A visit to Cave Hill

These are some photos from our walk up Cave Hill back in Dec.  Cave Hill overlooks Belfast and if you look at the outline of the mountain you can see the giant's face.  Cave Hill was the inspiration for the giant in the mountain in Gulliver's Travels... at least that's what I am told.   Also, it is where the Kings and Queens of Ulster were crowned as they overlooked their kingdom.  Fortunately, it was a really lovely day for a walk, and I wasn't wearing any royal regalia.

Christmas

As usual I am way behind with my blog... sorry!

Here are some photos from Christmas.  We had a very quiet holiday, just hanging around and enjoying the time Kev had away from work.  In these photos you will see the icky Christmas Pudding.  Obviously I didn't eat any, but its something he loves so we got it.  Its this brown spongy cake with pretty much any and every fruit you can think of.

The holidays here are similar to home, aside from the pudding, the only difference being not as much snow and we have crackers at the table.  By crackers I mean the foil things you pull apart to get the prize inside, not the crackers you eat when you have an upset stomach... although those could be useful as well at the holidays.

More Christmas Photos

I went downtown with Kev (he has the only working camera at the moment, as a result of my move, I've lost mine) and we had dinner at the Continental Market on the lawn of City Hall and took some photos of the lights for you all.  The market is open every year from the end of Nov to the end of Dec and has food and gift stalls.  Not everything is homemade, but the food is!  Its a great little market, and it is always packed.

Ice Hockey, Giant's Style

Friday Kev took me to see the Belfast Giants play hockey against the Sheffield Steelers in the Odyssey Arena.  I wasn't even aware Belfast had a hockey team, let alone that they were actually good.  Second in their league!  We had fantastic seats, 3 rows off the ice.  The stadium was far from crowded, but the fans that were there were true followers and supporters.  

The Giants won in overtime, they played 5 min of regulation time and then won the shoot off.  Other things that were interesting...

1.  You know how they launch t-shirts out of air guns at most sporting events?  Well here the Subway Sandwich man launches 12 inch sandwiches out of the gun.  Go figure.

2.  Their mascot is a gorilla.  

3.  They're named the Giants after Giants Causeway and the Giant sleeping in cave hill who was the inspiration for Gulliver's Travels.

Christmas Lights in Belfast

On Tuesday Belfast City turned on the Christmas lights!  I met Kev after work and we went in town to see the show.  There was Scooby-Doo, Hollyoaks (a soap show) actor Gerard McCarthy, Olympic medalists Wendy Houvenaghel (I googled her, she is a cyclist) and medal winner Paddy Barnes (boxing), as well as X-Factor finalists Same Difference from last years X-Factor.  It also marked the opening of the Christmas Continental Market which has sprung up on City Hall's front lawn.  The market has food, crafts and all kinds of goodies from everywhere.  There were loads of people downtown for this.  I wasn't a big fan of Same Difference, but the kids that were out seemed to like them. X-Factor is Simon Cowell's brain child here, like our American Idol, Leona Lewis was last years winner.   I don't have any pictures, will get some soon.  But below is a clip I found on YouTube from CityBeat (a radio station here) of the countdown and lights getting turned on. 

Royal Irish Regiment Parade

There was a lot of controversy here not too long ago over a homecoming parade for the Royal Irish Regiment. They are part of the British Army based here in Belfast and have just come back from the Middle East. There was a counter-march at the same time as this parade, but I wanted to see the parade so I missed the counter-march.  In these pics you'll see the guys marching in past City Hall.  It was one of the shortest marches I have ever seen.  They were not allowed to march armed or have a fly-over like they had intended.  They weren't allowed to do this because it would be viewed as a threat and a show if military strength by Nationalist and Republican groups.  Some of the people I know from Uni were at the counter-march, and said there were a few times where it could have "kicked-off" but for the most part it stayed under control.  After the parades were done, town was dead.  Everyone left, so I did some Christmas shopping. :)

Quantum of Solace!

Good Movie!

Kev and I didn't have much to do on Halloween (or anything we really felt like doing that evening) and in order to avoid the trick-or-treat clans (we didn't have any candy either) we decided to go see the new James Bond movie.

The only theater with seating available was at the Odyssey and it was a VIP theater... oh la la!  No idea what this meant other than it cost a bit more and we got free popcorn and drink refills.  But when we walked in and sat down, we were sold.  The chairs were Lazy-boy-esque with (faux) leather, leg rests and a back that reclined.  The few extra quid really paid off! Oh yah, and the movie was pretty good too.

