The Trip That Keeps Growing: July 2024

Thursday, July 4, 2024

2 July 2024 Derry and Donegal

2 July 2024 Derry and Donegal

We started the day by driving to Derry (or Londonderry as some call it), located on the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is also one of Europe’s last walled cities and the only one in Ireland that has its walls fully intact. The walls were built between 1613-1618 to defend the city from early 17^th century settlers. They form a one-mile oval with watchtowers, battlements, gates, bastions, and big aul cannons located throughout the walls.

When we first arrived, Tom took us on a short walking tour in “Free Derry” to see some of the murals that are painted on buildings on the Republican (Catholic side of the city). Most of them relate to the British occupation and the “Bloody Sunday” that resulted from the British policy of “Internment.” Under this policy, British soldiers invaded private houses of anyone they thought might be connected to the IRA, physically removed the males from the house and put them in prison with no warrants, charges or due process.

Memorial to the 10 Hunger Strike Victims

Sign When Entering Free Derry

Memorial to the Bloody Sunday Massacre

Our next stop was at the Museum of Free Derry which documents the history of the turbulent Troubles era, especially the timeframe from 1968-1972 known as “Free Derry.” This was a self-declared autonomous Irish nationalist area in the Bogside section of Derry, that grew out of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement seeking to end Irish Catholic discrimination and British internment. Many Catholics lost their homes to the protestant citizens of Londonderry and could not get decent jobs. They got their inspiration for the US's Civil Rights Movement.

Murals in Derry

Man with Gas Mask on from British Gas Attacks

Woman in Red was a Housewife Shot by British
in her Backyard

Trying to Carry One of the Bloody
Massacre Victims to Safety

The Victims of Bloody Sunday Massacre

British Soldier Breaking Into House
During Internment Period

Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement
in Derry

Here we had a museum volunteer who discussed this turbulent time following the Bloody Sunday Massacre and effect it had on her family. Her 17 year old brother was killed in the massacre while she was living in Canada. She talked about what happened and the fight the families of the victims waged to clear the names of those killed. The sporadic violence that began on 5 January 1969 when the proclamation of Free Derry was first announced and grew in intensity, culminating in the 12 August 1969 Battle of Bogside, a three-day battle between the residents of “Free Derry” and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), the police force in Northern Ireland. Two days later the British army replaced the RUC, and a somewhat tenuous peace returned. However, the residents of Derry began to actively recruit members to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and by July 1971, the somewhat peaceful relationship between “Free Derry” and the British Army deteriorated when the British Army killed two young men in Derry. This deteriorating relationship continued until it reached a climax on 30 January 1972 in the 1972 Bloody Sunday Massacre. The British Army killed 14 unarmed civilians during a peaceful protest. And unfortunately for the British it occurred in full view of the public and the press. This Sunday Massacre had the highest number of people killed in a single shooting incident during the “Troubles,” and it was the worst mass shooting in Northern Irish history. The museum is very small and almost all the items in it where either posters, newspaper clippings and videos of that day.

This event shocked the world, and Derry’s residents were further outraged when an Official Inquiry found that while the soldiers’ behavior bordered on being reckless, the soldiers were not guilty of any criminal acts in the Massacre.

As a result of the massacre, the biggest strike in Europe since WWII occurred in the Republic of Ireland. On 2 February 1972, the British Embassy in Dublin was burned down by irate crowds. And with Anglo-Irish relations at their lowest point, the Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs asked the United Nations Security Council to send a UN peacekeeping force to Northern Ireland, which the British refused to allow.

“Free Derby” finally came to an end on 31 July 1972 when the British moved in thousands of troops with armored vehicles and bulldozers. During an August 1973 inquest into the shooting that found the shootings to be justified and cleared the soldiers and Britain of any wrongdoing, the city’s coroner, a retired British Army major, declared the killings murder in his following statement:

“This Sunday became known as Bloody Sunday and bloody it was. It was quite unnecessary. It strikes me that the Army ran amok that day and shot without thinking what they were doing. They were shooting innocent people. These people may have been taking part in a march that was banned but that does not justify the troops coming in and firing live rounds indiscriminately. I would say without hesitation that it was sheer, unadulterated murder. It was murder”.

For years this massacre remained a divisive subject between Derry’s Catholics and Protestants and resentment continues against the British Army. Citizens of Free Derry pushed to have the victims of this massacre declared innocent. Finally in 1998, British Prime Minister Tony Blair authorized a second inquiry into the massacre. When the second inquiry found that the protesters were innocent and posed no threat to the British Army, then British Prime Minister David Cameron apologized to the people of Derry for the “unjustified and unjustifiable” killings by the British Army. Still only one person was charged and his trial has yet to begin. England has also said that no one else will be charged.

