Belfast

Belfast City Hall

We spent a beautiful, although quite cold, Saturday morning walking the downtown district of Belfast. Belfast is a fairly small city and we easily found our way to Belfast City Hall and the Belfast Cathedral, passing some interesting art along the way. Queen Victoria granted city status to Belfast and planning for the Belfast City Hall began in 1888. At that time Belfast was a vibrant and prosperous city known for shipbuilding, linen production and rope making. Small wonder, then, that Belfast was later selected as the place to build the world's largest passenger ship at the time, Titanic.

The "Spirit of Belfast" is a modern sculpture placed in the city center in 2009. It is found in Arthur Square and is intended to bring together the "strength of steel, ocean liners and linen, progress and peace".

At a cost of £2500, this clock tower was built as a memorial to Prince Albert in 1865. The structure was built on wooden piles and actually leans four feet out of vertical.

On our walk we stopped in at St. George's Market where on a Saturday morning you can listen to live local music, buy all manner of fresh fish, meat, and vegetables, or you can sample local food.

Belfast has a beautiful Cathedral that also was first constructed in 1888 when the queen granted city status. The Cathedral was built around an old parish church dating back to 1776.  The original parish church was demolished once the new structure was completed. The building has continued to be a work in progress. Most recently, the Spire of Hope was added in 2007. 

St. Anne's Cathedral also called Belfast Cathedral

Mosaic Dome of the Baptistry

The Sanctuary

The RMS Titanic   

Belfast is known to many of us as the place where the great ship RMS Titanic was designed, built, fitted out, and launched. Today you can visit the site of the Harland & Wolf shipyard, the dry dock where she was built and a first class exhibit depicting the lives of those who built her and those who were on board on that unfortunate maiden voyage in 1912. We spent the afternoon and had some fun checking this out. 

Views from the exhibition hall.

 Titanic Exhibition Hall, each of the four wings is the size and shape of the ship's bow.

Saturday night we visited a few famous Irish Pubs. We enjoyed great food and some Irish Beer at the Crown Bar and then we moved on to Robinson's, where we stopped in to enjoy a wee pint and some live music at Fibber McGee's, located in the back of Robinson's. Definitely a highlight of our time in Belfast!

Gates in the Peace Wall (these gates never open)

"The Troubles"
The history of conflict in Ireland can be traced well back in time. Armed conflict between Catholics and Protestants subsided as a product of a 1921 agreement.  However the conflict known as "The Troubles of Northern Ireland" took front and center in the eyes of the world during the riots of 1968. The riots were followed by mobilization of British troops and open conflict that persisted for more than 35 years. Tensions and peace and reconciliation efforts continue. The Peace Wall, a tall and strong barrier remains today separating the neighborhoods and the people. Political murals are displayed on both sides of the wall reflecting the strong and opposing views that continue in West Belfast. We took a Black Taxi Tour to see and to hear of the history of the conflict marked by such tragic loss of life. 

Our taxi driver/tour guide explained that this "Peace Wall"
extends more than 2 miles with gates closing the crossroads.

Wall of political murals placed by the political party, Sinn Fein.

Bobby Sands, who was a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), died in 1981 during a hunger strike that he lead. He is memorialized on the side of the Sinn Fein building. He was elected to the British Parliament while in HM Prison Maze.

The Peace Wall extends as far as the eye can see, this Mural is on the protestant side of the wall.

Tribute to the Queen and statement of loyalty of  Ulster to England also
on the "Protestant Side" of the wall.

Memorial to the Belfast Ulster Volunteers (UVF)
This memorial wall has been completed recently and is on the side of a
building in the midst of a residential area. 

A memorial to Stephen McKeag nicknamed "Top Gun", a Commander in the Ulster Defense  Association (UDA) in the 1990's, died in 2000 and was known for violence on Shankill Road, on the Protestant side of West Belfast.

We really enjoyed our time together in Belfast. This city has seen some very good times and no doubt some most difficult times. Above all we found the people to be warm and welcoming. The food is really good and of course the beer is outstanding!