After that we went to the Joymount Arms in Carrickfergus.  It was a very good meal, for a very good price.  Not a bad Halloween.

Pumpkin Pie and the Apartment

Our apartment is lovely.  Below are some views from our living room.

Its about a 10 min walk from the train station and the train has me into the city within 20 min.  Its actually an easier commute than I had in DC.  The layout is different than any other apartment that I have ever lived in.  I think this may have been a house that was gutted and set up as 4 apartments.  When you come into the apartment, you walk up the stairs and on the right is a door leading to the main hallway.  Off of this hallway there are 2 bedrooms, one bath (the other is an ensuite) and at the end of the hall is the living room kitchen.  Everything is great.  My only complaint is that I believe I have now encountered the worlds smallest washer/dryer.  It is one machine, a washer/dryer combo, and it can only was about 4 kg of clothes at a time.  4 kg= 3 –5 shirts, some socks, underwear,  maybe a pair of pants.  So, it’s a slow process, but it’s a step up from having to put quarters in the machine.

I made Pumpkin Pie not too long ago for Kev and friends to try.  Everyone's first reaction is something along the lines of "Pumpkin Pie? Why would you eat that?! Thats disgusting!" but none of them have tried it.  So far, Sarah and Shay liked it, their kids didn't and Kev doesn't.  But my thanks to mom for sending the pie stuff over!

Comedian Ed Byrne

During the Queens Film Festival comedian Ed Byrne came to Elmwood Hall on campus to do 2 performances.  I got tickets so Kev and I could go for a night out and see him.  He's actually a really funny comedian, I encourage you to look him up on youtube! And if he's ever in your area, go see him.

School

I’ve had quite a few questions about school.  Here’s how it works, the university provides me a desk, chair and a computer in a communal office if I want to use it. I meet with my primary advisor every few weeks and am not required to be anywhere at any specific time.  There is a secondary advisor, but apparently he’s even harder to track down than my primary and I shouldn’t expect too much from him.  The loads of free time I have should be spent working on reading relevant literature, creating timelines, outlining research projects and attending sporadic training classes provided by the school that help me with presentation skill, time management and even MS Word.  So, they’ve given me enough rope to hang myself with, but there is also a tremendous amount of freedom to spend just following whatever you want.

More than I ever wanted to know....

How to get accepted to a foreign PhD program:

1. Think way too much about it before deciding to go for it
2. Research and write 2 page proposal
3. Fill out online application
4. Fight with previous school for transcripts (this took me about a month)
5. Submit all of the above and wait (waiting involves fretting to everyone you know that you're never going to get it, lots of sleepless nights, and a few bottles of vino)
6. Find out from a friend of a friend of a friend in the admission office that after 2 weeks your application is still sitting there, beg her to walk it over to your department
7. Application is returned to admissions, friend emails you to say you've been admitted
8. Try to find FAFSA code for school
9. Admission packet arrives 4 days later
10. Find out school was only JUST re-approved for FAFSA
11. Fill out FAFSA
12. Find out you need the long SAR report from FAFSA, call Dept. of Ed for report, must wait 10-14 days
13. Send SAR, lender Master Promissory Note to school
14. School sends you an email loan offer and you agree
15. Apply for visa - Need transcripts, bank statements, address in UK, pay stubs, passport photos, pretty much any paper you can send, and due to new regulations, you have to prove you have enough money to pay for school and live in the country for 1 year without working or recourse to public funds. Eeek.
16. Get biometrics (fingerprints, facial scan) for visa application
17. Pray for a 24 hr turn around on visa so you can make International Orientation in 3 weeks.

I'm only to step 11.... International orientation is Sept 18th, I think its safe to say I'm going to miss it.

However, if you ever need help with immigration law, I'm your woman!

What's the craic?

Well here’s a story for you...

So I decided to go along with 6 of the people from my group on a tour that would take them up to Belfast and on to Londonderry/Derry. The tour group was called Paddywagon Tours. We left Friday morning. I looked at this bus (a 16 seater) and said to Kelly "I'm not sure it's the wisest idea to be going to the north on a green bus painted with leprechauns and sheep that says Paddywagon." Little did I know I had forecast the future.

Our tour guide had grown up in Belfast and was explaining that it had gotten better. The same thing I had been telling these people since the beginning. Our professors had been telling them how awful Belfast was and I kept saying, no I was there during the 12 of July festivals when tensions are really high and it was fine....