Although much of the violence has since ended with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, there are still many visible reminders of the turbulent times – the iconic gable wall that first announced the entrance to “Free Derby”and murals depicting the young victims of ‘The Troubles” – are found throughout the city. And the Peace Bridge spans the River Foyle that divides the two sections of the city – Waterside (mainly Protestant and unionist) and Cityside (mainly Catholic and nationalist).

After our discussion we were joined by a local guide who took us on a tour around the city walls. Our guide lived through this era and was able to provide further insight into the challenges of daily life during this period of time, and about their hopes for the future. He also could not stop saying “thank you” to America for helping bring about the Good Friday Agreement. The walk ended at the City Town Hall, a beautiful 1887 neo-gothic building which actually looks like a church (its architect specialized in building churches so this building looks like a church). This is where the Derry City Council members meet. The original building was damaged during The Troubles but has been restored. Amazingly, one of the arsonists that set fire to the City Hall, was elected as a member of the Council after he served his sentence and was released from jail.

Part of the City Walls

Looking Out from the City Walls

Presbyterian Church Next to City Walls

Walking On top of the City Walls

Gate in the City Walls

Bell Tower Near City Walls

Derry City Hall

Tower that was Part of City Walls

Peace Bridge

After our walk concluded, Bill and I walked part way over to the Peace Bridge, a pedestrian bridge, which opened in 2011. It connects Ebrington Square to the city center. The hope was that the bridge would end a 400-year old physical and political gap by bringing the Protestants east side closer to the mostly Catholics west side.

After lunch we boarded our little bus for the drive to Donegal. As soon has we left the town of Derry, we were back in the Republic of Ireland. As we had a little extra time, Tom took us on another unplanned adventure to see Grianan of Aileach, a Ring Fort originally constructed as a royal fortress around 1700 BC before the arrival of the Celts. Over the centuries the original fort has been destroyed and rebuilt with the fort you see today having been reconstructed in the 1870s. The interior of the foot is about 75’ in diameter and there are three terraces that can be reached by a series of stone steps. I made it to the first terrace and decided I pushed my luck as far as it would go and very carefully made my way back down. The views from the hill that the fort is located on are spectacular. It is a like a quilt made of many shades of green patch-work panels laying in front of the rivers Foyle and Swilly that feed into the Bay of Donegal with hills and mountains on both sides. But it is very windy on top of the hill. The view alone is worth the drive to the fort.

Inside the Ring Fort

Steps Leading to the Terraces

The Ring Fort

View From the Ring Fort

A White Flower that Look Like a Little Bird

View from the Ring Fort - As You Can See-It was
Very Windy

View of the Irish Countryside on Way to Our Hotel

We then drove to our hotel in Donegal, the Mill Park Inn, a beautiful hotel with a spa and many blooming flowers. For dinner, we all walked down to the center of Donegal to a restaurant close to the river that flows through the town. After several weeks of pub food, it was nice to have roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce to eat!

1 July 2024 The Antrim Coast and Giant’s Causeway •

1 July 2024 The Antrim Coast and Giant’s Causeway •

Today we are visiting one of Ireland’s most popular sites – the Giant’s Causeway.

Leaving Belfast, the weather was very overcast and a slight drizzle. The longer we drove the foggier the weather became, but it did not dimmish the beauty of the area we driving through. There were lush fields in every shade of green, many dotted with Mama sheep and their spring lambs. The houses were small, but veery well maintained with manicured lawns and beautiful blooming flowers. It was hard to take pictures as the bus was traveling pretty fast. But it was just as you would imagine Ireland to be.

We first made a rest stop in Glencloy, a small fishing village. It had a very picturesque harbor that we enjoyed in spite of very windy conditions.

Glencloy Harbor

We made another short stop to see two murals in the town. The first mural was of their youth hurling team who in 2016 made it to Ireland’s national championship game. This was quite a feat for a town of only 1300 people. Hurling, as we will learn later in this trip, is a cross between our lacrosse and field hockey.

The second mural was called Clann Lir and depicted a legend about children and swans that became the basis for Swan Lake. As Tom related, there once was a happily married King whose three children he adored. Sadly his wife died, and he remarried a woman name Eva as he thought it would be best for his children. Unfortunately, she was jealous of the King’s close relationship with his children, and she cast a spell on them, turning them into swans. The King begged her to release the children from the spell, but she refused. Needless to say, the marriage ended. The spell she cast would last for 900 years and would only be broken if a monk came to the spot where the swans were and rang a bell. 900 years to the day, a monk appeared and rang a bell. The swans turned back into the children, but after 900 years, the children were very old. The monk then watched them descend into heaven to be reunited with their father.

