On our overland journey from Dublin to the West Coast, we made a picturesque and ultra-convenient pit stop at the monastery of Clonmacnoise. This site—founded in 544 by St. Ciarán of Roscommon—was a hub of commercial, scholarly, and religious exploits for centuries.  Today, it’s revered for its archaeological import and lovely location on the River Shannon.

When we arrived, we paired mid morning snacks with a gangbusters-mini-lecture from Leader Brenna on the architectural and historical significance of Clonmacnoise through the century.  So many plagues!  So many Viking attacks!  Two standing roundhouses!

Then, our newly arrived and fabulous guest writer, Jessica Lee Richardson, led a writing exercise. She sent students on an image-based scavenger hunt.  We roamed the grounds.  Students regarded the river from the ancient stone wall, they wandered through the ruins of old chapels, roofless and open to the sky, they stepped furtively over the graves of the kings of Tara and Connacht.

“It was the oldest, most beautiful, intense places I’ve ever been,” said Hannah Cooper of Houston, Texas.  “You could really feel that the land had been fought over, won, and lost.”

“It really felt like I was back in time,” quipped Jacquelyn Clarke of Chappaqua, New York. “I will never meet those people who were there, but I felt like I was connecting with those past generations just by walking on that ground.”

“It was really captivating,” said Nhi Phan from San Diego, California, “It sparked a lot of creativity because of the serenity of the landscape.