So we get into Belfast, take a black taxi tour; hit the Botanic for food and drink and head back to the hostel on Lisburn road. We were less than 2 blocks from Queens University. This is a predominantly neutral area. No problems so far. We hit the hay for the night. Our door is opened at 2 am and the hostel manager comes in and says "hey guys you're leave at 830 instead of 1030 because we had to call in a new bus for you. Your bus has been burned" and walks away. I started laughing and everyone else was really concerned and confused. The tour guide comes in then and says yah they petrol bombed the bus its toast, so we're joining another tour to get to Derry. Come take pics if you want. So here they are:












































Don't worry everyone is fine and no one's stuff is on there. But there you have it. According to our tour guide it was shoddy work. They used a plastic bottle to make the petrol bomb and also didn't even manage to blow the gas tank. It was pretty much just vandalizing something that represented something that upset someone. Here's the BBC article if you want to read that: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/7236558.stm
Though, we have no idea who Petra is, the person they interviewed. We were gone by then and she was never on our tour.

Oh, I called Gerard. He was working nights so he was up. I told him about it and he just laughed and said, "welcome back to Belfast Nance” Fair point.

Week 3 Summary

I'm going to sum up week three. By this time we're all pretty exhausted and learned out. The most poignant moment of this week was meeting Lawrence McKeowm and Alan McBride. Lawrence was a hunger striker in the H-Blocks. He was a Nationalist and was imprisoned for political reasons. He talked to us about the hunger strikes and the things that ones body goes through from fasting for 45 days. He said the most memorable thing was the sense of smell. They'd wax the floors and everyone else would be fine, but the hunger strikers would be absolutely sick from the smell of the wax.

Alan is a Protestant that grew up in Belfast. He and his wife and daughter lived there. One day he took his wife to work at her fathers shop up on Shankill Road. She did that once a month to help out. He dropped her off and then went for a bike ride with his daughter, who was about 4 at the time. When he got back his friends came by to tell him that there had been an attack on Shankill Road. It was the IRA bomb of October 1993. It was a bombing that went awry. The IRA Volunteers were supposed to give the people in the shop an 11 second warning so they could gain some space, but instead the bomb went off killing 11, including Alan's wife.

It was an unbelievable thing to have these two men in the same room together. Both men affected strongly by the Troubles, on either sides, and wanting us to know about their beliefs. Lawrence works now to tell people about political imprisonment and to help their understanding. Alan has started WAVE, a group that goes into the areas and works with survivors.

There was a very large discussion of victim's rights going on within Parliament while we were there. And it's to be understood that the definition of victim is still being decided. To the Protestants who want to continue to be a part of Britain the Sinn Fein and the IRA are forever linked and they are intrinsically evil and a terrorist organization. They don't believe that any IRA man who died or the hunger strikers were victims of this political war. If you ask a Nationalist, the Unionists and government who have oppressed them and prevented Ireland from being united, they are the victims and the people who have died keeping the North a part of the UK are the terrorists. This makes it almost impossible for the Parliament in Stormont to decide on what defines a victim, let alone what victims deserve as compensation. Whose to say what lives were more important than others? Worth more? How would you feel if someone told you your loved on, who was taken from you in a bomb, was only worth x number of dollars (or in this case pounds)? It's a hot topic, and in my opinion, not one that will be resolved soon.

Politics

Ok this was a long day all about politics in Northern Ireland, which is more complicated than you'd imagine. Lets start with the basics.

From some of my previous posts you may or may not be familiar with the terms Unionist, Loyalist, Nationalist and Republican. Lets get some definitions.

• Unionist- A person who wants to remain a part of the Union with the United Kingdom. Predominantly Protestant.


• Loyalist- loyal to the United Kingdom, also predominantly Protestant. Tends to be more concerned with the Loyalists in Ulster as a community with only conditional loyalty to Brittan.


• Nationalist- Member of a community that is defined by blood, language, church, ect. Concerned with winning independence. (Traditionally Catholic


• Republican- Want of a representative government, emphasis on citizenship. More concerned with power exercised within the State. (Traditionally Catholic)

We visited Stormont, the home of NI parliament, as well on this day. We got to hear from a panel of representatives of the different parties, including Sinn Fein, DUP, SDLP and UUP. Stormont was constructed in 1923 and occupied in 1931. 1922 was the first session of Parliament. The way the political parties work is Sinn Fein is a Republican party, they have what is known as an all Ireland Agenda, the SDLP (Social Democratic and Labor Party) which is a slightly more middle of the road group than Sinn Fein, then there is the UUP (Ulster Unionist Party) who wants to stay with Britain but is more middle of the road than the DUP. The DUP (Democratic Unionist Party) is the leading party in NI and its leader, Rev. Ian Paisley, has been throughout the Troubles one of the most vocal about staying with Britain.

