Walking out of Belfast Grand Central Station to our hotel under grey skies, we arrive both actually and emotionally into a different country. It does not feel the same as the Republic of Ireland. The city itself is filled with Victorian-era buildings, red stone and ornate design, reflecting the forceful engine of industrialization at the time in England. We later hear that Belfast is considered Britain’s most Victorian city..
The feel is different, aptly more like London, the style of housing especially, the construction of the streets and decreased level of cleanliness, There are Tesco and Sainsbury stores, glass-faced buildings next to the old well-maintained granite structures. The City Hall, which is around the corner from our nice and cozy hotel, is enormous and elaborate and we hear that the impetus was for Belfast to build a City Hall bigger than that in Dublin. The conflict between the two societies goes back over an extended period of time..
As we have some free time, Geri, Rich and I take an Uber cab to the Ulster Museum. The museum itself is filled with local visitors and school children and provides a quick overview of “the Troubles” as the violent period of conflict between the Unionists and the Republicans between 1969-1998 is called. We have little time at the museum but the cabbies during both our rides both there and back provide a fascinating commentary about the history and life in Belfast. One of them was a child during the Troubles and remembers two local bombings in which his brother, working at a nearby tool factory, was caught, temporarily deafening him and traumatizing his family.
We ate lunch at a non-profit cafe in the beautiful City Hall (and are sorry we don’t have time to take a tour of the building) where a large summer fair is going on outside. Bill and Jeanne meet us for our afternoon walking tour entitled “Conflicting Stories”, during which we hear 1.5 hours of history of the Troubles told first by a Republican in the Falls Road area who served 16 years in jail for his political activity and then 1.5 hours told from the opposite perspective of a Unionist in the Shankill Road area, who served 6 years in jail from the age of 17-23 for throwing rocks at the Republican enemies and who told us not to believe the version of our earlier guide.
I had naively thought the conflict was over but it is still very much a part of life in Belfast where parts of the town are literally locked down for the night with large metal gates and fencing between the two sides. And both groups are said to want to keep the barriers up as it makes them feel safer at night although both say they also want a united Ireland. The Republican discussed the Troubles through the desire for independence and sovereignty from England and not a religious war, noting that the North was settled and industrialized by the English who were mainly Protestants falsely leading to the idea that the struggle was between two faiths. However, some Unionist viewed it as a direct struggle between the Catholics and the Protestants, with separate schools and segregation and any violent action taken was for self-preservation resulting from the murderous deeds committed by the other side.
It was noted that within areas of the city and outside in the many small towns, either the orange and green flags of the Republicans or the red, white and blue Union Jack of the Unionists is flown. There is no longer daily conflict but there are separate areas where people of one persuasion or the other live. It seems less about religion and more about power and control and a history of distrust kept alive by the two separate set of “gardens of remembrance” not only memorializing those who died during the Troubles but also constantly accusing those on the other side who may have instigated or partook in it.
Switching to a more bucolic outing: The entire next day is a large bus tour to the Giants Causeway up the coast to the North, with lively non-stop commentary by the driver. We pass along a coast, not that dissimilar from that of California except for brilliant emerald green fields rolling down to the sea. The small towns are the image of English villages with small shops and simple churches and we make stops at two castles, one intact and one in ruins with beautiful views out toward the ocean.
An important part of the tour today, for some familiar with the genre, was seeing the places various episodes of The Game of Thrones was filmed. This included a 23 second filming of The Dark Hedges, 250 year old Beech trees that once formed a complete arch over the roadway but which due to aging and storms has now been diminished.
Our last and main visit is to the Giants Causeway, an area of surreal basalt hexagonal columns, with the story that a giant once fled the shores, leaving giant footprints on the rock. This visit required a long and pleasant walk downhill with many stairs and we are again so glad that today is overcast but not raining.
We had two excellent dinners in Belfast and are now on the train back to Dublin and then on to Kilkenny. We are passing large green fields of sheep, each flock marked with different colored paint sprays for identification, with old churches and rural houses scattered on the rolling hills. There are 4 train stops along the way and we are now back in Ireland once again ready for our next adventure.