I’m not quite sure how to describe our morning tour of Belfast. It was both stunning and disturbing to be walking the streets where so many people hated and feared each other enough to go on a killing spree for 30 years. By the time the peace agreement was signed in 1998 there were 3,532 dead and over 47,500 injured.
For this excursion we had 3 vehicles and 3 drivers, all of whom had lived through “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland and Belfast in particular. We visited some of the primary sites of “action”, Shankill Road, Bombay Street and the gates and walls “of Peace” that dot the city.
I won’t try to explain the history that led to the August 1969 riots, burnings and killings and the beginning of “The Troubles” but, if you do venture to learn more I’d suggest going back much farther in time, because a lot of it starts with the victory of King William III, of Orange, a protestant, over King James II of England, a catholic.
As one of our tour guides said, how would you like it if, after loosing a football match to your dreaded rivals, the winning team held huge marches and bonfires, all over the country for the next 300 years. All just to remind you who the winners and losers were.
There is a lot of graffiti on walls and buildings around the city but this is organized and done by professional artists. Of prominence of late are murals in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, but you can also find all sorts of images supporting all sorts of things.
Over time, walls and gates have sprung up to keep the unionists and the loyalists away from each other and even after the “Good Friday Agreement” of 1998, some of the gates are regularly shut at night. All 3 of our drivers agreed that things were immensely better and continue to get better as time passes. When asked when they thought the longest section of wall would come down, one of the drivers said when a teenager can no longer get good wi-fi reception…that’s about it.
After this most interesting visit to parts of Belfast, we were dropped off at the town centre and allowed to roam around a bit.
It’s a modern “English” city, still using the “pound sterling” after Brexit and looking much like any other English town of the same size. I was amazed at the size of the City Hall, which is probably 3 times bigger than the one at home.
We headed north from Belfast along the Causeway Coastal Route, hugging the shore for miles. We stopped at Carnlough to grab a sandwhich and something to drink. We had a chance to stretch our legs and I discovered this wee stairway into the harbour which was apparently used as one of the settings for Game of Thrones.
We also stopped at the Portaneevy Viewpoint to see the Carrick a Rede rope bridge that connects the wee island to the mainland.
This other shot is looking out from the viewpoint to Rathlin Island and Scotland beyond hidden in the mists.
I tried to capture some of the stunning coastal scenery as we were whizzing along in our bus, but it didn’t always work out. You can see the trees whizzing by in this interpretation.
The trip up to the Giant’s Causeway from Belfast was long but definitely worth it. I’d seen the other end of the causeway on the Isle of Staffa off the west coast of Scotland but this was more impressive, even if more crowded. It was a long walk down from the interpretive centre but even that offered impressive views.
The causeway itself was festooned with people and I didn’t feel comfortable stepping from stone to stone so I just hung back and enjoyed the view.
Heading back up I did take advantage of the shuttle bus that went up and down the cliff-side and that was a “pound” well spent. Our day was winding down as we zipped through Derry and up the west coast of the lough to the Redcastle Inn. It’s not really a castle and it’s not red but it is very fine accommodation and the meal we were treated to was first class.
More about accommodations and my travel pals in the next instalment.
Stand down.