NORTHERN IRELAND: ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL (ROMAN CATHOLIC) OF ARMAGH AND DOWN CATHEDRAL (CHURCH OF IRELAND) OF DOWNPATRICK

 July 11, 2024

We made our way from the Protestant Saint Patrick's Cathedral to the Catholic Saint Patrick's Cathedral and were amused to see the figure on The Bishop's Monument looking over the valley at the rival church. With his right hand raised in blessing and his left indicating the spire of his own church, he seems to be making a statement about which church is better.

To be honest, I have to agree with him. This cathedral was built in phases between 1840 and 1904 after the Church of Ireland appropriated the medieval Cathedral of Saint Patrick discussed in the previous post. This cathedral is a significant structure for Catholics, who have a relatively weak presence in Northern Ireland.

I love the Gothic style, including this arcade of apostolic statues.

NORTHERN IRELAND, ARMAGH: ST. PATRICK'S CATHEDRAL (CHURCH OF IRELAND)

 July 11, 2024

It was time to get back on the road, so we headed south from Belfast in our rental car, a definite upgrade from the one that had broken down on us a few days prior.

I should reiterate here that I am so grateful for Bob's excellent wrong-side-of-the-road driving skills. He does a great job handling manual shifting with his left hand and staying on the left side of the road. (The rental cars have reminders for tourists posted on the windshield.)

On our way out of Belfast, we saw this huge piece of geometric art looming over the freeway. Google Image has helped me identify it as RISE, a sculpture designed by Wolfgang Buttress that consists of a geodesic dome suspended inside a 98-foot diameter sphere. According to Wikipedia, "The inner sphere represents the sun rising over the bogs and the outer sphere represents the sun's halo, while the angled, steel supports are to represent the reeds of the bog meadows that extended more widely across the area before it was developed."  Wow, I'm glad I have Wikipedia. I never would have surmised all of that by looking at it.

It's still a bit of a shock for me to see King Charles's face in place of Queen Elizabeth's. The Northern Irish seem to have made the adjustment just fine.

NORTHERN IRELAND, BELFAST CITY TOUR PART II

 July 11, 2024

We had one more day and one more city tour planned for Belfast. Bob had booked a street art tour, not realizing that a lot of the street art would be covered in the political "two sides" tour we had already gone on. Oh well, we didn't mind some overlap.

Unfortunately, on our way out of B&B, I stumbled on the door sill and went *SPLAT* onto that concrete block patch to the right of the door. As I was wearing a full backpack, I went down hard and awkwardly and had to call for Bob to help me get up.

Yeah, I'm a klutz.

Initially, I was more concerned about my elbow and hip, which seemed to take the most impact, but gradually, my ribs began to hurt, and while I did okay during the day, trying to lie down on a bed at night was excruciating, which made sleep difficult. A few days after I got home, and after the pain seemed to be increasing rather than decreasing, I finally went in for an x-ray and learned I had broken three ribs. As if that wasn't bad enough, I got Covid five days after visiting urgent care, and I'm pretty sure that's where I got it.

But I digress.

We met a new guide for the second tour near a small shopping mall that included a store with this window display:

I was, of course, looking for medicinal relief for my aching body. These helped.

Outside the mall is this bronze statue by Louise Walsh entitled Monument to the Unknown Woman Worker. The women are carrying symbols of what is traditionally women's work--a colander, a typewriter, a phone, a shopping basket, etc.

NORTHERN IRELAND, BELFAST: THE TITANIC MUSEUM

 July 10, 2024

After our two-part tour of Belfast, we decided to squeeze in a quick trip to the Titanic Museum. We only had an hour before it closed, but we had already been to the Titanic Museum and the Titanic Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia, so we thought it would be okay to zip through.

The recovery effort after the sinking of the Titanic was based in Halifax, and that is where 150 of the recovered bodies from the ship were buried. 