Things got heated when these people got into the room together. Keep in mind this is the first time that Stormont has held parliament in more than 50 years. Most of the DUP party considers Sinn Fein to be terrorists. I personally liked the SDLP party as their beliefs made the most sense to me, however they aren't the strongest party. The two strongest parties are the polar opposites, Sinn Fein and the DUP.

Derry/Londonderry

Wow, I don't even know where to start with this day. Today we visited Stroke City, Londonderry or Derry depending on whom you talk to and whom you agree with. I was in awe to be able to walk around the Bogside and visit an area that was for all intensive purposes the start of the Troubles.

I've stolen this history from localhistories.org... my thanks to them.

EARLY DERRY
Derry is an ancient settlement. Its name is believed to be derived from the Gaelic word doire meaning a grove of oak trees. From the 6th AD onwards century there was a monastery in Derry. (Tradition says St Columba founded it). In time a settlement grew up by the monastery. However for centuries Derry was a rather small settlement. It did not become truly important until the 17th century.

In 1566 Derry was captured by the English. However they did not hold it for long. In 1567 a gunpowder store exploded and the English departed. The English captured Derry again in 1600.
A new town was founded at Derry in 1603. King James gave a charter founding the new town and a large number of merchants and tradesmen settled there. However this first new town was destroyed by Cahir O'Doherty and his men in 1608.

Nevertheless a second new town was created soon afterwards. King James confiscated large amounts of land from the Irish. He then settled large numbers of Scots and English people in Ulster to try and create a loyal population in the area. As part of the Ulster Plantation several new towns were created.

King James invited the merchants of London to help him settle English Protestants in Northern Ireland. They agreed to build a new town at Derry. It was to have 200 houses and a population of about 1,000. The new town was called Londonderry. It was given a charter in 1613 and had a mayor and corporation. In 1617 it gained a grammar school. By 1630 the population of Londonderry was probably about 1,000. Streets in the new town were laid out in a rectangular pattern. In the years 1613-1618 walls were built around Londonderry. St Columb's Cathedral was built in 1633.

During the Irish rebellion of 1641 Derry was besieged but the Irish were unable to capture it. In 1649 during the civil wars between king and parliament Derry was besieged by royalists for 20 weeks but again the city did not fall.

The most famous siege of Londonderry took place in 1689. In 1688 the Catholic king James II was deposed. However the Lord Deputy of Ireland, The Early of Tyrconnell stayed loyal to James so did most of Ireland. Londonderry was one of the few places that remained loyal to William. A Catholic army attempted to enter Londonderry. On December 7 1688 13 apprentice boys shut the Ferryquay Gate against them. As a result Protestants fled to the town, swelling its population.

In March 1689 James landed at Kinsale in an attempt to regain his throne. The siege of Londonderry began in April 1689. Since they were not strong enough to take the town by storm the besiegers tried to starve the defenders into submission. Conditions inside the city grew worse and worse. There was a terrible shortage of food and the defenders were reduced to eating horsemeat and tallow. Disease also broke out. Nevertheless the defenders held firm.

In June three ships arrived from England, carrying supplies However for several weeks they were unable to reach the city as James's men had erected a wooden boom across the Foyle. Eventually, on 28 July, one of the ships, The Mountjoy, broke the boom and the city was relieved. Three days later the besiegers realised the game was up and they left.

DERRY IN THE 18th CENTURY
In 1704 an Act of Parliament stated that only Anglicans could hold office in Ireland. Presbyterians were excluded. Partly as a result of this measure many Presbyterians emigrated from Derry to North America in the early 18th century. Despite this Derry grew larger in the 18th century and suburbs appeared outside the walls. Boom Hall was built in the 1770s at the point where the boom crossed the river during the siege.

A number of new buildings were erected in Derry in the 18th century. The Irish Society House was built in 1764. Long Tower Church was built in 1784-86. Bishopgate was rebuilt in 1789.
From about 1750 a linen industry grew up in Derry. Until the end of the 18th century there was only a ferry across the River Foyle. In 1789-91 a wooden bridge was built. This greatly boosted trade and industry in Derry. The Derry Journal began in 1772.

DERRY IN THE 19th CENTURY
In 1821, at the time of the first Irish census, Derry had a population of 9,313. It grew rapidly during the 19th century and had reached a population of 40,000 by its end. In the early 19th century large numbers of Catholics came to Derry from the countryside looking for work. The Courthouse was built in 1813. Derry workhouse opened in 1840. The railway reached Derry in 1845. Magee College was founded in 1865 to train men for the Presbyterian ministry. St Columb's College was founded in 1879. In 1863 another bridge, this one of steel, was erected across the Foyle. Carlisle Bridge, as it was called, was demolished in 1933. St Augustine's Church was built in 1872. St Eugene's Cathedral was built in 1873. Its spire was added in 1902.
Derry Guildhall opened in 1890. It burned in 1908 and was rebuilt. It was bombed in 1972 then refurbished.

