AIFS Abroad in Limerick, Republic of Ireland: Semester

AIFS truly made my experience abroad amazing! This was largely due to my on-site program director, Elaine. Through our program-wide weekly meetings and our excursions around Ireland, she made my experience infinitely better. I was able to get to different areas of the country that I likely would not have made it to otherwise. She was also able to give me advice about the other countries I was traveling to. It was also amazing to be able to live with other members of my program. This situation made it possible for us to become very close. Thank you Elaine and AIFS!

I had an amazing experience studying abroad at the University of Limerick through AIFS. As a math major this was one of few programs that offered classes I needed for my degree. Taking classes alongside Irish students and other international students was a great way to make new friends. Also my classes gave me a view into similarities and difference between Irish and American culture in education and beyond.

Studying abroad in Limerick with AIFS was an incredible experience. Elaine Keane, who ran our excursions and made sure we were settled in, was absolutely amazing. The group of students who went with AIFS that semester was fairly small, and we had lots of opportunities to hang out and become good friends. We got to go on several excursions to various sites around Ireland, including the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, and the Aran Islands, and for those excursions, AIFS provided the accommodations and some meals, as well as activities such as bus and carriage tours. Outside of the excursions, Elaine met with us weekly to check on how our classes were going, how our living situation was, whether we were finding everything we needed, and to answer any questions we might have. The University of Limerick has a gorgeous campus (lot of walking though!) with good faculty who were understanding of the fact that we were studying abroad. UL has a large base of global students, so their global office and accommodations for those students are well-developed. I learned a lot about Irish culture while studying here, thanks to the many fun classes UL offers. The university is located just outside of Limerick, with several bus routes from the school to the city, and there are several shopping centers near the university as well. It was definitely worth going in to Limerick every so often- one of my favorite parts was the weekly Milk Market that happens every Saturday. I was also able to get a card at the Limerick Library and borrow books instead of buying them, which was awesome. Limerick also has bus routes to Shannon Airport, which I recommend if you want to travel outside of Ireland; Dublin Airport is your other option, which is much busier but it is also fairly easy to get to (you can take the train from Limerick station and then get on the airport shuttle at the Dublin station). There were a lot of cheap flights that I was able to get, so I could travel to places like Edinburgh, London, and Amsterdam on the weekends and over breaks. The only not-so-great part of the experience was the accommodations at UL, due to a combination of the random roommate assignment (which was unfortunately just my bad luck and outside of AIFS's control) and the facilities at Plassey, the student village I lived in (the laundry, for one, and some of the design choices for flooring and furniture made the houses seem dirty no matter how clean they were). However, this one aspect was a small price to pay for the opportunities I got on this trip. I was able to travel around Ireland and parts of Europe on the weekends, while learning about Ireland's culture and history during the week on a beautiful campus. I also made friends that I am still in touch with, and that I hope will stay lifelong friends thanks to our experiences together. Overall, I highly recommend this program to anyone interested in studying in Ireland- Limerick may not seem as exciting as Dublin or Galway, but I promise this city has a lot to offer you. I'm really glad I chose to do this program.