Alpha Visit: 6th May During the May bank holiday, Alpha students were able to discover the beautiful Hill of Tara and the very famous Trim Castle! Hill of Tara This place is the seat of the High King of Ireland. We could discover and touch the Stone of Destiny, it was said to roar when touched by the … Read More
Thibault’s Adventures with Alpha College: 17th and 18th May
Welcome to our new miniseries ‘Thibault’s Adventures’, written by our new marketing intern Thibault. In the series, he will tell us about the various excursions he goes on as an Alpha student. Students can participate in many excursions and activities during their time at Alpha College. Excursions are free of charge, open to all students, and are an excellent way … Read More
The May Bank Holiday and its Significance
As the May bank holiday approaches we thought it would be interesting to learn about May Day and its background! In Ireland, May Day is celebrated on the Monday closest to May 1st. This is a very important day in Irish society as it is a bank holiday every year, which means a day off for most people! What is … Read More
Go Paperless this (Eco-friendly) Easter!
Easter is this Sunday and we hope you’re all prepared to gorge on chocolate and other treats! Not only is Monday the 22nd of April a bank holiday – long-awaited and highly-revered by all, bank holidays are things of bliss in Ireland – it’s also World Earth Day. Easter & World Earth Day World Earth Day focuses on raising awareness … Read More
In Dublin’s Fair City and Beyond: Spring/Summer Activities with Alpha College
What we do: As many of you know, Alpha College of English is situated in the heart of Dublin city centre. Here at Alpha we encourage all of our students to immerse themselves in Irish culture, and pride ourselves on the cultural and social programmes we provide. We recognise that students need to get out of the classroom, and our … Read More
Things to Do in Dublin This Valentine’s Day
Whether you’re “forever alone”, celebrating galentine’s, in a committed relationship or part of the #selfloveclub – we’ve got you covered this Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is widely regarded as a day for dates, romance and explicitly couple-related things. I’ve found something for the single pringles, the mate daters, and everyone in between. Culture: A lesser-known fact about Dublin is that … Read More
Not all Saints wear saffron
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the greenest of them all? No not the person who drank the most… St. Patrick of course! Once a year people in Ireland unite to celebrate one of the greatest man in their history – Saint Patrick. For those of you who’ve been living under a rock, Saint Patrick was a priest (formerly known … Read More
Gǒu nián jíxiáng (狗年吉祥)!
a.k.a dumpling overload Some of you may know, some of you don’t, but the Year of the Dog is about to start. Curious about the meaning of it? So were we. Luckily, our students Lin and Tian Min helped me discover Chinese cultural heritage. Just keep reading. Tradition of the Chinese New Year has been here for more than (get … Read More
Valentine’s Day
International views of Valentine’s Day We asked our beloved students, how is Valentine’s Day usually celebrated in their country and here’s what they had to say. Stephanos (45) from Greece: “The Valentine’s Day in Greece is nowadays a commercial holiday. I don’t think we do anything special, apart from other European countries. We give presents to our partners, especially chocolate, … Read More
12 things you didn’t know about pancakes.
It’s Pancake Tuesday today and we are celebrating by… you guessed it…. eating lots of pancakes. On Pancake Tuesday 52 million eggs, 26.000 litres of Clark’s Maple Syrup, approx. 13 million kilos of plain flour and more than 232 million litres of milk. Greedy much? Before the rise of baking soda, cooks used to use the so-called “secret ingredient” – … Read More
7 keys to the secret doors to Irish literature tradition you must visit in Dublin
Dublin, one of the cultural capitals of Europe, is home of some of the most enduring writers of the English language. It can boast 4 nobel literature prizes (William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney), who only represent a tiny fraction of the great writers Ireland has produced. It is then worth to explore the literary … Read More
Gallery of Photography and Hot Press Cover exhibition
One of the features that make Dublin one of the most interesting cities in Europe is its cultural vitality. If you are a culture buff, or even if you’re just a curious person, this city has an incredible lot to offer. You can enjoy some of the beautiful works of art humanity has realised or you can learn the science … Read More
Hugh Lane Gallery
Other than music and sports, Ireland has also a strong visual art tradition. For this reason, one of the guided tours we offer to our students is to one of the most important art galleries in Dublin, as well as the first known public gallery of modern art in the world. Coincidentally, this gallery is located at a few minute … Read More
Visit at the whiskey museum
There aren’t many things that scream “Ireland” more than whiskey. Whiskey is, in fact, not only a delicious liquor, but is also strictly connected with Irish history. Just think that the word whiskey is so old that it comes from the old Irish language, gaelic, Uisce beatha, “the water of life”, which was then mispronounced into whiskey by the Vikings … Read More
Traditional Irish Music
It is incredible how, despite its dimension, Ireland managed to preserve such a strong tradition and impose its culture on the rest of the world, considering it has a small population of 4 million people. One of the most recognisable features of Irish culture is surely its traditional music. Even to those who don’t know anything about Ireland, a beat … Read More
Six whys of the Irish culture
I find Irish culture to be extremely fascinating. Probably it’s because, being Ireland an insular Country, it managed to preserve many of its peculiarities, probably it’s just because I’m foreign and everything seems weird to me. Whatever the case, I often find myself, with a mixed feeling of curiosity and confusion, wondering “But why?”. I thought it would be interesting … Read More
Glendalough – The valley of the two lakes!
Glendalough – The valley of the two lakes! In Italian we have a saying: “A Pasquetta piove sempre “ (“It always rains on Easter Monday”). This Murphy’s law-esque maxim refers to the fact that the traditional excursions and picnics Italians organise the day after Easter, the last day of Spring Holidays, is often ruined by the bad weather. But still, … Read More
6 reasons choosing an Alpha host family is definitely the best option
The 6 reasons choosing an Alpha host family is definitely the best option Dublin really is an economically vibrant city and, as such, it attracts a great number of people from the rest of the world, both for studying and working. One of the most fascinating things about this city is, in fact, its cultural diversity and liveliness. Of course, … Read More
Event of the Week – Irish Food Market
Something to do (eat) this Sunday. Mandy’s event of the week has something in common with Alpha College, it is the Green Door Market. Some people say Irish food is boring but this market will prove that Irish food is just as good as Italian, French, Spanish and even my favourite Mexican! It is also a great way to practise … Read More
If a woman asks a man to marry her today – he cannot refuse!
Once every four years, an extra day is added to the calendar at the end of February. The Irish version… In Ireland, if a woman asks a man to marry her on February 29th, he cannot refuse! According to the legend, St Brigid struck a deal with St Patrick to allow this to tradition as sometimes it would take too long for … Read More
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