Ireland Hopping

A Rainbow over Giants Causeway
on Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland

So I’m finally getting around to writing about my trip to Northern Ireland aka the OTHER Ireland.  For those of you who don’t know why Northern Ireland is so special, here’s a little background…

Ireland has a total of 32 counties on the island, 26 of the counties make up what is called the Republic of Ireland, which separated from the British Empire in 1921 to become the “Free State of Ireland,” but only became a proper republic and lost dominion status in 1949.  The other 6 counties of Ireland are still under British control, and as such are an entirely different country that is part of the United Kingdom.  So, when you cross from Co. Donegal into Co. Londonderry you are still in Ireland, however you are now in the UK. 

Alright, well back to my trip.  I went on this trip with about 60 other students from my university with the International Students Society.  It only cost 60 euro to go which included your bus fare, cool planned tours, and your hostels for the 2-night trip.  This was an EXCELLENT deal!  The itinerary was packed, and in just a short amount of time we went to both Belfast and Derry, two of the largest cities in Northern Ireland. 

Friday morning we had to be at university very early; we started off on the road at 7am.  So unfortunately that meant a 5:30 wakeup call for me, and a long, cold, and dark walk to the university with my friend Meg who lives in the next apartment complex over.  After our bit of exercise for the morning, we all piled onto the 2 buses waiting for us at the Quadrangle building.  The awesome thing about the buses?  They were called “Paddy Wagons,” were painted green, and had leprechauns on them!  It was a pretty great start to the day ☺.  Of course once we got on the bus, I was out like a light; but since it was still pretty dark most everyone else was too, so it was a quiet ride. 

My first view of Northern Ireland
from the Paddy Wagon

It takes 5 hours to get from Galway to Belfast, our first stop on the trip.  Right before we crossed the border into Northern Ireland our bus driver woke us all up, hopped on the mic and started telling us all about what we were seeing around us and what we should expect to see as we crossed the border.  Speaking of the border, it isn’t like any border I’ve ever seen, mostly because it truly isn’t one.  Now in the past the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland was a no man’s land, and only in the last 10 years have the garrisons come down since the peace between the two countries was established with the Belfast Agreement, but now the border is well…disappointing.  The only changes visible to the human eye are:
1.    The yellow dividing lines on the freeway (motorway, here) turn to white dividing lines
2.    Speed limit road signs use miles per hour instead of kilometers per hour
3.    Your cell phone automatically switches to “roaming”
4.    The houses have a generally much more English, Tudor-style look than the Irish cottage look.

A Statue of William of Orange in Belfast

As we were approaching Belfast the bus driver proceeded to bore everyone on the bus…except me.  Yup, he gave a little history lesson!  As we were driving our driver pointed out the River Boyne.  Now, the River Boyne is an incredibly important place in both English and Irish history.  For those of you history buffs, you probably already recognize it from the Battle of Boyne, and for those of you who don’t…never fear a history lesson is here!  Well, in 1690 a standoff occurred in Ireland.  England had a Catholic king on her throne, and let’s just say they weren’t too pleased.  The Protestant country rebelled against King James II and chose another man, William of Orange (the husband of James II’s daughter Mary) to rule in his stead.  Quite naturally King James II wasn’t too pleased to have his inheritance taken from him, so he escaped to Ireland where he hoped to raise an army and win back his throne.  It was here that the decisive victory was won in William of Orange’s favor.  William fought with 36,000 troops, while King James only had 25,000.  Only a couple of hundred men died, but in the face of peril, King James fled the field and William won the day.  It was as a result of this victory that England remained a Protestant country.

As most of my friends snoozed through that story, I on the other hand was enthralled.  I can’t believe I actually saw the place where William of Orange won his throne;  yeah yeah laugh all you want, we’ve already established many times over that I’m a nerd. 

Anyways, once we got into Belfast, the entire group of us checked into our hostel, and boy was it a dump!  I was traveling with a group of 3 other girlfriends and then a larger group of acquaintances, all of us adding up to 11 people.  This would’ve been perfect if we’d only had 10 and could take up one room all of us together, but since we 11 we had to split up.  So the 4 of us girls ended up in an 18-person room.  Please allow your mind to wrap itself around that statement.  I slept in a room with 17 other people; I think my mother probably got claustrophobic just thinking about it.  Oh the trials of a poor college student!  After throwing our stuff down and freshening up, we all headed out to go explore Belfast before we reconvened at 3pm for a bus tour.  So, off we went to find a good place to eat. 

