Photos and the City

Tag: Ireland

  • Peace Walls

    belfast, peace wall, nirthern ireland, uk, the troubles, murals, street art

    While strolling through the centre of Belfast, the Titanic Quarter and the area around my Airbnb the Queens Quarter I didn´t think much about Belfast troubled past. There used to be barriers around the city centre to keep car bombs out, but nothing reminds of them today. Except for those memorial plates on places where bombings happened. More than 3500 people were killed and more than 50.000 injured during “The Troubles”.

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    But there are still more than 100 so-called “Peace Walls” in Belfast, up to six metres high they range in length from a few hundred metres to over five kilometres and up to almost 8 metres high, keeping the predominately Republican and Nationalist Catholic neighbourhoods apart from the predominantly Loyalist and Unionist Protestant.

    The first Peace lines were built in 1969 and still stand. The first one was taken down last year and another one this year in September – but according to some interviews with people living in the area of Shankill Road and Falls Road I read while researching for this trip, they fear another civil war when the walls would come down.

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    It was already late in the afternoon when I stepped out of the Titanic Experience and the area of Shankill Road and Falls Road was kind of the other side of the city, so I decided to hop on a bus and do kind of “drive-through” tour – better than nothing. It´s quite easy to recognize the Unionist and the Nationalist areas – one of them is full of Union Jacks and other British symbols – the other one is defined by green/white/orange – the Irish colours. The hate goes way back and everyone stayed in “their quarters” doing their sports, their schools, their religion, their food and not having any contact at all with the other side. Supposedly it got better since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 but there is still a very long way to go.

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    The Peace Wall dividing the Falls and Shankill Roads is one the most “famous” and runs for several kilometres and has enormous gates at junctions which served as security checkpoints and are still locked at night. The murals get overpainted often to show current events all over the world.

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    Murals also serve as memorials. When one shows the face of a fighter it´s a sign that he or she was killed.

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    If the millions and millions of Union Jacks haven´t already made clear the dedication of the area let´s show a little bit of the Queen.

    While driving around the Causeway Coast the following days I saw some other villages overloaded with Union Jacks (once even the sidewalks were painted in blue, white and red. I also saw quite a few Irish flags but they don´t seem to get so overboard with the flags – just very superficially speaking after spending only a few days in Northern Ireland. But I have to say I was really confused by seeing nothing written in Irish (or Gaelic) – it´s everywhere in Scotland and I also think in Wales, why not in Northern Ireland? It still seems to be a very hot topic regarding to some news I found.

     

     

  • Around Belfast

    My bus from Dublin Airport to Belfast arrived in the evening and other than talking a short walk around my Airbnb and enjoying the bathtub I didn´t do much on that evening. I spent two nights in a beautiful Victorian Building in the Queen´s Quarter – a lovely residential area named after the Queen´s University and only a 20 minute walk away from the city centre.

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    Queen´s University (The Lanyon Building) – not only a beautiful building but also the oldest University of Northern Ireland, opened in 1849 with roots going back to 1810.

    And right behind the university lies the Botanic Garden and another stunning greenhouse.

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    Victoria Square and a little statue in front of the (closed) St. George´s market. One can find a lot of Victoria and Albert in Belfast, even my room at the Airbnb was called “Victoria & Albert Suite”.

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    Murals are everywhere, absolutely everywhere! And on the right: The Albert Memorial Clock, situated on the Queen´s Square. Completed in 1869 it is Belfast “Leaning Tower” – as it was constructed on wooden piles on marshy land around the River Farset, the top of the tower leans about 1 metre.

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    After my Titanic Boat Tour, walking around the Titanic Quarter and a short bus ride to the Peace Wall (this will be the next post) I strolled back to Victoria Square and on top of the Victoria Square Shopping Center with it´s 360° view over the city. Can you spot the Albert Memorial Clock?

