Northern Ireland

I took the train this morning to Belfast. This is part of Ireland I had always wanted to see, but had never made it. I met a delightful couple in the station and chatted with on the trip to Belfast. I will write about them in my next post.

The bellhop/concierge at my hotel wanted to know what I planned on doing while in Belfast. I told him I wanted to take a black cab ride to see the areas of conflict in Belfast, wanted to see Giant's Causeway, and to do some genealogy at the Presbyterian Historical Society. He seemed glad to know I was a "good Protestant girl". :-). John said he knew a black cab driver, Jack, and arranged for the private tour.

The division of Ireland happened in 1921 with the formation of an independent Irish Free State which excluded the six counties of Northern Ireland. In 1949, the Irish Free State left the Commonwealth (similar to Canada) and became the Republic of Ireland, severing all political ties with Britain.

I thought the conflict in Belfast was over religion and a way it is, but it is really about those that want to join the Republic of Ireland (Republicans) and those that want to remain with England or the Union Jack flag (Unionists). It just so happens to be that the Republicans are Catholics and the Unionists are Protestants. There is so much history between Ireland and England that I could hardly peck it out with one finger on my iPad.

Jack, my guide, told me I'm not Scotch-Irish like my father said and most Americans would say, but I'm Ulster-Scotch. Ulster is one of Ireland's four ancient provinces and consists of nine counties in the northern part of Ireland. Six of those counties make up Northern Ireland while three counties remain part of the Republic.

This is too much to write, but I did find it interesting that the murals on the Republican side and sponsored by the Sinn Fein party were for everything the U.S. is against like Cuba and Palestine.

The pictures are:

Catholic side against Israel and for Palestine
Catholic side for Cuba
Peace wall dividing Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods
Protestant side
Protestant side in honor of Pres. Andrew Jackson, an Ulster-Scotch and Presbyterian
Protestant side