After a quick bite to eat a diner, we decided to go explore the famous nearby Cathedral.  This Cathedral is called Queen Anne’s Cathedral, and it’s a cathedral of the Church of Ireland (a Protestant church…as I’ll explain later there really aren’t many Catholic churches in Northern Ireland).  The cathedral is beautiful; it is made of stone quarried from all 32 counties in Ireland, and at one point in time Pavarotti used to practice there.  We walked through the building, reading the placards along the way, and one in particular caught my eye.  A very interesting feature of the cathedral is that it has an immense spire that looks like a giant needle on top of the building.  This spire was erected on the 6-year anniversary of September 11th and was named the “Spire of Hope” in honor of the hope for peace throughout the world; quite a lovely sentiment, I thought.

After a bit of our own exploration we returned to the hostel so that we could hop on board a double-decker open-air tour bus!  Woohoo!  Now, this was a pretty long tour and we saw a LOT, so I’m going to try to not bore you with the specific details on every single monument we saw but just give a few interesting facts and put some pictures.

Harland and Wolff Crane

We started our journey heading across the River Lagan onto the bank opposite the main city.  As we drove I found out that Belfast has its own ice hockey team called the Belfast Giants, and that the River Lagan is so clean that salmon have actually returned to it (yes, those are 2 random facts).  But the cool thing that we were heading too was not a salmon fishing spot or a hockey game, but the shipyard where the Titanic was built!  Now, not saying that the city should be particularly proud of their feat of engineering… I mean we are talking about one of the largest modern catastrophes this world has seen (1,517 people died, many of them Irishmen and women seeking a new home in the United States).  BUT it was pretty cool to see the shipyard where the Harland and Wolff Company built the famous ship.  The giant cranes that put the RMS Titanic together are still standing there, and they even have names—Samson and Goliath.  Locals also say that the “H & W” painted on the cranes really stands for “Hello & Welcome.”  Belfast is so dedicated to remembering the great ship that they are even in the process of building a museum designed to resemble points of the ship.

The Albert Clock

From there we saw another historical monument of interest to me, the Albert Clock.  Now believe me when I say that everything, I mean EVERYTHING in Northern Ireland is named after Queen Victoria.  It makes sense as Victoria was Britain’s longest reigning monarch with her reign of 63 years (although Queen Elizabeth II seems to be making a run for this title since she will celebrate 60 years of rule in 2012).  But the Albert Clock seems to be something where finally the city decided to switch it up.  The Albert Clock is named in honor of Queen Victoria’s beloved husband, Prince Consort Albert.  The clock is interesting because it very obviously leans when you look at it, which is actually a result of having been built on marshy Belfast land, but our bus driver told us a popular joke giving another explanation: “That clock used to be in what would be considered the red light district and ladies of the night used to lean on the left side, causing it to tilt.”

A Unionist Mural in Support of the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF)

Now the best part of the tour was when we left the monuments behind and saw the part of Belfast that most everyone has heard of.  Once we crossed over to this part of the city, it was like looking at a mix between a still scarred war zone and the ghetto of South Central Los Angeles.  This is where the bloodshed between the Republicans and Unionists of the city occurred only 10+ years ago.  The Republicans in Northern Ireland are not the conservative political party that Americans associate with that name; no these are the people living in Northern Ireland who quite literally want their country to be a part of the Republic of Ireland.  The Unionists, contrastingly, want to remain a part of the United Kingdom.  Historically there is also a bit of a religious tie with these political points of views as well, Catholics are generally Republicans (as the Republic of Ireland is mostly Catholic), and Protestants are generally Unionists (as the UK/Britain is a historically Protestant country).  These two groups fought for many years in Northern Ireland, and the bloodshed tore families apart much in the same way as the American Civil War. 

A Republican Mural Honoring IRA member Bobby Sands who Died while on Hunger Strike

 This was when we went to the part of the city where you still see that conflict; there are murals EVERYWHERE.  Men dressed all in black with machine guns in their hands cover the walls in the murals of the Unionists, telling the world they will fight to keep Belfast British.  While two buildings down a gaunt and saintly face stares at you mournfully in the murals of the Republicans, telling you that he will lay down his life in order to bring Belfast into the Republic.  It is like something out of a movie, you cannot fathom it until you see it.