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    Getting lost in the little alleys around the square and ending up in Cathedral Quarter, a recently redeveloped area of Belfast with lots of contemporary restaurants, bars and hotels and St. Anne´s Cathedral (Belfast Cathedral). The foundation was laid in 1899 and several additions built over the years. The most recent one a 40-metre stainless steel spire was installed on top of the cathedral in 2007 and called the “Spire of Hope”. Illuminated at night it represents the hope for peace and is part of the redevelopment of the Cathedral Quarter. The biggest Celtic Cross is one side of the cathedral.

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    Belfast City Hall is located on Donegal Square. In 1888 Queen Victoria awarded “city status” to Belfast and the planning for the City Hall began. Construction started in 1898 and was finished in 1906.

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    During “the Troubles” Hotel Europa on Great Victoria Street was the most bombed hotel in the world after having suffered 36 bomb attacks (and more than 40 that didn´t detonate). Today it is a four-star hotel and was completely refurbished.

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    One of the most know pubs or former Victorian “gin palace” is the Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street, also known as Crown Bar.

    Opened by Felix O’Hanlon as The Railway Tavern, the pub was then bought by Michael Flanagan. Flanagan’s son Patrick renamed and renovated the pub in 1885.

    The Crown owes its elaborate tiling, stained glass and woodwork to the Italian craftsmen whom Flanagan persuaded to work on the pub after hours. These craftsmen were brought to Ireland to work on the many new churches being built in Belfast at the time. It was this high standard of work that gave the Crown the reputation of being one of the finest Victorian Gin Palaces of its time. (Crown Liquor Saloon)

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  • Titanic Experience

    It´s been 20 years since Rose didn´t make some space for Jack on that door – and yes it would have been wide enough – to celebrate that anniversary of a movie I once saw so often, I made my way back to Queen´s Island (now called Titanic Quarter) after my boat tour.

    The regeneration of the waterfront and the area started in 1995, the largest development was the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction.

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    The SS Nomadic was launched in 1911 in Belfast and is a former tender of the White Star Line. She was used t0 transfer passengers, their baggage, mail and ship’s supplies from and to the RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic lying offshore, she is the last existing vessel from the White Star Line.

    The Nomadic tendered until 1934 when the White Star Lines merged with Cunard Line.

    During World War II, Nomadic again saw service; on 18 June 1940 she took part in the evacuation of Cherbourg. She was subsequently requisitioned by the Royal Navy and based in Portsmouth harbour, she operated as a troop ship, coastal patrol vessel and minelayer for the remainder of the war.

    During the war, Cherbourg port was heavily damaged, so large ocean liners could no longer dock there. Nomadic was saved from the shipbreakers and again returned to tendering duties for the SCSR from Cherbourg. She served the ocean liners of the day, such as Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth. She finally retired from these duties on 4 November 1968. (SS Nomadic)

    After some years she was bought, renovated and converted into a restaurant on the Seine in Paris in 1974. After the death of the owner, she was towed out of Paris to Le Havre by the French authorities who were looking for a buyer. Private Irish and French maritime societies started campaigns to raise money to buy the Nomadic but failed. In the end, it was the Northern Ireland government who bought the vessel at the auction and brought her back to Belfast in 2006. Restauration works were finished in 2012 and now she lays in the historic Hamilton Dock.

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    The entrance and inside the Titanic Experience. Be prepared for a lot of people and to have to wait for an assigned timeslot. I used this time to walk to the end of Queen´s Island along the Titanic Studios and the HMS Caroline to the Pump Station and the Titanic´s Dock.

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    View over the historic slipways where Titanic and Olympic were built and from where they were first launched into the water.

    Walk down the very slipway where Titanic was constructed and explore a life size plan of Titanic’s Promenade Deck which is inlaid in white stone.

    Discover the positions of the liner’s lifeboats and funnels and have a seat at one of the benches positioned exactly as they would have been on board the deck of Titanic. (Titanic Belfast)

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    The Thompson Dry Dock, where Titanic sat on dry land for the last time.

    belfast, northern ireland, uk, ireland, titanic, titanic experience, movies,Tour through the harbour of Belfast, this “flying part” was probably one of my favourites from the Experience.

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    The plaza seen from above.  Titanic STudios to the left.

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    First Class

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    Second Class

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    Third Class

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