Program Reviews

The local artisans and workshops allowed a full, free exploration of the myriad of ways to be a creative. I learned a lot from each of the tutors and completed many works on a scale I had not thought myself capable of before this program. The town itself is full of constantly beautiful landscapes and inspiration, and the community felt close and safe for the majority of the program. This program is an excellent fit for someone who truly wants to grow and connect to others, but it is still challenging.

I had an amazing time at IGY! I grew so much as a person, made amazing relationships, and improved greatly as an artist. The leaders are so friendly and helpful. The art tutors are phenomenal and incredibly inspiring. The roommates and housemates they matched me with were perfect and I will carry those relationships with me forever. I learned how to be more independent and responsible living on my own. Bundoran is a great town with friendly people. I will never forget my experience. Thank you Ryan.

I did the Adventure and Leadership program and had a good experience. I had a great time hiking around, fell in love with surfing, and just loved exploring Ireland. It’s a really beautiful country, and the local people are typically super friendly. Bundoran (the town you stay in) is a super pleasant place. There’s plenty to do— pubs, a theme park in certain months, plenty of places to eat, and wonderful walking paths. You’re right by the water which is super nice. I often go to watch the sunsets in the evening, looking out at the ocean. It’s truly spectacular. If you enjoy a little adventure and are enthusiastic about spending a lot of time outside (even if the weather isn’t always perfect) I think you’ll love this program.

This was my first time in Ireland and staying in a small town like bundoran has been a absolute amazing experience. Bundoran being such a small town makes it so easy to navigate as its easy to learn the roads and business in town. This makes its all the easer to adapt to moving for the 10 weeks. Being in adventure the group is busy most days and being able to go out on the town after a busy week is very satisfying after learning the town. I enjoyed being in adventure as most of my time was filled with different adventure activities we were given each week. This made the freedom we were given during our free time all the better. This has been such an amazing trip and im so glad i did this before going to college. I feel more confident in my traveling skills and my people skills then i did before i left for IGY. The people ive met while on this trip i will truly remember forever as even the leaders and the local people ive met as left such a impact on me. I enjoyed our daily adventures so much as somehow everyday we'd take on a new unique challenge.

The last 3 months have been very fun and was a very great experiences. I would suggest this program to anyone who wants to hikes and learn about and see Ireland. Bundoran is a very nice town with enough restaurants, pub and stores were your not bored but also not being to big or crazy. The houses were very comfortable with each room usually having their own bathroom. The food was ok. The hikes we went on were very beautiful but also a little tough. The staff were very kind and cool. The weather was meh most of the time.

I loved my time in Ireland. Beautiful sights and great workers at IGY. We got to do many awesome activities. Hiking, surfing, swimming, traveling around to different parts of Ireland, group challenges, camping, going into town with all the gappers. Every part of my time in Ireland was its own little adventure in itself. Everyone we met was amazing and the things that we got to do all together as a group were so fun. I enjoyed making new friends and learning how to be more independent but also learn how manage living with a big group. I’m glad that I chose to step outside my comfort zone! 🇮🇪‼️🧗🏽

Okay Irish Gap Year was super fun and the leaders did a great job showing us around Ireland and Living in Bundoran was a great home base, the Group becomes very close and our homes are awesome. The staff is very kind and supportive and the weather can be a bit bad but it is nice to hike in. there are people of all fitness levels here so the pace can be fast but also they stop if someone is struggling. Also if you are bad at surfing like me don't worry because you can just hang in the ocean and its still lit. most people here are willing to explore and do interesting things in free time and there is always someone to hang/ talk to. Bye love you 💖🫶

Everything about Irish Gap Year’s Internship Program was amazing! I personally got the privilege of working at one of the most highly visited tourist bars in Dublin City Center and learned so much! I can now confidently say I know how to properly pour a perfect pint of Guinness. On top of the work experience that I received IGY also provided us with a number of other activities such as travel to different parts of the country for weekends, surfing lessons, and weekly activities with the other interns. While I sadly wasn’t staying in the city center, which I thought might be a problem the public transportation is so helpful and easy to get from place to place it was no problem at all! On top of all of that even with the IGY head quarters being in Bundoran I still could count on there support whenever I might have needed it. If I could do it all over again I definitely would- only negative I can think of is that it’s over!!! Thank you so much IGY and special shout out to Lauren our group leader for always making our meets up so fun and showing us around the city as a true dubliner <3

I interned with a local accounting firm in Blackrock. The experience was pretty much what I expected and I am glad I was able to get valuable work experience as well as experience living independently for the first time.

Having a cohort of other interns (even though they worked and lived far away) was really nice as we could hangout together after a long work day. The highlights of my time were the program-organized trips (especially Bundoran and Galway), hanging out with my intern friends and playing pickup football with my host family.

My objective for my gap year was to gain work experience as well as travel the world. I am glad that the Irish Gap Year Internship Program gave me the opportunity to do both.

This program was very beneficial for me. I was part of the arts and culture program here. One of the biggest values I got from this experience was that it ended up being very mentally refreshing for me, which was something I needed after feeling burned out from high school. I knew that I wanted to take a gap year between high school and college, and when I found this program it seemed like a good fit, as it offered a program centered around culture and art and creativity, all things I am passionate about and wanted to feel a renewed sense of motivation towards after graduating. In all honesty, going into the program, I knew it sounded like something I might enjoy, but I wasn't entirely confident in how the experience would play out, and how fulfilling it would be, until I actually got here and was able to live it out. I feel that I met a lot of my personal goals for myself here. I’m my experience, the art tutors here are all had something unique to offer and they pushed me to create art in ways I hadn’t before. I have made a lot of work I’m very proud of here, and they are a large reason for that. Another reason was the group and the friends I made here, who created an environment that felt lighthearted, welcoming, and not high-stress. It was nice to be able to try so many avenues of creativity without having to worry about how my work would translate into a grade. It made me feel much more motivated to create art than I had in academic settings in the past. Overall, I reccomend checking this program out. I had a very positive experience here, and I feel that it’s helped me to push my independence, make great friendships, and grow my skills in art.