from Ireland with Love: Pictures from Belfast!

I'm back...here's the proof I left!

Belfast was great, I would go back again in an instant. It is a city much smaller than Dublin and has a definite cutesy town vibe. Lots of history in every street, tons of cute cafe's and places to eat. It reminded me of Kingston in the way that it has the renowned independent cafes and eateries and small galleries all around. The university is beautiful and gives even Trinity a run for its money. Again, much smaller but I loved the setup of the old brick buildings and how they are formed in a long rectangle shape onto the front square.

It rained all weekend and the weather was much colder - I came back with a cold! But we had an amazing time touring the city. We decided to take a 'hop on hop off' tour to maximize our time and see as much as possible and it took us all over - from the Titanic Shipyards to Stormont to the woods where C.S. Lewis gained inspiration for his Narnia tales. The most moving and significant part of the tour for me though, was getting beyond the peace wall to see all the murals and neighbourhoods affected by the Troubles. No word of a lie, I was ready to cry when I saw some of the murals and put them together with all that I had learned about this period of Irish history. It is seriously a once in a life time experience to see such recent history right before your eyes.

The other thing I wasn't expecting were the rolling hillsides that could be seen from every angle while in the city. It was so beautiful to see the green mountain tops and unexpected to have them so close while in the city center.

on our way!

The Leaning Clock - Tower of Belfast

On to the Titanic Shipyard. Apparently the only piece of the ship that remains is one lifeboat that was designated for first and second class passengers. They had the ship under tarps when we visited but it will be open for public viewing in a few months.

The picture above is of the main guest building. As you can see that architecture is unique - the building was designed as a replica of the ships bow - it is seriously huge in person! They made each bow to scale.

This is the area where the ship was built and then launched to sea.

The famous or infamous Samson and Goliath cranes used to build the ship. Apparently designs had been drawn up to build two restaurants atop the cranes where the red boxes are, but planning stopped once it came to light that there would be no easy way to get off the crane and back on the ground in case of emergency or fire!

From here our tour took us to Stormont - the Northern Ireland government, erected after the Northern Government of Ireland Act of 1920 which separated the six counties of the Ulster province in the north from the rest of the Republic in the south of Ireland. Stormont rule was abolished in 1972, six weeks after Bloody Sunday and the British moved in to control the area once again through Westminster.

Back through the oppulent nieghbourhood that houses Campbell College whose alumi include C.S. Lewis and Samuel Beckett.

Back into the city center...

Beacon of Hope - also known as "the lady with the big ball"

We went pub crawling with a few people from Belfast on Friday night and ended up at a bar in this area. Very pretty all lit up at night.

Church of Belfast - home to the largest Celtic Cross in Belfast!

The pillar coming out of the top of the church was put up in remembrance of those who lost there lives on 911...nice sentiment but I'm not sure why they would do this in Northern Ireland...

Beautiful architecture!

At this point we headed up Crumlin road and saw the old Crumlin Goal and Courthouse - both very derelict now.

The courthouse. Abandoned and graffittied.

An estimated 25,000 people were imprisoned at the goal - picture below - where state executions were held. It closed in 1996 bringing to an end over 150 years of controversy, imprisonment, conflict and executions. Many political prisoners were held here during the troubles and this prison was also used as a holding place during Internment. Rightly so most people look upon this goal now as a seat of conflict and strife.

The old Goal.

From here we headed into West Belfast, the scene of intense political and religious strife between Catholics (mostly nationalists who would self-identify as Irish) and the Protestants (mostly unionists who if asked would say they were British). We went up the Shankill road first, home to Protestants and then cross the peace lines into the Falls road area to see the Republican neighbourhoods.

As we came up to the peace wall (we were on the Shankill road side) the gates were open which was a good sign. There was some talk in 2008 about the possibility of taking down the peace wall, but many of the residents who live around the peace lines have expressed their anger at any suggestion that the walls be dismantled.

The peace wall viewed from the Protestant side.

One of three pieces of artwork on the wall where famous people have come to sign their thoughts and prayers for the people of Belfast. When I go back I plan to sign my name on this wall!

The Dalai Lama signed the wall - his message reads "Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values."

Bill Clinton has also signed the peace wall - his message reads - "Strength and Wisdom are not opposing values."

Murals around the Protestant/Shankill Road area of West Belfast. You can identify they easily due to their mention of Ulster, the UVF, Battle of the Somme, and representation of the Union Jack flag.

The murals below were signed by a politician in his own blood to show his support for Unionism.

The mural on the right hand side is perhaps one of the most effective but also controversial on the Protestant side.

The Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland took its cue from the movement already underway at the same time in the United States.

The first mural pictured of the bearded man is a representation of a hunger striker who died while on strike in 1981.

The Garden of Remembrance for those who fought and died during the Troubles.

Bobby Sands - The most photographed of all the Troubles Murals and with good reason. I had tears in my eyes when I saw this mural in person.

Support for Sinn Fein the Irish Republican party. The Irish saying Sinn Fein is translated as "Ourselves Alone"

Coming back again into the city center towards the end of our tour we went by the Europa Hotel - the most bombed hotel in Belfast.

Belfast City Hall! So Beautiful up close.

At night...

After the tour one of my roommates friends from college, who lives in Belfast (she's originally from a small town outside of Omagh) took us around the city and we stopped at a pub tucked away down an almost hidden street. It is all cobblestones and flush with potted plants, it looked so pretty. We stepped into a little archway where a huge floor to ceiling mural had been painted across both sides of the wall.

A quote from Oscar Wilde.