In 1831 a man named William Scott began making shirts in Derry. From the 1850s the shirt making trade in Derry boomed. By the 1870s shirt making was the main industry in the town. There was also a shipbuilding industry in 19th century Derry. Meanwhile the port of Derry prospered.

During the 19th century many emigrants from Ireland to North America left from Derry. Today they are remembered by an 'emigrants' sculpture.

DERRY IN THE 20th CENTURY
Brooke Park opened to the public in 1901.

A War Memorial was erected in Derry in 1927.
Our Lady of Lourdes Church was built in 1976.
Craigavon Bridge was built in 1933 to replace Carlisle Bridge. Foyle Bridge was built in 1984.
In 1932 Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly the Atlantic, landed at Ballyarnet. From the mid-19th century a shirt-making industry boomed in Derry. In 1997 United Technologies Automative factory closed. This was a severe blow to the city.

During World War II Derry was a major naval base. There were also air bases around the city. Large numbers of American and Canadian servicemen were stationed in the city. From the late 1940s a public housing estate was created at Creggan. In the 1960s the council demolished slums in Derry.

On October 5 1968 the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement attempted to hold a march in Derry. However the Northern Irish goverment banned the march and when it went ahead it was broken up by the RUC in Duke Street. The Battle of Bogside occurred in August 1969. Tension between Catholic and Protestant had been building for some time and it eventually erupted into violence. On 12 August 1969 the annual Apprentice Boys march was routed past the Catholic Bogside area. As the Apprentice Boys marched past there were clashes between the RUC and Catholic civilians. There followed 3 days of rioting which ended when the British army was sent in.

In 1972 came the tragic event known as 'Bloody Sunday'. On 30 January 1972 the Derry Civil Rights Association were holding a march through the town when the British 1st Parachute Regiment opened fire, killing 14 people.

Today Derry is a flourishing city. Foyle Valley Railway Museum opened in 1990. Tower museum opened in 1992. Foyleside Shopping Centre opened in 1995. Rath Mor Centre also opened in 1995. Derry Visitor Centre and Convention Bureau opened in 1997.

DERRY IN THE 21st CENTURY
In 2001 Creggan Indigenous Enterprise Park opened. Millennium Forum opened in 2001. Creggan Country Park opened in 2003. Today the population of Derry is 72,000.

The Titanic Quarter and City Hall

Today we toured City Hall and explored the old Harland and Wolf yards where Titanic was built.
I've "borrowed" this from the City Hall website.

For centuries, Belfast had been a small settlement. Everything changed in 1613, when a Royal charter gave the city town status. Belfast expanded rapidly as a result, becoming an important port and manufacturing centre. By the end of the 19th century, Belfast had outgrown its status as a town and was a major industrial powerhouse, known for its shipbuilding, ropemaking, engineering, tobacco and textile industries. In 1888, Queen Victoria gave Belfast the title of city and it was generally agreed that a new city hall was needed to reflect this change in status.

Building work

Negotiations to acquire the one and a half acre White Linen Hall site, located in Donegall Square, began in 1896 and a price of £30,000 was agreed. The new hall was built by local firm H+J Martin, following a design from Alfred Brumwell Thomas, who won a public competition with his classical Renaissance design. Funding for the new building was raised from the profits of Belfast Gasworks for which Belfast Corporation (now Belfast City Council) had responsibility. The first stone was laid in 1898 and work was completed eight years later. In total, Belfast City Hall cost less than £500,000 to build.

Opening of Belfast City Hall

Belfast City Hall opened it`s doors on 1 August 1906 during a great time of prosperity for the city. The magnificent building is a lasting memorial to Belfast`s success and is a great source of civic pride.

Functions of Belfast City Hall
Today, the City Hall`s functions include:

* hosting the 51 members of the Council on the first working day of every month
* providing tours of its facilities for tourists and members of the public
* hosting public exhibitions, such as ` No Mean City` photographic exhibit
* providing registration services and marriage and civil partnership ceremonies
* hosting civic events.

