(Privately shared on October 23, 2023 with a select group of friends). The above photo is a portion of the Peace Wall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. More photos can be found here.
13 September, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Everything I know about the Troubles I learned from Jack Higgins and Frederick Forsyth. I was very keen to learn more about the history and the tour I went on was hosted by each ‘side’, offering a unique point of view. I don’t remember the name of the first tour guide but he (and the Protestant tour guide) lived through the events. He was a short, stocky. balding Irishman who was a member of the IRA. He gave a brief history of the Troubles in 1916 (the Easter Rising) and how in Northern Ireland, Catholics, though the majority religion, were minorities with regard to rights. In the 1960s, when Civil Rights movements occurred all over the world, the Catholic minority wanted equal representation with regard to job equality and voting rights. He said it was very common for the Scottish planters (Ulster planters) to own homes and rent them to the Catholics. But the problem was each Catholic tenant counted as a vote for the Protestant landlord only. (10 tenants equaled ten votes), so the inequality persisted until it came to a boiling point. (Scottish Planters or Ulster Settlers came to Ireland under the reign of King James from Scotland and Northern England, and their cultures were different from the Irish)
The guide said young people began to protest and barricade the streets so the Protestants couldn’t enter their neighborhoods. This resulted in a military response which cost many lives, which over the decades would cost thoughts of lives. We walked through the neighborhood and evidence of bullet strikes were still visible. (I admit this is a very diluted history of the Troubles but when I was editing my photos of the walking tour, I was able to research some of the incidents that took place in the areas I visited or where depicted in the many murals in West Belfast).
It was hard to hear most of his presentation as he was a soft spoken gentleman, and a lot of our stops were along Falls Road, where a lot of the violence had occurred. Plus, there were many Black Taxi tours stopping along the same route and giving their own tour. So between the traffic and dueling tour guides, it was difficult to hear. The Black Taxi Tours were highly recommended as a ‘must do in Belfast’, and had I not been by myself, I would have taken one. But they were a little expensive for just one person.
The guide described harsh conditions of the political prisoners and the difficulty of seeing friends and neighbors being killed by the British Army and Loyalists. He himself was imprisoned and escaped twice. He had been shot multiple times and bullet wounds were visible on his legs. Though there is a peace treaty, he still believes in a United Ireland and thinks its only a matter of time before the British Empire falls because, as he says, ‘all Empires fall eventually.’ He admitted that innocent lives were lost by the IRA but I felt a sense of pride in his past – that he saw himself as a patriot and a veteran standing up against an inhumane regime.
We crossed into the Protestant section of West Belfast and Mark took over the tour. I’m so deeply disappointed in myself for not capturing a photograph of the gate that separates the Catholic neighborhood from the Protestant neighborhood! He was born in 1963 and is a proud British citizen living in Northern Ireland. He said West Belfast was still segregated Catholic/Protestant and said the two don’t mix, despite the Peace Treaty of 1998. In fact, the Protestant section is gated closed every evening and then re-opened every morning – something I didn’t realize. Public transportation runs on either side of the neighborhoods, never across. There is still a section of wall separating both neighborhoods.
Mark was saddened that the children of both sides were separated – separate schools, separate playgrounds, etc, despite the peace accord. But there was an underlying bitterness towards the IRA and the thousands of lives that were lost in the most inhumane ways. He seemed particularly bitter that ordinary citizens were targeted and that the IRA wanted to erase any stain of British existence on Ireland’s soil.
He walked us along the Peace Wall that was decorated with graffiti and messages of peace from visitors from all over the world. The Peace Wall was very tall – up to 25 feet high. He pointed out a disruption of the paint in the upper portion and said as recently as three weeks ago, someone tried to throw a bomb over the fence to the Catholic side. This aggression was answered by machine gun fire over to the Protestant side. He didn’t mention if anyone was hurt and when I asked what prompted the initial aggression, he said ‘Feelings run deep and sometimes there is no reason – just tit for tat.’
He told us of how the IRA got napalm and would mix it with sugar and gasoline in their bombs. This would not only destroy something but would also insure people burned to death. He took us past two empty lots on a busy corner – one completely empty and one completely overgrown with trees and bushes. He said there were two pubs at each location and both were victims of IRA bombings. The empty lot had a mural but was mostly unremarkable and the other lot was a mass of trees and shrubs. It was amazing to me that prime real estate was empty, but it marked a reminder of lives lost. Mark said the owners of the overgrown lot still owned it but didn’t want to rebuild as there was a fear that it would become a target again.
Mark made sure we realized that Sinn Fein – the largest political party in Northern Ireland, is filled with murderers and members of the IRA. He was dismayed that many members of the IRA were never captured, or were now in politics and he was disgusted that a small minority of Irishmen wanted to erase the British influence. He said most of the citizens in Northern Ireland did not want to be united with Ireland. We ended the tour seeing photos of the innocent civilians who lost their lives in the Conflict as well as photos of the politicians to blame for it. He said the conflict would only end if each side respected each other.
Before the tour, I didn’t really have a side in the conflict. As an American, freedom from British rule seemed understandable, but seeing the carnage the IRA caused and the innocent lives they purposely targeted doesn’t sit well with me. However, it was a wonderful tour and I am very glad I took it.
The tour and the images I saw stayed with me for a long, long time. So many lives were lost or ruined. I couldn’t help but think of our own history and how we treated the Native Americans. And now the conflict of political and religious differences rages on in the Middle East. I can’t wrap my head around targeting innocent civilians and the indiscriminate bombings the IRA caused. But it’s also hard to grasp why the police and British Army were so heavy handed with civil protests.
14 September
So much to catch up on!
After the walking tour, I got back to the hotel to take a quick shower and to change for dinner. The lovely Irish couple I met last year, Annas and Paul, and I made arrangements to meet up for dinner. They met me at the hotel and walked to dinner – a small seafood restaurant that I had actually walked by the night before. I should have ordered the seafood stew but I went with the fish and chips instead, because Paul recommended it. It was good but I think I would have enjoyed the stew a bit more. Plus, I think I got a fish bone wedge in the top of my mouth. But it was so good to see Paul and Annas again and I laughed when they asked me when I would be moving here!
I’m in Bushmills by the way
My hotel in Belfast was nice. I liked that it was very central. My day exploring Belfast was amazing and I much prefer Belfast to Dublin for reasons I can’t really explain. Belfast seemed like home to me and I realized I was quite happy there. Between my exploration and the walking tour, I clocked 10.48 miles!
After checking out and paying an arm and a leg for parking, I headed to a tire store. After I picked up my rental car, the tire pressure warning light turned on not ten miles later. I couldn’t stop to deal with it before coming to Belfast but I definitely wanted to get it looked at just so I didn’t have to worry about it. It’s a good thing I did, too, because one of the tires was over inflated and the other three were under inflated! I’m not really happy with Budget! Anyway, once Charlie was fixed up we headed up the Coastal Road to Giant’s Causeway. I had the Bushmills tour scheduled at 3pm but didn’t need to be anywhere before then. The day was drizzly but still quite beautiful.
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