With England’s World Cup match against Croatia the only thing anyone in the U.K. wants to discuss this morning, it seems apt that Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, kicked off their second day of engagements in Ireland with a visit to the city’s historic Croke Park.

Earlier Harry had been asked by a reporter if football was coming home. “Most definitely,” he replied with a grin. The couple will carry out a packed day of engagements before flying home on a private charter flight in time to watch England take on Croatia.

It was a somber start to the day when the couple visited Croke Park, which has been at the heart of Irish sport for a century and was the scene of one of the country’s most tragic massacres. In 1920, 14 civilians were murdered there by the Royal Irish Constabulary; supported by the British Auxiliary Division, the police entered the stadium during a Dublin-versus-Tipperary match and opened fire. The couple visited the stadium’s museum, where they saw artifacts from what’s now called the Bloody Sunday Massacre. Afterwards there was a chance to watch traditional Gaelic games, including hurling, camogie, and rounders, and meet players who are involved with community outreach projects using sports for social good. Meghan wore a sleek black pantsuit over a white T-shirt for the slightly more casual event—though with heels that made it a bit tricky to actually play.

History, culture, technology, and a dash of politics were on the menu today too, as the couple also spent the morning meeting the country’s president, Michael Higgins, and his dogs. The pair rang the Peace Bell at the president’s official residence to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belfast Agreement, which was a central moment in the Northern Ireland peace process. Famous for her love of dogs, Meghan, dressed in a beige Roland Mouret dress with her signature boat neckline, couldn’t resist bending down to pet the Bernese mountain dogs.

Later in the day the weather took a turn for the worse, but even the drizzle didn’t put off the hundreds of students and well-wishers from spilling into the grounds of Trinity College to greet the Sussexes. As Harry and Meghan worked the crowds, there were loud cheers for both of them, with Harry proving to be just as popular as his glamorous new wife. With a broad smile and outstretched arms he shook hands and even collected bouquets of flowers for his wife.

Spotting a redheaded brother and sister in the crowd, Harry made a beeline for Katie and Cormack Brady (ages eight and seven), who had traveled from County Cavan with their mother to see the royal couple. “Harry came over to say hello and asked us if we were football fans. We told him we were but we were happier to meet a real-life Prince,” Katie said. “He shook our hands. I can’t wait to tell everyone at school.”

An American student, Grace Vitale from Florida, met Meghan and discussed Dublin’s vibrant community with the duchess. “Meghan loved the fact that the city is so multicultural. There was someone from Toronto behind me in the crowd and she was so excited to see so many Americans too. She’s so graceful, elegant, and worldly. I’m obsessed with her.”

During a meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday, it emerged that Meghan has been an honorary member of the Philosophical Society since delivering a lecture at Trinity several years ago. A keen reader, the duchess was said to be particularly excited about going back to the college to see the historic Book of Kells. They were also given a tour of the Old Library, which contains more than 200,000 books.

From Trinity College the couple will head to the EPIC Museum to learn more about the country’s emigrants. Meghan’s father is of Irish descent, but a source at the museum told Vanity Fair there are no plans to present Meghan with a family tree, which, given the complexities of the Markle family, is probably a good thing