Belfast Coat of Arms

Image: Belfast City crest The present Belfast Coat of Arms dates from 30 June 1890 when the Ulster King of Arms made a Grant of Arms to the new city of Belfast. The motto 'Pro tranto quid retribuamus' comes from Psalm CXVI (116), verse 12 of the Bible. Translated from the Latin, it means 'what return shall we make for so much'. The precise origins and meanings of the symbols contained on the Coat of Arms are unknown. However, images such as the bell, the seahorse, the ship and the chained wolf were all used by 17th century Belfast merchants on their signs and coinage. The seahorse, which is used twice, shows the maritime importance of Belfast, as does the ship at the base of the shield.

The name 'Belfast' also originates from the Gaelic 'Beal Feirste', which means 'mouth of the river'.

The Titanic Quarter is an area of the city that Belfast is rebuilding and reclaiming. At one point H & W was the largest make of steam ships in the world. Belfastians to this day are proud that they were the ones to build the Titanic, and they'll take pains to remind you that they were not the ones to sink it. The captain did and he was not from there. Now this area is used for film sets and history tours.

Film

I'm dedicating a separate post to this one. We had a class this evening on film, more specifically, Troubles films. Gordon did a great job examining the portrayal of the North in film. Just remember all of the films involve a crazy woman with red hair and an Aran sweater, someone with a horrible Belfast accent, and an IRA man.

Here's a list of Troubles films:

• Ourselves Alone
• Odd Man Out
• Hennessy
• Patriots (Which was the Outsiders in the USA)
• Angel (Danny Boy in USA)
• Cal
• A Prayer For the Dying
• Hidden Agenda
• Patriot Games
• The Crying Game
• In the Name of The Father
• Blown Away (no one is sure where Tommy Lee Jones got his accent for this movie, but it sure as hell wasn't anywhere near Ireland)
• A Further Gesture
• No Surrender
• Harry's Game
• Nothing Personal (loosely based on the story of the Shankill Butchers)
• Any Mothers Son (About the 1981 hunger strikers)
• The Devil's OwnThe Jackal (semi-remake of Day of the jackal)
• Ronin
• The Boxer
• Resurrection Man (Also loosely based on the Butchers)
• Titanic Town
• An Everlasting Piece (more of a fun look at the Troubles, comedy)
• The Most Fertile Man In Ireland (Also a fun look at the Troubles, comedy)
• Michael Collins
• Divorcing Jack
• Mad About Mambo
• Oh Mr. Porter!
• Silent Grace
• Bloody Sunday
• Omagh
• Man About Dog
• The Mighty Celt
• Mickeybo and me
• Breakfast on Pluto
• Freeze Frame
• Closing of the Ring (yet to be released)
• The Craic
• High Boot
• BennyShergar (based on a true story about the IRA stealing a racehorse and asking for money, but they didn't know what to do with it so they shot it)
• Puckoon (Monty Python-esque)
• Wild About Harry
• Johnny Was (lowly based on a Stiff Little Fingers song)

Phew, that's quite a list. Keep in mind that most of the people in NI (including Gordon and Dom) will tell you that the portrayal of the paramilitaries is complete crap, in most cases

Drama and Music

As many of you know theater has a long history in Ireland. This morning we discussed the many different types of theater in Ulster as well as some of the general history of Ireland, including the Abbey Theater in Dublin. In the afternoon we heard from Stuart Bailie who worked for the BBC about music in Ulster. Punk apparently brought the North together. During a time when anyone coming into Belfast City Center would've been searched by the RUC, kids started making the trek into town at night to see bands like, Stiff Little Fingers, Them, Rudi, and maybe the most well known Northern Ireland boy, Van Morrison. Many of you may not know that Snow Patrol, a chart topping band in the US, is actually from Bangor just outside of Belfast. Also, that Ash performed with U2 on the stage in Belfast when Bono called David Trimble and John Hume up on stage to have them promise peace. I'm a fan of Stiff Little Fingers. The song they became big over was Suspect Device. It's a song about you being the device that subverting society because of what society has planted in your brain. Punk kept Ulster night life alive and brought the youth together. Several places and bars were bombed but the people kept trying and the artists understood the risks.

Later in the day we heard from a fiddle player who was an American but had been in Belfast for many years. He spends his nights going around looking for a pick up in pubs. These are open nights where musicians can just show up and play together. The pubs allow them to come in and use the space. There was a time when this wasn't safe either and they had to be wary of where they went, but now he informed us it was difficult to actually find a space to play that wasn't already full.

