“Seems to a secret touch telling me memory. Touched his sense moistened remembered. Hidden under wild ferns on Howth below us bay sleeping: sky. No sound. The sky. The bay purple by the Lion’s head. Green by Drumleck. Yellowgreen towards Sutton. Fields of undersea, the lines faint brown in grass, buried cities.”

So writes James Joyce in Ulysses, as Leopold Bloom recalls his early romance with his love Molly, the seaside town of Howth their backdrop. On the eve of our journey out of town, we decided to do a little preview by taking a day trip out of the city, so students could experience the salty magic of Howth firsthand. We wrote autobiographical poems, sampled Ireland’s infamous .99 cent vanilla soft serve, dipped into a book sale and a craft market, and simply enjoyed the change of pace from Dublin’s usual bustle.

Here are some pictures we took along the way, from the prom to the lighthouse and beyond: