Belfast and the Peace Wall

Aside from seeing the Titanic, we wanted to go to Belfast to contrast it to Dublin and learn more about the "Troubles" and the divison of Ireland.  Of course, the equivalent of about two days in Dublin and an afternoon in Belfast doesn't even skim the surface of this very complicated history, but it's what we had.

Our guide at the Kilmainheim Gaol in Dublin had told us that the line to divide Northern Ireland from the Republic of Ireland was drawn to include as many "Loyalists" (to the UK) as possible in the North.  "Gerrymandering," I said.  "Yes, exactly!"

And that was obvious when we took our tour of Belfast.  In part of the city, British flags are everywhere.  The streets were lined with the Union Jack.  The "Loyalists" are largely Protestant and the "Nationalists" are largely Catholic. 

We were shown part of the "Peace Line" along the Falls Road that separates, still, parts of eastern and western Belfast--separating the Protestant and Catholic sections.  There are "Peace Gates" which are closed at sundown.  The Peace Lines were started in the sixties, meant to be temporary, but have been lengthened and made stronger since then, including after the Belfast Agreement in 1998.  A survey last year indicated that 69% of residents think the walls are still necessary to curb violence.

The murals of Belfast, many painted on the walls, are famous and quite a tourist attraction.  There are murals depicting both sides of the schism.  The first picture, at the top of this entry, is Fred looking at a mural celebrating black freedom fighters and heroes from around the world--Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Sojourner Truth, Barack Obama.  Obviously, we're passing Frederick Douglas...who apparently visited Ireland in the 1840s.

The one below is to poet and IRA member Bobby Sands, who joined the IRA at age 16 and died in prison leading the the 1981 hunger strike.  The following mural has one of his poems on it.  Reportedly, Nelson Mandela was inspired to do his hunger strike by Bobby Sands.  This is apparently a popular photo op for nationalist politicians.

The mural below is notable for the two murals it contains (Ignore the Jeep ad...).  One is to Ulster Defense Association (Loyalist) member Robert Dougan, who was shot in his car by the IRA in 1998 after the cease fire in 1994.  The other is to Northern Ireland footballer George Best, who died in 2005 of complications of a liver transplant.  Best said of his career "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars--the rest I just squandered."

We read that some want to take down the political murals as they are seen as divisive, and want them replaced with murals celebrating celebrities, such as the one about George Best.  I hope that doesn't have to happen, but I can also understand the point.

Some more murals...

 

You can take a virtual tour of the murals at http://www.virtualbelfastmuraltour.com/.

Having just been to the Celebration of the 1963 March of Washington, we couldn't help comparing the battle led by Martin Luther King, using non-violent acts of civil disobedience, with the violence across Ireland, north and south.  It's sad that the divisiveness continues today....

The bus dropped us off back in town and we started walking toward (we hoped) the train station.  Those who know Fred will not be surprised to learn that we decided to stop for a snack. :D

We found this quaint shopping area, complete with Apple Store:

Compare it to this building we passed on the bus:

After our snack, we asked a pleasant-looking man walking past for directions to the station.  He promptly reversed direction and guided us to where we could see the station, probably a half mile out of his way!  We had a great talk; it turned out he was in charge of the giraffes at the Belfast Zoo. 

We made the last train out of Belfast for Dublin that night.  That should also not surprise anyone....

Afterword:  we spent the next several days in The Republic of Ireland, but saved our Pounds Sterling to use when we returned to England.  Much to our surprise, they are not accepted in England!  We thought pounds sterling would be pounds sterling?

Next: exploring southern Ireland

A Nation Once Again.

When boyhood's fire was in my blood 

I read of ancient freemen, 
For Greece and Rome who bravely stood, 
Three hundred men and three men; 
And then I prayed I yet might see 
Our fetters rent in twain, 
And Ireland, long a province, be. 
A Nation once again! 

A Nation once again, 
A Nation once again, 
And lreland, long a province, be 
A Nation once again! 

And from that time, through wildest woe, 
That hope has shone a far light, 
Nor could love's brightest summer glow 
Outshine that solemn starlight; 
It seemed to watch above my head 
In forum, field and fane, 
Its angel voice sang round my bed, 
A Nation once again! 

It whisper'd too, that freedom's ark 
And service high and holy, 
Would be profaned by feelings dark 
And passions vain or lowly; 
For, Freedom comes from God's right hand, 
And needs a Godly train; 
And righteous men must make our land 
A Nation once again! 

So, as I grew from boy to man, 
I bent me to that bidding 
My spirit of each selfish plan 
And cruel passion ridding; 
For, thus I hoped some day to aid, 
Oh, can such hope be vain ? 
When my dear country shall be made 
A Nation once again!