Symbols, Psychology and the John Hewitt

On Friday we had 2 very interesting lectures. The first was Dominic Bryan's pet project, symbols and their use (aka policing the boundaries). He discussed how the use of flags, paint and parades would effectively mark out different territories. It was interesting to see the footage of the Orange Parades throughout the city and how police officers had to patrol these things. A word on policing in NI. You knew I was going to do this at some point. The police force in the North used to be called the RUC- Royal Ulster Constabulary- and their job was to try and keep peace. The problem is that there were several major paramilitary groups that had far more power than they did- the IRA, UVF, and UDA. So what you have is devolution of legitimacy. People stop trusting or going to the police (a representative of the state) and turn to the paramilitary organizations to get things accomplished. The recent peace talks and treaties had the police force renamed the PSNI- Policing Service of Northern Ireland and there is a big push to make it 50/50- Catholic and Protestant. The problem is that the distrust is so deep that it's a huge campaign to try to make this work.

There is a reason that the police structure is important here. Who usually polices parades? Marking off routes? Exactly. So what you have on July 12th - the Orange Order's main day- is traditionally a police force that is at their beck and call. They have to police where the order wants to go, and historically that was through Catholic neighborhoods with bands and posters. Eventually there was a Parade Commission started to look at and approve the routes that the Orangemen wanted to use. The Orangemen found themselves increasingly blocked from doing what they wanted to do and would then see that as a direct attack on them (and Briton since they feel they represent the state). These parades are fundamental to their beliefs and there are still tensions between them and the new PSNI.

Funny side note. At the begining of the lecture annoying Aussie lady (who insists on constantly reminding everyone that she is NOT an American, she is an Australian) raised her hand to ask if she could wear flip flops tomorrow. This threw Dominic a bit as he's never had that question before. That started him off on a tanget about questions and putting it on the website, ect. Some how he arrived at National Anthems (think when talking about symbols and identity). He then proceeded to tell the Aussie that Australia had the chance to have a really great national anthem, Waltzing Mathilda. And that their flag should have a giant cockroach on it because that was all he saw when he was there. After all, wouldn't it be fantastic if they won at the Olympics and got to play that song and raise a flag with a cockroach?

Right, after that Cliff came in to talk to us about some statistics. You see, the troubles aren't about religion; it has nothing to do with one group thinking that they're right or wrong, it has to do with politics. It just so happens that a majority of Nationalists are Catholic and a majority of Unionists are Protestant. There was some overlap originally, a few Catholics that were Unionist or a few Protestant's that were Nationalist, but people were eventually forced to one side or the other. So what Cliff studies is identity, community, and culture.

From there we were taken into the Cathedral Quarter and to Clifton Cemetery. Clifton Cemetery is important because rich and poor were buried side-by-side, catholic and protestant.

Clifton is the cemetery of the poorhouse and workhouse of Belfast. The most famous person there would be Henry John McCracken, the person who started the United Irishman. Now, here would be a time to note that McCracken was a Protestant and founded the Irishman. His sister Mary dedicated her life to the poor after her brother died and was famous in town for her help. She moved into the poor house and gave up all that she knew. 

The cemetary also contains the first known use of the phrase "Emerald Isle."

There are so many bodies in this cemetery that there is no ground without a body in it. This is because during the Cholera epidemic and the famine they dug a pit and didn't cover it over for 7 years. They just kept dumping bodies in it.

Now a bit of disturbing history. There are 2 walls on the Clifton Street side of the cemetery, an inner and an outer wall. When the cemetery was taken over by the state and cleaned up they left what was in between those walls untouched. This is because during the Cholera epidemic there really were people wheeling around carts picking up dead bodies (ala Monty python). Now if they weren't sure if a body was dead they would take it up Clifton Street and toss it over the outer wall so that it would land between the inner and outer walls. They knew that the cemetery might not take them so this was their solution. Another quick side note would be the body snatcher. People would steal bodies from the cemetery and get them over to Scotland so Dr's could use them to study. The average person could receive well upwards of 700 pounds for a body, which at the time was substantial. Now the trick was they would use wooden shovels as to not make noise, leave the shroud so that if they were caught they didn't get caught steeling, and take the teeth out so that dentists could make false teeth. The reason they never took the shroud was because it was often bought by a family member and therefore was stealing, as for the body, who does a body belong to?

From there we went to the John Hewitt Pub. Which is a great little place often having live, traditional music most nights. It was here I found out that Dominic knows Tina and Bob Mahony- my program directors at Catholic. My world just got so much smaller.

About the Shankill Butchers

There is a song out there by the Decembetists called Shankill Butchers. It is in relation to an actual occurnce of events and is rather haunting. To listen to that song here, know about the events, its just creepy. But I think that most Americans (who would know the song) probably don't know about the events, so here is what Wikipedia says about the Shankill Butchers.