Clann Lir Mural

Mural to the Hurling Team

Grassy Fields In Antrim

We then continued our drive along the rugged coastline of Northern Ireland and the glens (or valleys) of Antrim. Here you could see fishing farms in the water where salmon and mussels were raised and then harvested. The landscape is very diverse with its glacial valleys, grassy cliffs (some with castles on the top), fields of wildflowers, dense woods, the waters of the ocean in multiple shades of blue, and quaint little villages. This was also the location for much of the filing of The Game of Thrones.

We also stopped to get a view of the Carrick-A-Reed Rope Bridge. This bridge has the distinction of being named one of the World’s Scariest Bridges and one of the World’s Most Beautiful Bridges. It is made out of rope but is reinforced with steel cables. It was built in the late 1700s by salmon fishermen and crosses a 66-foot wide chasm and 100’above the rocks below. It connects the Irish mainland with the island of Carrick-A-Reed. While this bridge used to be a stop on this tour, it has been removed as it is always weather-dependent, and you must hike on an unpaved trail with steep inclines and steps. And if the wind is too strong, the bridge will be closed. So, we just have to settle for a view of the bridge. It was very windy and foggy this morning, but we were able to get a glimpse of the bridge from our viewing spot high up on the cliffs. And you could even see some people brave enough to cross it.

Looking Out at Carrick-A-Reed Bridge and Island

Rope Bridge with People

Looking Down the Cliffs to the Island

The Rope Bridge

Dduluce Castle

We made one more stop before lunch outside of Bushmill, the town closest to Giant’s Causeway to see the ruins of Dunluce Castle. Built by a Scotsman somewhere around the 15^th century, it sits on the edge of a basalt cliff that juts out into the sea and is connected to the mainland by a bridge. While this afforded him uninterrupted views of the Antrim coastline, he built the castle just a little too close to the edge. In 1639, the front side of the castle, to include the kitchen, fell off into the sea below taking seven cooks to a watery grave. The ruins that you see today were what inspired C. S. Lewis (who was born and raised in County Antrim) to model his Cair Paravel in the Chronicles of Narnia after this castle.

Following our lunch stop, Tom had a little surprise for us. Bushmill is the home of the world’s oldest distillery, The Bushmilla Distillery. We drove there and Tom had a bottle of Bushmilla Whiskey that we all got a small glass of and then toasted while he took our picture in front of the Old Distillery building. On a chilly, windy day, it certainly warmed the tummy!

Olde Busmills Distillery

Old Bushmills Distillery

Happily, the rain had stopped and the fog was gone as we set out to explore the Giant’s Causeway whose landscape was formed by volcanic eruptions 40-50 millions of years ago. It is comprised of over 40,000 interlocking hexagonal basalt columns that line the coast forming a set of natural stairs that lead from the igneous rock cliffs out into the sea. What an amazing place! I slowly made my way to one of the sections of basalt columns. It took several tries to find the right set of flat stones to walk on and you had to be very careful as some of the stones were wet and there was slippery mud between the stones. But I made it and here is the picture to prove it!

I Made Onto the Rocks!

Many myths and legends, however, surround the creation of these steps, but the main one centers on a battle between the Scottish giant Benandonner and the Irish giant Finn MacCool. Much of the legend came from Fenian Cycle, a famous work of old Irish prose that followed the exploits of Finn MacCool. (Finn is also a character in many myths from Scotland and the Isle of Man). After Benandonner challenged Finn to a fight, Finn accepts and plots to outwit his opponent through his wit and noble deeds. However, to be able fight Benandonner, Finn must first find a way to reach Scotland, so he created a high causeway across the North Sea to Scotland by tossing parts of the Antrim coast into the sea. But once over there, he realized how big Benandonner is, returns to Ireland and resorts to cunning to defeat his foe. He disguises himself as a baby being nursed in a cradle by his own wife. When Benandonner crosses the bridge and sees how big Finn’s “baby” is, he deduces that Finn must be exceptionally large and flees back across the bridge, destroying it behind him so Finn cannot follow him. If you believe the legend, then the Giant’s Causeway that we saw today is what remains of the bridge.

In 1588 a tragic event occurred here as the Spanish ship La Girona, carrying not only her crew, but the crews of two other ships that had sunk, was blown into the rocks and sunk killing all 1300 people on board.

Rock Formation at the Causeway

Cliffs Around the Causeway

Organ Pipes Rock Formation

Giant's Causeway

This was a very exciting day and we all returned to our hotel tired, but looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure when we will see more of Ireland’s beauty as we make our way back to the Republic of Ireland and the town of Donegal.

Irish Countryside

Sheep on a Hillside