Belfast is where the ship was built, and the museum there focuses on the ship's construction as well as on the disaster.

The heart of the museum is this large room surrounded by and audio-visual extravaganza.

A pathway leads visitors through the museum displays, and our first stop was to learn about the building of the ship, especially about its enormous size and its surprising power.

The shipyard where the Titanic was built can be viewed from the upper windows of the museum. It would have filled this entire dock.

A scale model is on display.

NORTHERN IRELAND: BELFAST CITY TOUR - TWO SIDES

 July 10, 2024

Friends who visited Northern Ireland a year or two ago recommended a tour they took in Belfast that was split into two parts. Half was led by an Irish Nationalist on the Catholic side of Belfast, and the other half was led by a British Loyalist on the Protestant side of the city. There are several of these tours offered by different companies, and Bob reserved a spot in one that looked good.

We started on the Catholic/Nationalist side near this sign commemorating the 1969 riots that mark the beginning of the 30-year conflict known as "The Troubles."  The conflict began with the three-day Battle of the Bogside in Derry, and it wasn't long before riots and violence broke out in Belfast. The British Army intervened on August 14, and official Catholic and Protestant districts were subsequently outlined.

Our guide on the Catholic side had been part of the IRA and had spent many years in prison for his role in the fighting. It was crazy because he looked at sounded like a sweet grandpa. Note that he is wearing an Irish-green version of the keffiyeh, which has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance.  We learned that the Irish Nationalists identify with the Palestinians as a repressed people and are very anti-Israel.

We walked down one of the main streets, passing this series of large murals that links the Irish and Palestinian struggles.

A script runs through the paintings that reads, "If I must die, you must live to tell my story, to sell my things, to buy a piece of cloth and some strings (make it white with a long tail) so that a child somewhere, while looking heaven in the eye . . .

. . . awaiting his dad who was left in a blaze--and bid no one farewell, not even to his flesh, not even to himself--sees the kite, my kite you made, flying up above, and thinks for a moment an angel is there bringing back love. If I must die, let it bring hope, let it be a tale."

This poem was written by Palestinian Refaat Alareer before he was killed in an airstrike by the Israeli military. 

NORTHERN IRELAND: BELFAST - C. S. LEWIS SQUARE AND CITY HALL

 July 10, 2024

I was quite excited to go to Belfast, which to me--prior to this trip--had been the center of all the conflict that occurred in Northern Ireland. I remembered the terrible fighting that defined the city during my teen years and well into my 30s. I remember when my mother, a first grade teacher, attended the International Reading Conference in Belfast when I was in my late 20s or early 30s, and how scary that was for me! I was sure she would be blown up!

But from everything we read, Belfast was now a lovely, peaceful city. That turned out to be mostly true, but not completely.

Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland and has a population of about 350,000. As we drove into town, I was struck again by the artistry of the Irish (although here it would be the British).  Murals are everywhere.

This is one of my favorites: My City, My People, My Heart by Dee Crait. I think it honors the laborers, those who keep us fed and housed.

This one is also pretty awesome--the Luminaries and Legends of East Belfast mural, also by Dee Craig, including Van Morrison (musician, top left) and some sports figures, actresses, playwrights, and other musicians.

This mural commemorates 50 years since the formation of The Regimental Band of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and next to it is a World War I Memorial. I especially love the red poppies, which we saw frequently painted into memorials in Belfast.

 

NORTHERN IRELAND: THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY

 July 10, 2024

The Giant's Causeway is a geologic rock formation formed by an erupting volcano 50 or 60 million years ago. The molten basalt seeped through chalk beds to form a volcanic plateau, and as the lava cooled, it cracked, much as mud does when it dries, leaving about 40,000 mostly hexagonal interlocking stones.

According to legend, these columns are the remains of a land bridge, or causeway, built by the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhail and the Scottish giant Benandonner so that they could meet in the middle and fight it out.  The Scottish end, which supposedly looks like the Northern Irish end, is called Fingal's Cave.

