We had a busy day today, and had off and on sprinkles most of the time. This is such a rainy part of the world! A castle, a rope bridge, a dark hedge, a taxi tour, and the Peace Wall filled our day.

Dunluce Castle

We drove by the ruins of Dunluce Castle on our way into Portstewart yesterday evening, and today we got a chance to see them up close. There is a lovely viewing area to see the castle from a distance, then a short drive takes you to the visitors center and inside the ruins for exploring. The lower trail that goes under the bridge is currently closed due to dangerous conditions for guests. We could see the path, so Diana and I had to ask about it. A small museum sits across from the ticket office/gift shop that has relics and information about the history.

The castle is new-ish by Irish standards, being built in 1500. It changed hands a few times as different families gained power. The Earls of Antrim left the home in 1639 when the kitchen broke off and plunged into the ocean taking the staff, minus one kitchen boy with it. No worries – the current Earl of Antrim lives in Glenarm Castle which sits safely away from the coast.

Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge

Rain picked up a bit while we were at our next stop. The Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge is a historic fishing bridge made of rope. Back in the day (starting in 1755), local salmon fishermen crossed a former variation of the bridge carrying supplies out and returning with their catch. And they only had one rope to hang on to! I certainly felt more secure with ropes on each side of me as I stepped across from the mainland to the island given the sea waves breaking below.

There is a fisherman’s cottage on the island where the fishing boats were launched. The path around the island is short and muddy with a rather steep hill at one point. Coming down that muddy, steep slope was scarier than crossing the rope bridge!

After we crossed over the bridge and were back on the mainland, the Tonys and I were enjoying the beautiful coastal walk until we encountered one weird and shocking event on the trail. A young man stepped up to the edge of the path just in front of us, paused, and then started off the path, down the very steep slope toward the ocean, grabbing ahold of the grass as he went. Officials manning the bridge entrance shouted at him to stop. It was so steep that we couldn’t see him or where he was headed after he went over the cliff’s edge. We feared the worst. Nancy managed to snap our reactions as she was behind us near the bridge. She said a buddy of his was standing next to her and said, “My mate is off leash today.” Hopefully he made it down safely. Very disturbing!

Atlantic salmon are now endangered and fishing was banned here in 2002. This coastline is pretty rugged and couldn’t have been easy to launch boats and fish for a living. One sign did say this was a summer-only fishing spot, and the rope bridge was taken down and stored each winter.

The Dark Hedges

After the rope bridge, we traveled on to see the Dark Hedges. This was perhaps our only disappointment on our trip, where we encountered a place that did not live up to expectations. A long row of about 150 beech trees was planted around 1775 to create a dramatic drive up to a mansion named Gracehill House. Their branches grew intertwined and created a tunnel that is described as “fairy-tale-like.” Unfortunately, trees don’t live forever, and these trees are reaching the end of their lifespan. Only about half of the trees are left, and each storm takes out more. The gaps mean the tunnel isn’t dark anymore. They did close the road to everything but pedestrian traffic in 2017 to try to help alleviate stress on the trees’ roots. The avenue was filmed for use in Game of Thrones, but CGI must have been used to fill in the gaps.

The mansion here is not in good condition and sits on a golf course. It had a creepy mannequin dressed in red in the window above the door and a bride in a lower window. Windows on both sides are boarded up and the house is not open to anyone. Walking to and from the car park, there is a very nice green tunnel of trees to be seen. Someone needs to plant a new beech row for future generations to enjoy. Oh well, on to Belfast.

Black Cab Tour

Black Cab Tours take tourists around to various sites in Belfast in an attempt to explain The Troubles and show what the future might have in store. The history starts with those plantation towns that Diana told us about. The Province of Ulster is where King James I brought in Scottish and English Protestants to settle in walled towns that forced the native Catholics off their land and into being the minority population, at least in six of the nine counties that make up Ulster. When Ireland began to gain independence from Great Britain in 1922 with the leadership of Michael Collins, these six majority Protestant counties refused to join. So Ulster is now split between two countries.

In the 1960s, after studying the American Civil Rights Movement, the Catholic minority, lead by university students, began peaceful protests over discrimination in voting, housing and jobs. Voting was a particular obstacle to change because people gained the right to vote based on owning property and businesses, which most Catholics did not have. Wealthy individuals “earned” multiple votes while those without ownership of anything had no votes.