My favorite art on the Peace Wall

After the Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement), the city of Belfast decided that it needed to heal the gaping wounds left after the conflict.  Now, the city was once divided, Protestants from Catholics and Unionists from Republicans, by large cement walls.  Instead of tearing these walls down much in the spirit of the Berlin Wall, the government decided to have school children begin a project here.  This was the creation of the Belfast Peace Wall, kept up by nearby schools, colorful graffiti art spans 3 miles of wall in the city spreading the message of peace, hope, and understanding.  Some of the artwork is disturbing in its subject, while some is concise in its imagery, however the sheer impact of the road of colorful walls is almost overwhelming.  It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen.  In fact, driving down the street went far too quickly for my taste, so the next morning my friend Meg and I woke up at 7:30am so that we could go walk the wall.  THAT was incredible; it was quiet with the morning sun just glimmering.  I definitely recommend if you are interested in seeing the Belfast Peace Wall, to go in a smaller group and simply walk alongside it, do not drive.  You simply will not be able to appreciate it. 

The Peace Wall

After our bus tour we were all free to do whatever we wished, so Meg, Cassie, Kelsey, Jason, and I all decided to go explore the Titanic shipyard a bit more and then get some dinner.  Now here’s where you can all laugh a bit at us.  Ok, so we’re in Ireland.  We’re even in NORTHERN Ireland, we should be trying new things, expanding our horizons, blah blah blah…  Yeah, well for dinner we all decided we were craving something fundamentally American.  We went to TGI Fridays.  That’s right, we were the quintessential American group eating at an American restaurant in Ireland of all places, but hey we were sick of pub food…and to be honest Ireland cuisine not so much cuisine as it is grub; don’t get me wrong I love fish and chips and a full Irish breakfast but I needed me some STEAK.  After a perfectly fulfilling meal we explored the big mall in the city a bit more, and it had this awesome viewing deck that you could climb up into and look out of the mall’s big glass dome.  The dome even lit up different colors, it was pretty cool.  Much fancier than most malls I’ve seen!  After dinner we all went to a pub called The Library for a bit where we saw a HUGE cat-fight/bar-fight that ended up with the cops being called after a girl got a little bit strangled, and we inadvertently signed ourselves up for some kind of talent show because we couldn’t understand the Northern Irish accent (it’s COMPLETELY different than the accents in the Republic).  

After a good night’s sleep (at least for me because I passed out after all of the walking and exploring) and exploring the Peace Wall with Meg the whole group of us trooped back onto the bus and headed off to the city with 2 names.  Known to Protestants/British as Londonderry, and the Catholics/Irish as Derry, it is another one of the largest cities in Northern Ireland.  On the way to the city we stopped off at the Carrick-A-Rede Rope Bridge.  This rope bridge was built by fishermen between the main coastline and a rocky island in order to drop nets for salmon.  Being afraid of heights it was definitely scary to walk across the bridge as it swayed in the wind!  But the views of the coast were fantastic! 

From the rope bridge we headed off to a natural wonder, Giants Causeway.  Giants Causeway is a HUGE rock/lava formation on the Antrim Coast that was formed through the cooling of basalt lava 50-60 million years ago.  However there are huge legends attached to it (I mean of course because it’s Ireland) and here they are:

Giants Causeway

In ancient times there was a young boy named Finn McCool.  When Finn was about 7 years old he went fishing for the Salmon of Wisdom (a fish that if eaten would give you the knowledge of the world) with a druid.  They caught the fish and then proceeded to cook the fish together, but then the druid had to go on an errand and left Finn telling him not to eat the fish without him.  Finn continued to cook the fish, turning it every once and while so it wouldn’t burn.  Suddenly Finn saw a huge bubble form under the skin of the fish, and the boy innocently used his finger to pop it, wanting to make sure that the fish cooked evenly.  Of course, when he touched the cooking fish he burned his finger, and like anyone would he immediately put his burned finger into his mouth.  In the exact moment when his finger touched his tongue, Finn McCool gained all the knowledge of the world.  He taught women to sew and cook, and me to hunt and provide for their families.  One day at 18 years old Finn looked across the sea and having the knowledge of world he knew that the woman he was going to marry was across the ocean in Caledonia (otherwise known as Scotland).  But how was he going to get across?  He decided to build a causeway to cross the 14-mile long stretch of water to Scotland.  Once across he met Eva and married her immediately, returning back across the causeway to Ireland.  However, a giant named Grant had wanted to marry Eva and he was incensed when Finn took her away.  So, he too uses the causeway to cross into Ireland.  Finn does not panic, however, he orders the women of his village to make baby clothes in his size, and the men to make a large cradle out of Irish Red Oak, and then tells them all to hide in the forests.  When Grant approaches the village looking for Finn McCool all he comes upon is a large baby in a cradle.  Grant, seeing the “baby,” runs in fear from Ireland exclaiming that if that was the size of their babies he didn’t want to see the grown men!  As Grant ran, Finn tore up the stones from his causeway and threw them so that no one could cross the causeway again.  And this is why the rocks stand as they do on the Antrim coast.