This early-19th century poem presents a slightly different motive behind building the causeway:

THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY

They met beside the stormy sea, those giant kings of old,
And on each awful brow was set, a crown of burning gold.
No ray the yet unrisen stars, or the wan moonbeams, gave,
But far and bright, the meteor light shone over cloud and wave.

"I have been over earth to-day," exclaimed one mighty king,
"The toil of half the human race, it is a foolish thing;
For I have seen on Egypt's land, an abject million slave,
To build a lofty pyramid above their monarch's grave.

"Now let us put their works to scorn, and in a single night
Rear what would take them centuries, and nations' banded might,"
Then up arose each giant king, and took a mighty stone,
They laid the quay; they piled the rocks—ere morn the work was done.

Vain fable this! yet not so vain as it may seem to be,
Methinks that now too much we live to cold reality;
The selfish and the trading world clips man so closely round,
No bold or fair imaginings within our hearts are found.

So vortex-like doth wealth now draw, all other feelings in,
Too much we calculate, and wealth, becomes almost a sin;
We look upon the lovely earth, and think what it may yield;
We only ask for crops, not flowers, from every summer field.

The mind grows coarse, the soul confined, while thus from day to day
We let the merely common-place eat phantasie away:
Aye, better to believe, I trow, the legends framed of old—
Aught—anything to snatch one thought, from selfishness and gold.

-Leticia Elizabeth Landon (1802-1838)

The Giant's Causeway was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. In 2005, a poll named the Giant's Causeway the fourth-greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom.

We arrived at the visitor center and left our car in the parking lot, for which we had prepaid about $40. That included access to the visitors center (and the bathroom, which made it worth every penny). 

NORTHERN IRELAND: DERRY/LONDONDERRY, PART II (THE BOGSIDE)

 July 9, 2024

We met our guide, whom Bob had booked through Derry Blue Badge Guide, at Guild Hall, a beautiful building originally used for tax collecting and as a town hall and now the seat of local government. The current building was erected in 1912 after the previous one burned down. During "The Troubles," which I'll explain in a minute, this building suffered damage in multiple terror attacks. When Bill Clinton visited Derry in 1995, he gave a speech in the large square in front of the Guildhall.

 

Our guide was excellent. When "The Troubles" began in the late 1960s, he left the country in order to escape being embroiled in the conflict. He returned when it all ended. Though he was not present, he was well-informed. He knew and was passionate about Derry's and Ireland's history, particularly from the time "The Troubles" began in the 1960s to 1998 when they ended.

So, what are "The Troubles"? On the surface, it was a civil war between the Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, which is how most people see it--a religious war. In reality, the conflict really centered more around who would rule that section of the country--Great Britain or the Irish. It is just that the pro-British Rule side tended to be Protestant and the Irish Nationalists were overwhelmingly Catholic. But it went even deeper than that. We learned that a central issue was voting rights, which were given only to landowners, e.g., Protestants. The majority of Catholics had no rights.

We began by walking through the Catholic neighborhood that had been the scene of so much bloodshed and terror, and where our guide grew up as one of eleven children in a Catholic family. He told us that his dad was part of the civil rights protestors. This area is outside the city walls and is known as The Bogside. It got its name from the marshland that used to be here.

A three-day altercation in this neighborhood in August 1969, known as the Battle of the Bogside and fought between the Catholic/Irish Nationalists and the Royal Ulster Constabulary/Loyalists, led to more violence in other Northern Ireland locations and is generally seen as the beginning of The Troubles.

A picture from the same neighborhood shows a scene from the battle.

IRELAND: HISTORY, MOVIES, BOOKS

I have long wanted to travel to Ireland, but it never rose to the top of my husband's list. This year we had trips scheduled in March and December, with nothing planned for the summer. Bob just couldn't imagine a summer without travel, so Ireland rose to the top as a carrot to convince me to add one more big trip to the year. It worked.

