Dublin, Ireland

Dublin, Ireland
Dublin City University
Site Information
College	Dublin City University
Location	Dublin, Ireland
Years of Operation	1992 -present
Avg. Number of Students	250
Courses Offered
Humanities	Criminology | Film Studies | Gothic Studies | International Relations | Japanese Language & Culture | Law | Novel Writing | Philosophy | Sci Fi and Fantasy Writing | Write, Act, Perform | Popular Fiction
Science	Animal Psychology | App Design and Development | Behavioural Psychology | Biomedical Engineering | Biotechnology | Clinical Psychology | Computer Animation | Computer Gaming | Game Theory | Marine Biology | Maths Experience | Medicine | Neuroscience | Robotics | Theoretical Physics | Social Psychology
Canon
Smells Like Teen Spirit | Y.M.C.A. | 500 Miles | Pokémon Theme | Grease Medley | Street Spirit (Fade Out) | Bohemian Rhapsody | Iris | Gay Bar | Chelsea Dagger | Mr. Brightside | We Will Rock You | Teenagers | The Bad Touch | I Don't Feel Like Dancing | American Pie

CTYI is held in Dublin, Ireland, in Dublin City University (DCU). It is not run by CTY, but associated with it. It was founded in 1992 and is run by Dr. Colm O'Reilly, who has been Site Director since 2005. CTYI is held in DCU (Dublin City University) in Ballymun, one of the Universities in Dublin.

It runs Saturday morning classes and one-week long summer courses for Young Students (6-13), and Residential Summer Courses for Older Students (13-17). In the Older Students group, there is subdivision between CTYI, CAT (Centre for Academic Talent) and Summer Scholars. These courses run side-by-side and there is great competition and division between them.

Campus

DCU has a wide campus, and CTYI classes are only allowed into certain sections.

The Henry Grattan Building

The Henry Grattan Building is the main building on campus, where most classes take place. Attached to the back of the Henry Grattan is the Street. All RA Meetings are held in the Henry Grattan Building. There is also some benches inside the front door with a stand where Metros are available, essential reading in the daily life of a CTYIzen, for both the treasured "Metro-scopes" and for fending off enemies in epic-duels.

The Street

The Street is a long glass conservatory attached to the back of the Henry Gratton Building. It is a very useful shortcut to get through to the canteen from the rest of the campus. It is filled with couches, which used to be the favourite location for Floorgies (or Couchgies in this case) until Session 2.08 got further years banned for causing trouble. There are a set of vending machines here, and it is a favourite hideout from the rain. Initial registration takes place here on the first day.

The Canteen

The Canteen is where all discos are held and the CTYI Site Office is situated in the back. It is right across the way from the Henry Grattan Building, there is in fact a small roof connecting the two to protect from the rain. It is the scene of many culinary crimes against humanity in such examples as the "Mattress-Bread", "Ficken" (nobody was sure whether it was Fish or chicken) and the Sportalian Burgers, may or may not be made with real Sportalian. It has a moving carousel for taking the trays away and for tormenting the canteen staff.

The Philip Larkin

The Philip Larkin is the Lecture Theatre. The large-scale activities involving all students take place here. The opening and closing ceremonies are held here, bookending the course with one of Colm O'Reilly's inspirational speeches. Students also gather here to divide up into groups for evening activities. The Drama and WAP classes perform their plays here, but the most notable occasion in the Larkin is Vinnie's Lecture. Vinnie is the Archaeology Instructor, and each year gives the exact same lecture, slide for slide, word for word on archaeology, occasionally varying the slide with the infamous Three-Legged Ass Chicken.

The Res

The main accommodation used for CTYI is the Larkfield Apartments. These are the square set of rooms surrounding the Quad. When students refer to the Res, this is the place they are talking about. In Larkfield, there are two people per room number, each having an A and B. The A and B rooms are connected together by a small hall, bathroom and kitchen which are shared by the two students. The doors into the rooms and the individual rooms have card-locks, the loss of which causes most of the problems on campus.

Sportalian Res

"Sportalian Res" is the nickname given to the other residential buildings across from Larkfield. It has been used in busy years to house some CTYI students in the case of overflow in Larkfield, but it is the true home of the Sportalians. Because of this, the majority of CTYIzens are scared to walk in, even if it has a better launderette. The CAT programme a few years ago is now housed in Sportalian Res.

The Park

The park (Albert College Park) is used for sports during afternoon activities, and chilling during Lazy Activities such as Cloud-Watching, Music Appreciation and Meditation. It has soft, damp grass. It also contains a playground, the Ultimate destination in the hopes and dreams of any Writing for Life students. WFL students are taken there (after begging for days on end) to gain inspiration and write haikus and plays.

The Hub

The Hub is a round building at the edge of the campus which CTYIzens are not allowed into. It has a closed bookshop taunting passersby. However, it is used by 21st Century Skills students when they go to play Xbox.

Spar

Spar is the major social area after the Quad. As it is the only shop on campus, it is always full of hungry CTYIzens. Because the "food" provided by the canteen is so vile, many students end up living off Spar food for the three weeks straight.

Spar provides limited stationary supplies, snacks, hot food (such as wedges and vol-au-vents) and sweets. There is an ATM in the corner, which is very useful! The staff in Spar are friendly. They make sarcastic comments about the excesses of caramel bunnies being bought or compliment students' studiousness. The manager gave out free copies of newspapers in 2009 the day Michael Jackson died because students were in such a panic.

As of 2022, it is no longer a Spar, but a Londis, a different chain of convenience store.

Tradition

Pirate Wednesday

The first and second Wednesday of each session, students dress up in Pirate Attire, brandishing cutlasses, tricorn hats, and flags. Many students run around the campus shouting Pirate Phrases and pirate-related humour. In the unfortunate case that some field trips have been arranged for a Wednesday, the pirates go along to those too.

There are sometimes Pirate-themed activities for Pirate Wednesday, notably in 09.1, when the RAs arranged an evening Pirate Treasure Hunt around the whole campus!

During Session 2, Certain CTYIzens have been notable to not restrict their Pirate Attire to Wednesdays but dress swashbucklingly every day. The title of CTYI Pirate is passed down from a nevermore to their Apprentice on the Last Friday of Session 2. It is the one real Title at CTYI, as there are no actors for American Pie.

Candle-light Ceremony

After the final disco on the last day, the crying students are herded down to the Quad, where the RAs have laid out "CTYI" and the year ("'07" for example) in candles. The students crowd around the candles and sing songs. Those gifted with the gift of guitar play along and lead the song. It often rains, amplifies the crying. Since 2009, in Session 1 the candles are often arranged on top of a Snapple pyramid to spell out the words.

After twenty to forty minutes, the RAs send us up to bed.

On the Final Night, no student is willing to go to bed without a fight, and many Corridor Parties are held. Once students are pushed as far as their rooms, their room keys are taken and the doors put on the latch so no students can escape. RAs and the Assistant Site Directors keep watch.

Favourite Songs for the Candle-light Ceremony are:

• Good Riddance - Green Day
• When You're Gone - Avril Lavigne
• Save Tonight - Eagle-Eye Cherry
• It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) - REM

and of course,

• American Pie

External Links

For CTYI's Wiki click here. (outdated wiki)