Dublin to Belfast - Day 3

Thursday, 20 September 2012

Today we leave Dublin and travel north to Belfast.

Before we left the hotel, the group met for the Welcome Reception. A quick summary of whom I am traveling with: the group is from 13 states (AK, CA, IA, IL, IN, KS, MD, MN, NV, NY, OK, PA, WI); two ladies are celebrating birthdays; a couple is celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary; one couple is married for 61 years, two groups of mother-daughters are traveling together and 9 travelers that have traveled with WWCT or Country Travel DISCOVERIES 10 or more times! Mike told us a bit about himself, logistics for the tour and then gave us a day by day summary of our trip. He included a few jokes (to get to know us)—that was just the beginning of his Irish humor.

making brown soda bread

Our first stop was the Causey Farm near Kells in County Meath.  The Murtagh Family offers a variety of cultural experiences and educational programs on their working farm. 

We started with making brown soda bread.  Each group of two put together the ingredients; listening carefully and watching our teacher show us what to do.  The bread was “flagged”, to identify who would be eating it (no switching for a better one). 

Then it was time for some Irish music lessons in the old “chicken coop”.  We each got a Bodhrán and a tipper; then started pounding away.  With instruction, we were making music.  If you dropped your stick—you had to do an Irish dance for the group; there were a couple “drops” (whoops I was first).  Next we watched sheep dogs herding sheep and then it was time for lunch.  The family served a wonderful lunch including soup, various salads and our brown soda bread.

  making music with a Bodhran and tipper

  sheep dog "shepherding" sheep

We headed north to Belfast, leaving the Republic of Ireland for a couple days.  We crossed the “international” border into Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.  Here the stamps, phone cards and money are different.  The British pound sterling is used (1 sterling = about $1.60 USD).

We picked up our local guide, Brin for a city tour.  She shared a wealth of knowledge with us, navigating Mike back and forth through the streets of Belfast in the central, north, south and west areas of the city.

In Central Belfast, City Hall (built 1906) with its copper dome (173-feet-tall) is the grand centerpiece of city center.  The Linen Hall Library (founded 1788), has extensive collections of Irish and local history and is a “neutral” place to view the Northern Ireland Political Collection.  The Albert Memorial Clock (built 1869), in memory of Queen Victoria’s husband (141-feet-tall) was known for the 4 foot “lean” to the south, until a recent renovation corrected the list.



Titanic made in Belfast

In North Belfast, we crossed River Lagan to Queens Island.  Unknown to many (me), the Titanic was built here at Harland and Wolff shipyard.  It was the “middle sister” of three ships—Olympic (launched 1910), Titanic (launched 1912) and Britannic (launched 1914).  The dry dock is still there … wow … this was the footprint of the Titanic!  We drove by Samson and Goliath, two giant yellow cranes built before the shipbuilding decline in 1970s.  The shipyard was mostly abandoned in the 1990s.  Redevelopment of the area, now known as Titanic Quarter began in the late 1990s.  Phase one projects included a hi-tech science center, film studio and a college.  The largest projects completed are the Odyssey Arena (opened 2000) a sports and entertainment center and Titanic Belfast (opened 2012) an exhibition of Titanic story from conception-construction-voyage-catastrophe-today.  There was not enough time to see this … note to self; need more time in Belfast next trip!


  Samson and Goliath shipbuilding cranes

  Titanic Belfast worlds largest exhibition of Titanic story

Queen's University Belfast

In South Belfast, is Queen’s University Belfast (founded 1845), a research-intensive university with 17,000 students.  Near the university were the Botanic Gardens, a public park that was a short walk from our hotel. 

Before going to the “west”; it helps to understand a bit about “The Troubles” in Ireland.  For almost 30 years the “fighting” in Northern Ireland was both religious and political.  There was competition for land and jobs as a result of discrimination against the Catholic minority by the Protestant majority.  The violent and bitter conflict was between nationalists, who see themselves as Irish and are predominantly Roman Catholic, and unionists, who see themselves as British and are predominantly Protestant.  Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain as a part of the United Kingdom, while nationalists wanted reunification with the rest of Ireland, independent of British rule.  Now let’s continue with West Belfast. 


Bobby Sands hunger strike mural

In West Belfast, are sectarian neighborhoods of The Troubles (late 1960s-1998).  The Falls Road area saw the worst of the violence.  In the late 1960s, Catholics began to protest for civil rights, Protestants retaliated.  The Catholic Irish nationalists, wanted unification with the Irish Republic to the south.  The Protestant British loyalists supported continued British rule.  In 1969, the British Army was deployed to restore order on the Falls Road.  Belfast became a deeply divided city, sealed off in a patchwork of segregated neighborhoods divided by walls, barbed wire and patrolled by masked guerrillas.

During the 1970s-1980s the violence increased, there were bombings, killings, riots and terrorism.  In the 1990s ceasefires were negotiated, President Bill Clinton played a significant role in the peace process...( I did not know or remember that)!  The Good Friday Agreement (1998) provided progress toward peace.  The British Army withdrew troops (2005) after 36 years in Northern Ireland.  Over 3,500 people were killed during The Troubles.


peace walls

In the past 20 years, there has been significant redevelopment and investments made in Northern Ireland.  Today there is political peace.  For the people, there is guarded peace.  Peace walls give some a sense of security (many walls remain, some of them new).  If there is any rioting or violence, the gates will close sometimes.  We drove past the most famous peace wall, a long curving 40ft high barrier that separates the Protestant Shankill Road and the Catholic Falls Road.  The integration of two communities continues.

Brin shared some other highlights that didn’t fit in above and were interesting to me …
--In Belfast, the population is 48% Protestants, 45% Catholics and 7% other; mixed schools are 85% Protestants and 15% Catholic—a real concern for future generations.
--Belfast was the leading manufacturer of linen in 19th century; linen sheets last 100 years: cotton sheet last 5 years
--During the Potato Famine (1845-1849), 1.5 million Irish starved to death
--Stone walls in farmland and sides of , known as “penny walls” were built by Irish men during the potato famine for one penny per yard.
--Ireland compares in size to the USA state of Indiana.

We stay in Belfast for two nights at the Wellington Park Hotel