Student’s Internship in Dublin: To the Other Side of Europe and Back Again
While the Erasmus+ programme is well-known for its opportunities to study in another country, the programme also supports students’ internships abroad. In August, Pille-Riin Vatter, a third-year student of English Language and Culture, completed an internship at the beautiful Marsh’s Library in Dublin, Ireland.
Founded by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh and opened in 1707, Marsh’s Library is the oldest public library in Ireland. It’s located just beside St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. The library contains four major collections, including Marsh’s own books, and among the readers in the library are many famous literary figures such as Jonathan Swift (Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, with his own ‘Swift’s Corner’ in the library), Bram Stoker (who consulted several books which mention Transylvania and the historical figure of Dracula) and James Joyce (who mentioned Marsh’s Library in his novels Ulysses and Finnegans Wake). The beautiful 18th century library is still being used for its original purpose – the collections are available for research by appointment. As a tourist destination, the library has the highest number of visitors in the month of August, with more than 300 people visiting daily (there were even more than 400 visitors on some days during my internship).
Among other highlights, visitors can discover books with bullet holes from the 1916 Easter Rising, when the library was damaged by British machine gun fire. At the end of the second gallery, there are the three cages where readers were locked in to prevent book theft, as over 1000 books had been stolen by the 1760s (another option was to read at the table in the reading room where the readers would be supervised by the librarian). There’s also a gift shop, and you can enjoy the peaceful atmosphere in the lovely courtyard garden. Marsh’s Library is definitely worth visiting when you travel to Dublin! And they’re also active on social media, creating fascinating educational content.
English majors don’t really have to do their internship abroad, but I wanted to see the world and immerse myself in an English-speaking environment. My primary goals were to step out of my comfort zone and practise my speaking skills, but I also wanted to explore another country’s (work) culture and to learn about such an important historical library.
The staff members and other interns and volunteers at Marsh’s Library were very knowledgeable, supportive, kind and inspiring; I learned a lot from them. The internship programme was well-thought-out; I was a team member from the first day and gradually, within a few days, learned to fulfil all the tasks of the visitor services interns (although I definitely wasn’t able to answer all the questions visitors had – but there was always someone who could help). Daily work in general was organised effectively, and everyone’s tasks varied throughout the day. My main tasks were providing visitors with information about the library, ensuring the security of the books (i.e. no touching), ticket sales and customer service in the gift shop. I learned interesting facts, improved my communication skills a bit and became more confident in expressing myself. Also, it was great to work in an international team with staff members and other interns and volunteers from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. The only downside was that two weeks was such a short time for the internship.
In my experience, the work-life balance is much better in Ireland, compared to Estonia. Also, people in general were extremely polite and friendly in Ireland. At first, the politeness took some time getting used to – but when I got back to Estonia, it was difficult to stop saying ‘sorry’ and ‘thank you’ all the time.
Practicalities
The Erasmus scholarship covered my travel and living costs (plane tickets, accommodation and food), and I was also able to visit several museums as I was quite frugal. During my internship, I lived in two hostels in the Temple Bar area in central Dublin, which was a good base for walking to the library as well as to many other places of interest (on average, I walked 17 000 steps a day). In the hostels, I shared a dorm room with young women from all over Europe, but also, for example, from the United States and Australia.
In my free time, I went sightseeing and visited as many museums as I could: the Museum of Literature Ireland, Dublin Castle, the GPO Museum, Kilmainham Gaol and the EPIC Museum, as well as the Old Library at Trinity College (where most of the books have been temporarily removed from the shelves for a conservation project). Additionally, all Marsh’s Library interns were sent to visit St Patrick’s Cathedral. I also enjoyed walking in the parks of Dublin and on the banks of the River Liffey, and I visited a few pubs, too (traditional Irish foods are delicious!).
This means that I stayed in Dublin during my whole internship and didn’t have enough time to travel elsewhere in Ireland. All the more reason to revisit Ireland in the future!
Food for Thought
Although the internship was very short, I gained valuable experience and broadened my horizons. Staying abroad changed me a little, also making me think about Estonia from a distance, in the context of Europe and the whole world. Ours is a small country on the edge of Europe. Perhaps we Estonians could be a bit more considerate towards each other.
I’d like to thank Julia Kuznetski, Miriam McIlfatrick-Ksenofontov, Tanya Escudero, Maris Peters and Nele Dobrõš from the university for all the support and inspiration during the whole internship application process.
The Erasmus+ programme really is an amazing opportunity for students – even if you’re not able to spend a semester or a whole academic year abroad. It was a great experience and definitely worth it; I’d highly recommend doing an Erasmus internship.