In preparation for the trip, we started watching every movie set in or about Ireland that we could find, and we read a few books as well. Very quickly we discovered that we knew embarrassingly little about Irish history. Here are just a few key things we learned.

• The island of Ireland has two parts. 

    - Five-sixths of it is the Republic of Ireland (all the colorful sections in the map above), also officially known as Ireland. It is an independent country with 5.1 million people. When we Americans say "Ireland," this is what we mean.

    - The remaining one-sixth is Northern Ireland (the gray section in the map), which is part of Great Britain and has a population of 1.9 million.

• Between 1916 and 1921, Irish republicans (or the Irish Republican Army - IRA) fought for independence from Great Britain, but Irish Ulster loyalists and British forces fought to keep Ireland as part of Great Britain. The first main revolt was the Easter Rising of 1916, but it was put down in a week. Ireland's breakaway government declared Irish independence in January 1919. Tensions escalated over the next few years, with  much of the conflict occurring in County Cork, Dublin, and Belfast. A treaty signed in December 1921 ended British rule of most of Ireland, but Northern Ireland remained within the United Kingdom and under British control. In spite of the treaty, fighting continued through 1922.

• "The Troubles" is a euphemistic term for the period of conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted from the late 1960s to 1998. When I think of conflict in Ireland, this is what I think of. I always thought it was a war between the Catholics and Protestants, but that's not entirely true. It really was about whether Northern Ireland should be British or Irish. It so happened that the Unionists, or those who favored remaining with Great Britain, were mostly Protestants (as is true of most British subjects), and the Irish nationalists or republicans were mostly Catholics. The conflict began as a campaign to end discrimination against the Catholic-nationalist minority in Northern Ireland, and it spiraled out of control from there. The IRA that had been active in the Irish fight for independence 50+ years earlier was also active in this conflict, and that's where I became familiar with it.

Once we arrived in Ireland, we learned a few more things.

• We never saw corned beef and cabbage on any menu in Ireland. Apparently, that's an Irish-American thing. Their main ethnic food seems to be beef stew. There is a lot of meat in their diet--sausage, bacon, and some lamb and chicken. They eat a lot of potatoes--no surprise there.

• We saw references to leprechauns only in tourists shops. Shocking. One Irish guide blamed the movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People for the popularity of leprechauns among tourists. I would add that Lucky Charms has also done its part.

• Northern Ireland has its very own Protestant church, the Church of Ireland. 

• The Irish had their own language, Irish Gaelic, that was Ireland's primary language until the 19th century, when English gradually took over. However, all the signage on the island is in both English and Irish, and Irish is still taught in the schools.

• Guinness dominates the drink market. Everything seems somehow to be related to the brewery. It was impossible to walk down a shopping street or go into a restaurant without seeing the Guinness trademark. Guinness stout must be served in Guinness pint glasses, and there is a specific temperature and pouring method that is strongly recommended. There is even a Guinness Zero, the "zero" referring to the amount of alcohol. We tried it and found it awful.

We learned a lot more as we traveled, but I'll get into that in future posts. For now, if you want to have some fun preparing for a trip to Ireland, here is a list of movies that we watched either on Netflix or Amazon Prime,

These four historical dramas were fantastic. I heartily recommend them all for anyone traveling to Ireland.

There are many well-done movies that draw on the culture of Ireland:

Of course, we watched several cheesy romances:

I'm not sure what to say about this one, other than that I liked it when I was about nine years old and Sean Connery is the leading man. Other than that, there isn't much to recommend it. I think Bob made it about a third of the way through.

This 1952 movie was a little better, and seeing John Wayne in something other than a Western was kind of fun.

And finally, we tried and failed to get into this Netflix series. We watched one or two episodes and decided to skip the rest.

Armed with our vast knowledge gained mostly from movies (how American of us), we were ready to head to Ireland!