While our Black Cab Tour was not in a taxi nor was the van black that we toured in, we did see several of the more traditional black cabs on the roads. Our taxi driver, Joe, talked with us about what happened when the protests did not stay peaceful, and there was violence on both sides. The Police (mostly Protestant) called in the British Army for help, and that made matters worse. According to Joe, working class neighborhoods suffered the most throughout this time, and that remains where the most resentment occurs now. The Good Friday Agreement was signed on April 10, 1998, but walls with gates still separate communities almost thirty years later.

According to Joe, the wealthy never cared as it didn’t really affect them, and the middle class has moved on. He says all sides have voted to remove the walls, but also have voted “but not yet”. His family has done their best to raise apolitical children and grandchildren, and he says integrating the schools would be a huge step in integrating the society. One thing he dislikes and doesn’t understand is the large number of “parades” the Unionists have each year. He says they are always marching.

We drove by some of the gates that are still closed anywhere from 6:30 to 9:00 each night. They cannot be opened until the morning with one automated exception that is near a hospital. If you need to cross through a locked gate, you must drive out of your way to do so, but it can be done. It’s an inconvenience for sure. We did notice lots of murals. Pro-Palestinian ones exist in the Pro-Republican/Nationalist neighborhoods while Pro-Israeli ones are in Pro-Unionist/Loyalist neighborhoods. While some people are no longer religiously affiliated, the political affiliations are still strong. We stopped to take pictures of Royal Family murals, and I asked Joe if these are also in the Republican neighborhoods, and he said “No, if they were they would be on fire.”

Belfast Peace Wall

Our final activity of the Black Cab Tour was signing the Peace Wall. Nancy and Tony W had done so on a previous trip to Belfast, but Joe says it gets periodically painted over to make room for new signatures, so they signed it again. This was a solemn moment that we were happy to be a part of after hearing stories of the city’s past.

Joe left us with a moving story about why he doesn’t drink Guinness beer. Tony was worried that he knew something bad about how the beer is made, but it was based on a childhood incident when his house was being riddled with gunshots. He had been sick, and his dark-colored, bad-tasting medicine looked like Guinness to him. While he and his cousin lay on the living room floor, he remembers seeing the bottle of medicine in the kitchen, hoping the bullets would hit it, and decided that was a funny thing to wish for and whispered that to his cousin. They both started giggling while his dad yelled at the two of them to be quiet and stay down. So Tony can keep on drinking the Guinness after all 🙂

Harrison Chambers of Distinction – the Van Morrison Room

By the time we made it to our hotel, we were most interested in supper, as the ice cream we had eaten at the Weighbridge Tea Room at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge site was quite some time ago. We’re adults, so ice cream for lunch is fine as long as supper is in the early evening. The hotel suggested several places, and we walked to Darcy’s Belfast for a delicious meal.

Our hotel for the night, Harrison Chambers of Distinction consists of five consecutive Victorian townhomes that the owner (proprietress), Melanie Harrison, has managed to purchase as they came on the market. Each room is named for cultural icons and artists who are linked to Belfast, and her love of antiques fills every inch of this very unique hotel. Our room was named for Sir George Ivan (Van) Morrison, a singer/songwriter/musician who was born in Belfast and still lives in the area. There were biographies and collections of his writings in the room, along with an album ready for play on the turntable installed on the antique dresser. We didn’t dance, as the original wood floor was really loud when we walked on it. We had to video the bathroom sink, as it was the most unique sink I have ever used. There was a sliding door with a patio and chairs that faced the rear of the property.

Nancy and Tony W had an equally lovely room, but it wasn’t as peaceful as ours. The Ruby Murray room (singer with 5 hit singles in March 1955) was larger and had a fancy tub to use, but faced the street so noise and lights meant for interrupted sleep. Nancy was most impressed by the ceiling and the crown molding.

After supper and a rest, I met up with Nancy and Tony W at Napoleon’s Nose Bar to plan tomorrow’s schedule as Diana gave us some choices that we needed to research. Meandering through the hotel to get to this bar was fun with lots of interesting nooks and crannies. In honor of C.S. Lewis, there is a “wardrobe” to walk through. It was good to find the bar as that is where we will eat breakfast in the morning.

We met the owner’s son tending bar, and he was most solicitous of our comfort. Ireland’s bartender age requirements are lower than ours. He was contemplating travel spots and attends school in England. Queens University, practically across the street, he tells us, is too close for him.