First, the lyrics:

The Shankill butchers ride tonight

You better shut your windows tight

Theyre sharpening their cleavers and their knives

And taking all their whisky by the pint

Cuz everybody knows

If you dont mind your mother's words

A wicked wind will blow

Your ribbons from your curls

Everybody moan everybody shake

The shankill butchers wanna catch you

Awake

They used to be just like me and you

They used to be sweet little

But something went horribly askew

Now killing is their only source of joy

Cuz everybodys knows...[repeat]

The shankill butchers on the rise

Theyre waiting till the dead of night

Theyre picking at their fingers with their knives

And wiping off their cleavers on their thighs

Cuz everybod knows...[repeat]

The shankill butchers wanna kill you

The shankill butchers wanna cut you

The shankill butchers wanna catch you awake

The "Shankill Butchers" were a group of Ulster Volunteer Force members in Belfast, Northern Ireland, who abducted Roman Catholics usually walking home from a night out, tortured and/or savagely beat them, and killed them, usually by cutting their throats. Most of their victims had no connection to the IRA or any other republican groups.

The leader of the Shankill Butchers was Lenny Murphy. Born in 1952, he was possessed by a seething anti-Catholicism perhaps exacerbated by the fact that his surname was a traditionally Irish one and so more associated with Catholics. At school he was a bully and a thief, and as soon as he left at the age of 16, he became a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force.

By 1972, age 20, Murphy gathered together a gang of equally violent young men, the core being Murphy himself, Robert "Basher" Bates, and "Big" Sam McAllister, who used his huge frame to intimidate the Butchers' victims. In what is said to have been retaliation for the Bloody Friday bombings by the Provisional IRA, a Catholic man, Francis Arthurs, was abducted, beaten, and stabbed for over an hour before being killed.

The murder of Tom Madden is seen as one of the most terrible examples of the Butchers' brutality. Madden was abducted and then stripped naked. He was hanged upside down from the beam of a lock-up garage, and slowly skinned alive. He eventually died of slow strangulation.

On September 28 1972, Murphy shot and killed William Pavis, who was suspected of selling arms to the IRA. Murphy and his accomplice, Mervyn Connor, were arrested shortly afterwards and held in prison awaiting trial. However, Murphy killed Connor in the prison, just after forcing him to write a confession to Pavis' murder. The charges against Lenny Murphy relating to the murder of Pavis collapsed, although Murphy was held behind bars for a number of escape attempts.

In May 1975, Murphy was released from prison. He married and fathered a daughter, but like the rest of his gang he cared little for domesticity and would spend most of his time hanging around pubs on the Shankill Road, drinking heavily and plotting crimes. That October they raided a shop, and on finding out the four employees there were Catholics, Murphy shot three of them dead and ordered an accomplice to kill the fourth.

Another key figure of the Shankill Butchers was William Moore. He had worked as a butcher and had stolen several large knives and meat-cleavers from his old workplace, tools that would be put to a horrific use. Over the coming months, the gang began kidnapping Catholics late at night and viciously killing them.

Francis Crossan, aged 34 and father of two, was walking home from a night out, when he was spotted by one of the gang. This was around 12-12:30am. He was hit from behind with a wheel brace, and dragged into a taxi, which drove into the Shankill area. Francis was then tortured and badly beaten. He was repeatedly hit by Murphy, both punched and with the wheel brace. Murphy repeatedly said things like, "I'm going to kill you, you bastard!" Francis was then dragged into an alley, and his throat cut almost through the spine by Murphy. Pieces of glass found in Francis' head showed that a beer glass had been shoved into his head, either in the black taxi, or in the alley. The other victims were killed in a similarly horrific manner.

The Shankill Butchers also got into a feud with another loyalist gang, which quickly ended when Murphy brutally killed a member of the rival gang. There is much evidence to suggest Murphy and his fellow murderers were more like serial killers than terrorists, and that the political situation in Ulster allowed them a respect within their community they never would have had otherwise. They occasionally used guns, but preferred knives and cleavers (serial killers tend to prefer 'hands-on' weapons that involve getting up close to the victim), and rather than carry out crimes that were carefully planned, the gang usually went out hunting on a whim, usually at night after spending all evening drinking heavily. On one occasion Murphy and Bates impulsively shot and killed two people, believing they were Catholics, when in fact they were Protestants.

In March 1976, Murphy shot and injured a Catholic woman. He was arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to a firearms charge. He ordered the murders to continue, and over the next year, with William Moore acting as the new leader, several more Catholics were abducted, tortured and hacked to death.