Thursday July 9 was another absolutely filled day. Kathryn and I headed down to the Agency and got to watch part 2 of Jim Webb’s video on Ulster Scots in America. The guys had a particular busy morning in the office, so they thought it would be a good idea to send us on a hop-on/hop-off tour of Belfast to get our bearings on the parts of the city we had not yet been to. The tour went through the Titanic Quarter, up to Stormont (the parliamentary building), around the touristy parts of the city, and finally by the peace wall in East Belfast – more on this later.
After lunch Kathryn and I went with Iain and Matt over to the Spectrum Centre to hear them place some music! We kept hearing how talented of a musician Iain was on the accordion and likewise with just about any instrument for Matt so we were super excited. The Centre wasn’t too far from the office and was located on Shankhill Road in the neighborhood we had just passed on the bus tour with the peace wall. This side of the neighborhood is a mainly Protestant/Unionist neighborhood with a very high population of people involved in the Ulster paramilitary forces and the RUC – Royal Ulster Constabulary (their police force) during the Troubles.
Because the guys would be playing for a few hours, they encouraged us to get out and walk around, take in the atmosphere of the neighborhood, and look at the murals on the peace wall. The curator gave us a little map with explanations of different historic sites, indicating that this was a part of St. Patrick’s Trail, and off we went. As we had already seen from the bus tour, this neighborhood is literally divided in half by the wall with the protestant/union/loyalist population on one side of the peace wall and the Catholic/republican population on the other – both with generally lower income housing. Although the Troubles are over, some might believe that keeping the wall would only prevent progress and reconciliation from being made, but many people in these neighborhoods feel otherwise. Rocks and other items are still thrown over the wall and although times are moving forward, it still gives a sense of security to the people whose homes are on either side while emotional tensions still run high. The pedestrian and road gates are now open during the day so traffic can flow freely between them, but the gates still close at night to prevent any possible misbehavior on either side of the neighborhood.
Now, any other time of the year trying to interpret which side is the Unionist or Republican population might be more difficult besides the display of flags and murals… but this time of year makes it very clearly what is what because of July 12th. On the Unionist side you see streets decorated with UK Flags, bunting, and the Red Hand of Ulster Flags hanging from each building and crossing the streets connecting it all in a pretty impressive display. However, the other half of the neighborhood you will see absolutely none of this because of their Catholic/Republican religious and political views – one of the major roundabouts connecting both sides you see one half all decked out in their decorations, and the other completely bare.
Given the holiday celebrations there’s also one major factor that can help distinguish which is the unionist side – the bonfires. These aren’t just any bonfires either might I add… they are absolutely massive. They are literal mountains of pallets and tires which have been carefully constructed by a group of people from the neighborhood and built on the sides of streets and next to houses – a little too close to them in some cases. In areas such as this, the bonfire burnings can get a bit out of hand and up until just a few years ago have been known to wreak havoc throughout the city and across parts of Northern Ireland. While the UK flag proudly flutters atop these massive mounds of pallets during the coming weeks, during the burning of the fires it is still commonplace to see the tri-color green, white, and orange Irish flag amidst the flames. The symbolism behind burning the fires on the eve of the 12th is tradition from 300+ years ago as fires were lit along the coastline to signal King William III of Orange landed in Northern Ireland. The 12th of July celebrates the Battle of the Boyne where King William defeated the Catholic King James II and secured Protestantism as the dominant religion on the island of Ireland.
As we made our way back to the centre, we got to hear a bit more of their music before heading up to Cave Hill and take a “wee dander” out to see a beautiful view of Belfast. On our ride back down, they went through different neighborhoods to show the differences between intensely republic and loyalist areas still remain, why the tradition parade routes have become so difficult to maintain on the 12th, and how far the whole city has come in the last decade.
