This morning we visited the EPIC museum, and I enjoyed it overall. This was expected because I’m kind of a history nerd. I feel like with all the information we learned about Ireland in the past week, much of the material covered in the museum we had already talked about, just in less depth. For example, I already knew that the potato famine caused mass emigration and starvation, but the museum shared some personal stories of those who were affected by the event. On the other hand, there were a couple of new concepts that we haven’t talked about on this trip. To name a few, the museum covered infamous criminals, inventions, literature, and art from Ireland. Specifically, I never knew that Machine Gun Kelly was anyone other than a performer, but it turns out he was also a kidnapper. Additionally, the museum had sections about Irish literature and art, as well as some of the key inventions, like the wool shearer, that were important for Irish history.

My favorite part of the museum was the section where you could select Irish emigrants who had impacts around the world. I thought it was cool to hear the individual stories and what they were able to accomplish. For example, one guy almost singlehandedly created an education system in an African country, while another was shot while providing care for AIDS patients in Africa. There were also some Irish people who were revolutionaries in the countries they traveled to. I believe there was a violent guerrilla warfare revolutionary in Cuba and a couple of people in Australia and the United States who fought for the change of Irish nationality. There was also a pub quiz that was pretty fun, and Ely and I were able to do pretty well on.