Summer 2025 Academic Enrichment Workshop

8 - 14 June 2025

This week-long workshop builds on learning from our most enjoyable June 2024 workshop. We will examine in greater depth how the challenge of An Gorta Mor, the Great Irish Famine, affected contemporaneous and subsequent literature, especially those writers of global appeal and how it relates to today.

From Dublin or Belfast, catch the regular coach service to Enniskillen. The UISCE Campus is 5 minutes walk from Enniskillen coach station. Settle into your accommodation and then we meet as a group for dinner, before introducing the programme and what lies ahead for the week.

Spend the evening relaxing: Explore Enniskillen for pubs “craic agus ceol” - fun and music - or unwind at the campus.

Sunday, June 8th

  • With local literary enthusiasts, dive into the legacy of Samuel Beckett and Oscar Wilde before going on a walking tour around Enniskillen to discover The Happy Prince, Portora Royal and the Beckett Trail.

  • A boat trip to the early Christian monastic site on Devenish Island takes us back 1500 years, and see first hand one of St Molaise’s community, who inspired Colmcille and How The Irish saved Civilisation. A great place for a picnic lunch amidst its ancient ruins!

  • Enjoy free time in the late afternoon, followed by the best of Irish beef at our BBQ at UISCE.

Monday, June 9th

  • As a group, engage with the social, political, military and economic dynamics that forged "An Gorta Mor," the Great Irish Famine, after which our tour visits Strokestown House & Famine Museum., followed by lunch in Carrick-on-Shannon, and on to climb the “hill of executions”, Knocknarea, where lies atop Connaught’s Queen Maeve, or so it is said

  • The evening closes with dinner in one of Sligo’s great restaurants., close to the ocean.

Tuesday, June 10th

  • We head through North Leitrim and Yeats’ Land of Heart’s Desire, North Sligo.

  • Brexit at Belcoo, Glenfarne's Tale of Two Halls at the Ballroom of Romance, Kiltyclogher's Revolutionary leader Sean MacDermott; then the world of W.B. Yeats, exploring Glencar Valley, Rosses Point, and Drumcliffe; before dinner by the ocean at Mullaghmore and a late evening drive back to UISCE via Glenade’s Eagle Rock.

Wednesday, June 11th

Saturday, June 14th

  • Visit the Seamus Heaney Homestead, stepping into the life and words the latest Great Irish Nobel Laurate poet; but not only that! Take part in a creative writing workshop that will help you connect with and process all that this week stirs within.

  • Then on to the Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; before dinner in a superb local eatery.

Thursday, June 12th

Friday, June 13th

  • Today is an opportunity to step back from all the academic engagement and drink in the ocean air, clear the head! We head west to the awe-inspiring Slieve League sea cliffs, towering over the Atlantic Ocean, and a hill climb for the eager.

  • Ireland’s largest fishing port, Killybegs, offers some tasty bites; and a sumptuous end-of-tour dinner near Donegal town is a must, before returning to the UISCE Campus, enriched with a fuller understanding of part of Ireland’s culture and history.

The workshop officially ends after breakfast, but participants are welcome to stay for a few days to enjoy the Enniskillen / Fermanagh area or to avail of the campus as a touring base.

This Academic Enrichment Workshop aims to offer a refreshing opportunity for the professional development for teachers, other educators and others who have an interest in Irish literature, history and culture. The programme’s purpose is to enrich your understanding so that you can enrich your students. We work with small groups, and therefore places on each programme are limited. It is recommended that you book early, even just by securing your place with the booking deposit. The fee for the full programme is £1650 which includes B&B single ensuite accommodation, with two evening meals on campus. On the other days, meals away from campus are at your own choice. The fee also includes speakers, access to visitor centres, and transport during the programme, but excludes flights. To secure your place, you have two options.

  1. Pay a non-refundable, but transferable deposit of £500.

    or

  2. Pay the full fee Black Friday Offer £1500 save to £1250

“The workshop was the highlight of my summer! Still working with it all over my head!”

Samantha Jensen, Avon Old Farms School