Great. Now, we've ALL got the gift of gab.

This is Dr. Spratt. Dr. Spratt is the dean of the Cork School of Music here in Corcaigh (that’s the Irish Gaelic spelling of the city). Today, the touring choir worked in a 2½ hour workshop (or “master class”) with Dr. Spratt rehearsing “The Time is Drawing Nigh,” a new work by David Wallace (a famous composer here in the British Isles). The touring choir will present the World Premiere of this piece at the concert on Saturday.

After the master class, we headed off towards Blarney. Yes, that Blarney. Home of Blarney Castle and the world famous Blarney Stone. We climbed to the top of the Castle through the ever narrower spiral staircase and emerged at the top of the battlements, where many of us opted to kiss the Blarney stone to get the gift of gab. (By the way, Kissing the Blarney Stone is one of the Travel Channel’s official list of the 99 things to do before you die. Check.)

Once we all returned from the castle, we returned to our coaches and made our way to Cobh (pronounced “Cove”), which is an important port town. It was, in fact, the point of departure for the large majority of the Irish emigrants from the era of the famine (as well as before and after). It was also the last port of call of the Titanic before she met her watery end. At Cobh, we visited the town’s official Heritage Centre which has a small museum exhibit explaining the Irish emigration, the famine, and the heyday of the famous ship lines such as White Star and Cunard. It was extremely interesting for many of us who had visited Ellis Island (the ending point of the passage) to see Cobh—where so many Irish emigrants began their journey toward America.

After Cobh, we returned to the Imperial Hotel in Cork where we had dinner. Our tour managers, Liz and Dominic, organized an hilarious limerick writing competition where style counted as much as the rhyme. Needless to say, the room was riotous with laughter.

Today, everyone exchanged the second Secret Singer gift and the recipients are all one clue closer to discovering the identity of their Secret Singer.

A few photos from today are online now at http://picasaweb.google.com/pgcireland