Belfast

This morning our local guide took us to the self-segregated neighbourhoods of Shankill (Protestant) & Falls (Catholic) to learn more about the devastating period of political & nationalistic conflict, “The Troubles”, which plagued Belfast & Northern Ireland for about 30 years. These neighbourhoods were the hot spot of the conflict where many lives were lost & homes burnt out. Each area has its own political & very graphic murals as well as memorials to the civilians in their neighbourhood, including women & children who were killed. We were shocked to see that there is still a high wall (the Peace Wall), 6 miles in length, segregating these neighbourhoods with gates in the wall being locked at 7.30pm each night. Over the years this wall has been made higher & higher to stop missiles being thrown over. Each neighbourhood was recently asked if they wanted the wall taken down and both sides said no. A very sad & worrying place as there is still many splinter groups of terrorism operating to this day.

Shankill Road, home of the Protestant loyalists to Britain, with mural being touched up. The mural on the left was very eerie as it didn’t matter where you stood the guns were always pointing at you.

A much nicer mural. This is the peace quilt made by the Shankill Road women m. This quilt has traveled the world with its message. The women are pushing for the more violent murals to be taken down as they’re concerned about the influence it has on the children of the neighbourhood.

Writing our message of peace on the segregating Peace Wall.

Can you see the height of the wall in the background including the two later additions on top?

One set of gates in the wall that are locked each night.

And on the Falls side – Catholic republicans who oppose British rule & want Ireland to be one independent nation.

Sinn Fein headquarters in Falls. During the Troubles Sinn Fein was associated with the Provisional IRA.

Falls mural of an IRA member who was imprisoned & died on a hunger strike.

Falls homes that back onto the Peace Wall have built a cage over their balcony to protect themselves from missiles coming over the wall.

The army vehicles & helicopter below were used by the police when entering the Falls during the Troubles.

Then it was onto the Cumlin Road jail which was interesting but even more depressing. At the time children as young as 10 could be imprisoned but the youngest prisoner here was 13 & he hung himself soon after sentencing. 😔 19 prisoners have been sentenced to death by hanging over the years with their bodies buried in unmarked graves along the prison wall.

The Courthouse was across the street from the jail so a tunnel was built under the street to transport the prisoners to the Courthouse.

The tunnel between the prison & Courthouse.

The 5 wings of the prison meet in this circle.

The derelict Court House across the road. A beautiful building that will hopefully be turned into a hotel.

The Titanic Experience built on the site of the old shipyards where the Titanic was built by Harland & Wolff for the owners The White Star Line. The Titanic Hotel, where we are staying, is right across the street. The hotel was originally the Harland & Wolff offices where the Titanic was designed.

The building has 4 wings each resembling a pointed hull with the exterior cladding on the hulls resembling waves.

This was a really remarkable exhibition, a credit to Belfast. We found the designing, drafting & stress testing of the ship’s ability to right itself, really interesting as everything was done by hand, no computers or calculators. There was some very neat ledgers with the most complicated mathematical equations in the most exquisite handwriting.

A translation of the first Morse Code distress signal sent from Titanic to all ships in the area. CQD stands for “Seeking You, Distress”.

The band played amid the havoc as the ship went down inspiring the say “and the band played on” symbolising the band’s bravery. The violinist played this violin right to the end but he didn’t survive. The violin must have floated to the top & been picked up,

This coat was worn by a survivor. She would have been warmer than the others in the lifeboat.

The photos below explain the series of events that contributed to the disaster & the large loss of life as well as the safety measures that were put in place after the enquiry.