With such a full day you would have thought the travels would have ended there, but not in Northern Ireland. Kathryn and I had to hop off our bus in Holywood, home of the famous golfer Rory McIlroy, to get picked up by Tim and the other and head up to Antrim to visit Tim’s father. As Tim visited we explored some of the local castles – something Northern Ireland has in abundance, before going out for dinner as a group and heading back for a few drinks in Bangor at a seaside restaurant/bar called the Jamaica Inn.
After lunch Kathryn and I went with Iain and Matt over to the Spectrum Centre to hear them place some music! We kept hearing how talented of a musician Iain was on the accordion and likewise with just about any instrument for Matt so we were super excited. The Centre wasn’t too far from the office and was located on Shankhill Road in the neighborhood we had just passed on the bus tour with the peace wall. This side of the neighborhood is a mainly Protestant/Unionist neighborhood with a very high population of people involved in the Ulster paramilitary forces and the RUC – Royal Ulster Constabulary (their police force) during the Troubles.
Because the guys would be playing for a few hours, they encouraged us to get out and walk around, take in the atmosphere of the neighborhood, and look at the murals on the peace wall. The curator gave us a little map with explanations of different historic sites, indicating that this was a part of St. Patrick’s Trail, and off we went. As we had already seen from the bus tour, this neighborhood is literally divided in half by the wall with the protestant/union/loyalist population on one side of the peace wall and the Catholic/republican population on the other – both with generally lower income housing. Although the Troubles are over, some might believe that keeping the wall would only prevent progress and reconciliation from being made, but many people in these neighborhoods feel otherwise. Rocks and other items are still thrown over the wall and although times are moving forward, it still gives a sense of security to the people whose homes are on either side while emotional tensions still run high. The pedestrian and road gates are now open during the day so traffic can flow freely between them, but the gates still close at night to prevent any possible misbehavior on either side of the neighborhood.
Now, any other time of the year trying to interpret which side is the Unionist or Republican population might be more difficult besides the display of flags and murals… but this time of year makes it very clearly what is what because of July 12th. On the Unionist side you see streets decorated with UK Flags, bunting, and the Red Hand of Ulster Flags hanging from each building and crossing the streets connecting it all in a pretty impressive display. However, the other half of the neighborhood you will see absolutely none of this because of their Catholic/Republican religious and political views – one of the major roundabouts connecting both sides you see one half all decked out in their decorations, and the other completely bare.
Given the holiday celebrations there’s also one major factor that can help distinguish which is the unionist side – the bonfires. These aren’t just any bonfires either might I add… they are absolutely massive. They are literal mountains of pallets and tires which have been carefully constructed by a group of people from the neighborhood and built on the sides of streets and next to houses – a little too close to them in some cases. In areas such as this, the bonfire burnings can get a bit out of hand and up until just a few years ago have been known to wreak havoc throughout the city and across parts of Northern Ireland. While the UK flag proudly flutters atop these massive mounds of pallets during the coming weeks, during the burning of the fires it is still commonplace to see the tri-color green, white, and orange Irish flag amidst the flames. The symbolism behind burning the fires on the eve of the 12th is tradition from 300+ years ago as fires were lit along the coastline to signal King William III of Orange landed in Northern Ireland. The 12th of July celebrates the Battle of the Boyne where King William defeated the Catholic King James II and secured Protestantism as the dominant religion on the island of Ireland.
As we made our way back to the centre, we got to hear a bit more of their music before heading up to Cave Hill and take a “wee dander” out to see a beautiful view of Belfast. On our ride back down, they went through different neighborhoods to show the differences between intensely republic and loyalist areas still remain, why the tradition parade routes have become so difficult to maintain on the 12th, and how far the whole city has come in the last decade.
With such a full day you would have thought the travels would have ended there, but not in Northern Ireland. Kathryn and I had to hop off our bus in Holywood, home of the famous golfer Rory McIlroy, to get picked up by Tim and the other and head up to Antrim to visit Tim’s father. As Tim visited we explored some of the local castles – something Northern Ireland has in abundance, before going out for dinner as a group and heading back for a few drinks in Bangor at a seaside restaurant/bar called the Jamaica Inn.