--Traditional Irish song of rebellion, written in the 1840s.   It was played on the bus we took in Dublin.  Which, of course, is part of "a nation once again"--the Republic of Ireland.  The nationalists in Northern Ireland are still waiting.

Belfast and the Titanic Quarter

Last Friday, we took the two-hour train ride from Dublin's Connolly Station for a day trip to Belfast in Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom.  We really wanted to see Belfast, both for the Titanic Museum and to see what Belfast is like compared to Dublin, in the Republic of Ireland, since the Troubles (mostly) ended.  Plus it was an excuse to take a train ride.  It was a lovely trip, through much farmland and an occasional small town.  The train was new and modern (WiFi!), the tracks smooth, and the service on time.

We took our passports, thinking there would be some kind of entry process, but we just walked off the train and into Belfast.  Suddenly we were back in the UK, though we did see the occasional sign in Gaelic.  We procured some pounds (having been using euros in Ireland) and bought the hop-on, hop-off Belfast Tour bus to both take a tour of the city and get to Titanic Belfast.  Memorably, the Belfast Tour salesman almost got hit by a bus running ahead to make sure his bus waited for us. 

First stop for us, Titanic Belfast.

The Titanic was built in Belfast, at the enormous Harland & Wolff shipyard.  In the pic above, the brick building to the right of the Titanic Belfast building is the original drafting offices of Harland & Wolff.  Each corner of the silvery Titanic Exhibit is as high as the Titanic's hull. At the time that the Titanic was built, 1909-1911, H&W employed about 15,000 people and built 126 ships, including a sister ship to the Titanic, the Olympic, built alongside the Titanic. (There was also a third Olympic Class ship built.)  The dockyards and shipbuilding allowed Belfast to be a boom town and the industrial center of Ireland at that time.  Over time, H&W employed 30,000 people in Belfast and is still in existance today.

You proceed chronologically through the museum/exhibition, which puts the construction of the Titanic in context with the era and with Belfast.  The first part really puts the amount of sheer hard labor it took to build the Titanic in perspective.  A ride takes you through part of the Titanic under construction with riveters working around you.  Because the original gantry was 220 feet high, the ride moves through several levels.  An estimated 3 million rivets were used in the construction of the hull.  I read that a four-man team could complete 200 rivets a day.  It was all by hand.  One image that stays with me is that the riveters wore scarves to protect their necks from the sparks.  3000 men worked on the Titanic; 8 died during construction.

The next part of the exhibit talks about the fittings on the ship to accommodate the passengers, and the passengers themselves.  Much has been said about the first class passengers, such as Margaret "Unsinkable Molly" Brown and John Astor IV, but about a thousand of the 1300 passengers were second and third class passengers. A few passengers have their stories told on the walls as you move through.

A typical third class room is shown below; second class also had bunks, but a larger, nicer room.  The first class rooms were pretty much like the best hotel room you've been in.  The decor and fittings of the first class decks were simply amazing.  There's a cool 180 degree video that takes you from the keel of the ship up through all the levels all the way to the bridge.

Eventually, of course, you come to the iceberg.  You enter a room whose walls are covered with the messages that passed between the Titanic and other ships as it hit the iceberg and began to sink.  A graphic of a sinking ship plays over and over again on the wall and readings of passenger accounts play as you make your way through the room.  Stark and moving.

We finished with the room that accounts for the survivors and then tells of the investigations in both the US and Britain.  There are amazing photos of the ship that brought in the survivors. The Titanic's sister-ships, the Olympic and the Britannic, were retro-fitted after the disaster to strenghten the hulls.   The Britannic was sunk by a German mine during WWI.  The Olympic lived out its lifespan and was decommissioned in the 30s.

We thought it was well worth seeing.  There also is a two story theatre where you can watch as the Titanic's wreckage is explored, a snack bar and a restaurant, and of course, a gift shop.  Outside metal uprights mark the location of the slips where the Titanic and the Olympic were built.  There's also an additional boat cruise that you can take.

Titanic By The Numbers

3 years and $4.7 million to build

883 feet long

825 tons of coal burned a day

First class ticket: 2,966 pounds sterling

Number of ice warnings received: 6

Time to sink: 2 hours 40 minutes

Number of lifeboats: 20

32% of passengers and crew got seats, not all lifeboats were filled

Time for Carpathia to arrive: 1 hour 50 minutes

Number of passengers and crew saved by Carpathia: 705

Number of dogs who survived: 2 (out of nine)

68% of Titanic's passengers and crew died.

92% of those who died were male.

9% of those who died were first class passengers, 28% of survivors were.

11% of those who who died were second class passengers, 17% of survivors were.

35% of those who died were third class passengers, 25% of survivors were.

45% of those who died were crew, 30% of survivors were.

---from titanicbynumbers.com

Back on the bus for a tour of Belfast...