my accommodation in Dromroe. Dromroe is a good place to live because we are situated near the main building, we have a Spar (food shop) next door to our apartment block. We got a tour of the Sports facilities, the main Foundation building. There is a 50m swimming pool, and indoor running track, indoor football pitches and at least two stadiums. It’s incredible! The main feeling I got from the whole college was that it was so massive and that everything was so modern. When I heard that there are on average 12,000 students involved with the college in any year I felt butterflies in my stomach. That’s a hell of a lot of people for someone coming from a primary school of about 100 to a secondary of about 400 people.

I will be living with five other people, two other girls and three boys and it is likely I will never have met these people before. That’s getting me a little bit nervous as I’m not usually great with talking to strangers, let alone living with them for the whole year! Of course I’m sure that I’ll get to know them after a couple of weeks, but before I meet them and when I’m left alone at the place when my parents go I know I’m going to be nervous. ARGH. I know I’m going to be terrified.
I’m scared that I won’t find my way around, that I’ll be late to my first lecture, that I’ll be too shy to talk to anyone. Fears. Fears. Fears.

Just the thought of leaving home scares me. The longest I’ve spent away from home was two weeks and that was four years ago. This is like moving away from my house, from my county to a completely different place two and half hours away. I’m worried that I’ll lose people I’ve been friendly with in Greenhill for the past six years because we’re dispersed all over the country. Obviously we’ll meet up but I’m scared we’ll lose touch and I don’t want that to happen. I’ll miss secondary school, god I’ll miss sitting in maths class among my friends in my comfort zone. I'll miss little banters at lunch time in the GPA. I hate the fact that we'll never be together as a proper group ever again after the Debs. Unless we organize something.

College is going to be a great experience, I know that and I am probably over thinking the whole thing. Positives are there are a few people from my year doing the same course as me which is great, going to college will make me a more independent and hopefully a more confident person. I’ll make new friends, learn new things, explore new places. I got a massive package from UL talking about fees, invoices, the consequences if I or any of my house mates break stuff in the house. Apparently if you break a plastic basin there’s a cost of €7.50? If one person goes over the heating quota, every single person in the house has to pay for it. So many rules to remember, so many things to bring with me, passport, PPS number. Am I suddenly turning into a proper adult over night?!?

I'm sorry if this post is a little depressing. Haha I'm just writing this in the hopes that someone out there can help calm me down!

I hope to write about my first week in college so please stayed tuned for that!

Have you any tips for surviving the first week of college?

Hello!

Yup, I'm one of those thousands of blogs on the Internet. No, make that millions, I'd say.

I'm Eilís. If you're not Irish like myself you'll probably be wondering what the strange little dash on top of the second "I" is. Well that my friends is what us Irish speakers like to call a "fada". In most cases it causes a difference in the sound of that particular letter. But enough of that.