AND

Finn's Grandmother
(On the left of the hump)

Finn McCool had an elderly grandmother who loved Irish whisky and going to the pubs at night.  She would dance jigs, sing ancient Irish folk songs, and drink whiskey, coming back in the wee hours of the morning drunk.  Now this grandmother lived with Finn and his family, and when she came back in the early hours of the morning, she would always wake up the children.  Finally one day Finn had had enough of this behavior, and decided to speak to his grandmother.  He said to her, “Grandmother, you need to calm down.  Please stop going to the pubs and getting drunk.  Stay home and knit!”  So that is what she did, and for two weeks she stayed home and knitted.  When she couldn’t take the monotony anymore Finn’s grandmother finally went back to the pubs and got drunker than ever before.  When she returned home singing and jigging she, of course, woke everyone up.  Finn couldn’t take it anymore.  He chased his grandmother from his house onto the rocks and changed her into stone. And this is why when you look at one particular rock it looks like an old woman climbing the rocks. 
The moral of the story: “If you go to the pubs and drink too much Irish whiskey, you will get stoned.

After seeing this natural wonder of the world we headed off to Derry, where we got installed into our hostel with no problems, and this time our room was great!  It was just the four of us in a good sized room that even had a TV, while for most of you this sounds normal—just spend a couple of nights in a hostel and you will understand what it means to be super grateful!  That night we attempted to go out on the town, but Derry closes down at about 6pm, so instead of fighting the crowds of elderly gentlemen at the pubs we all decided to just get some dinner.  We found a great place where food was CHEAP and stuffed ourselves, before returning back to the hostel and passing out at about 11pm.

Fountain Estate

The next morning we got up early to go on a walking tour of Derry with our tour guide, Jason who was pretty evidently a Catholic.  Derry has been a major Catholic city since 1830s, but is divided by the river, East side is about 50/50 Protestant/Catholic, and the West die is the majority Catholic.  While we walked around the city these divisions were clear.  First we walked by the Fountain Estate, which is on the Protestant side of the city, loyal to the queen, with British flags waving on flag posts.  The British colors are even adorning the painted curbs.  This is in sharp contrast to Bogside.

Bogside and the Free Derry Wall

Derry was originally an island but the dam dried up leaving a bog land behind.  Now that area of land is called Bogside and it is where the Catholics of Derry live.  180 flag posts are in this area, all flying the orange, white, and green flag of the Irish Republic.  These flag posts stand in honor of those who died for the republic.  In Bogside also stands the “Free Derry Wall” which was painted on January 5, 1969 and was preserved to inspire the Irish to resist.  Republican murals also spatter the view of buildings.  Finally, we ended our tour at the Bloody Sunday Memorial in Bogside.  On January 30, 1972 forever known as Bloody Sunday (yes from the popular U2 song “Sunday Bloody Sunday”), the Northern Irish of Bogside organized an anti-internment march, and British soldiers opened fire upon the peaceful marchers.  14 people died, and there was an attempt to kill 4 more.  This event is still so present in the modern idea of Northern Ireland, that it was only recently that the British Prime Minister admitted that the act was unjustified.

We saw both of these sides of the city as we walked the famous Derry Walls; a 1.7 mile long wall that was built from 1613-1618 in order to protect the city.  The wall was incredible to walk around, with gorgeous views of the city.
 

W.B. Yeats' Grave in Sligo

 After the tour we all packed up on the Paddy Wagon and headed back to Galway with a quick stop off in Sligo (in the Republic of Ireland) to see Yeats’ grave.  It was wonderful to see the great Irish poet’s grave, and we even saw a field of sheep.  Jason even jumped the fence and tried to grab one, as I hurried away so I wasn’t associated with the shenanigans.  We all ate at a little café in Sligo, another county where my family is from.  My grandfather’s mother’s family, the Comaskeys, were from Sligo.  The city is built right on the water and seagulls fly through the streets.  Little boats are tied near the pubs, and bridges span the waterways.  Definitely one of the most picturesque cities that I’ve been to.  After our brief sojourn in Sligo, we hit the road for Galway, and two hours later I was home.  It’s funny how much like home Galway truly feels, in fact when we crossed the border from Northern Ireland back into the Republic, a group of us breathed a sigh of relief.  While Northern Ireland is gorgeous, it just isn’t really Ireland.  The Republic of Ireland really just seems to have grasped my heart. 

Coming Soon: Rag Week…you almost don’t want to know.