It Almost Makes Me Wish I Played Golf

Sadly today was our last day with Jim Masson the Editor in Chief of Down News, I am so glad that I was able to join Alexis this week working with him as he has been a fantastic source of information and made this week an incredibly fun learning experience. Of course the day started with our typical mocha and wifi at the St. Patrick's Centre before being picked up by Jim, as was our usual routine. After a quick stop off at the office, we headed to Ardglass for another golf PR event involving the Down Business Community and a couple local community programs. The event was at the Ardglass Golf club which is the oldest golf club in the world. Being there you can see exactly why people from all over the world come here to play, it is absolutely gorgeous! The view of the sea and coast almost makes me want to play a few holes!

Of course Alexis and I took the opportunity to have a bit of a photo shoot, taking advantage of the beautiful views!

Afterwords we stopped at the docks and Jim told us a little about the area and fishing, his son operates one of the larger fishing boats in that area. We had been told that there were seals/sea lions in this particular area but had yet to see any, that changed today as Alexis and I excitedly spotted three or four large ones. We were told that they come in to the docks for any fish that the boats may drop or throw in while offloading the days catch. Being from a landlocked state I always enjoy getting the fresh sea food when I'm close to the ocean because it is so delicious.

As was usual with Jim we had another educational stop on the way back to his office, this one at Struell Wells; also called St. Patrick's Wells as the first written record of them is from an 8th century visit by St. Patrick who is believed to have "christened" them. Made up of two wells, two bath houses and the ruins of a church, this is the most extensive holy well complex anywhere in Ireland. The exact building times of the different structures may vary but historians show that this location was used in both Early Christian and Pre-Christian times. The location gets its name from the Irish An tStruthail meaning 'the stream' from the stream that runs to the north and feeds the wells. The well was believed to have curative powers and people would have come here on pilgrimage as well as using the location to celebrate festivals such as midsummer. These people would have sought the well for not just it curative powers but also to renew and preserve good health.

We also passed by the Downshire Hospital or the "County Down Lunatic Asylum" as it was originally known. Opened in 1869 this beautiful red brick building is an imposing sight, it is now used mostly for offices. The Newry, Mourne and Down District council currently have their headquarters here having converted the space into offices and moving in in 2012.

We finished up our last day at the Down News in the office, working alongside Jim Masson as he prepared some articles to automatically publish while he is gone in Poland. He imparted some last pieces of information on the difficulties of running an online newspaper especially being the first one in the area as we helped to shut things down and prepared to leave.

As we drove back into the city centre expecting to be dropped off at the St. Patrick's centre we were conversing about Ardglass and some of the particulars of how a PR shoot usually works, Jim suddenly changed the conversation declaring we needed to have a pint to end the day. So we stopped in at Murphy's pub right across the street from the Centre and enjoyed a pint of cider and good conversation about his upcoming trip and our plans for the weekend before going our separate ways. Sadly our time with Jim Masson the Editor-In-Chief of the Down News came to an end, it was a great week and I learned a lot about not just this paper but local life and culture. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for Jim's latest article on his trip to Poland!

With the first week of our placements coming to an end, we decided a good way to end our Friday was to meet up with some local friends we had made and go to the pub for food, drinks and of course Craic (Americans read good time, good fun here). As everyone arrived back at our house the normal evening chaos ensued, everyone trying to catch up on what we'd each been up to that day, jumping in with a funny story or a "guess what" as we all grabbed snacks and tried to update our blogs. This quickly moved over into getting ready, we all wanted to dress up a bit not knowing what the usual Friday night attire was in Downpatrick the next hour was spent in changing, looking through clothing, putting on makeup and of course catching Love Island. Finally everyone was ready to go and we all headed out for what ended up being a great night and relaxing end to our week.