Belfast

            At the end of last week on April 25 and 26 our group had the privilege of taking a two-day trip to Northern Ireland to spend some time in Belfast and various places along the beautiful coast in the north. Though we were very blessed to have this opportunity to take this trip, it became evident to us that Belfast was a city filled with brokenness.

            Beginning in 1969 and lasting up until the end of the 20^th century was the period in the history of Belfast known simply as the Troubles. This was the name for all of the violence that took place between the Protestants and the Catholics in Belfast during this time. It has been estimated that over 1,500 people have been killed in political violence during the time of the Troubles. There has been much unrest and division in Belfast and Northern Ireland as a whole concerning the separation between Protestants and Catholics, as the Protestants want to remain loyal and under the control of Britain, while the Catholics are not in favor of the rule by the British.

            When we arrived in Belfast a man named Noll got on our bus and spoke to us about his past in the Ulster Volunteer Force, a group that resisted the Republic and wanted to stay loyal to Britain. Noll was involved in the UVF as a young adult and aided in the death of Catholics, eventually he served sixteen years in prison. It was very interesting to hear the perspective of someone from the north. After Noll left the bus, our bus driver Brian gave us his perspective on the same things that Noll spoke about. Throughout this time Brian and Noll spoke to each other and displayed great respect for one another, something that you would be rare to see between a man from the Republic and the North not too long ago. One of the things that we saw and that was talked about on our short tour of Belfast were the peace walls that stood in the city and were covered with graffiti, serving as a barrier between the Protestants and Catholics. People on either side would run sideways to throw bombs over accurately enough to land in a chimney on the other side of the wall.

            While in Belfast we also had the chance to hear from Doug Baker, an American man who has been living in Belfast for the past few decades to help work towards reconciliation between the Protestants and Catholics. Doug did a wonderful job of clarifying the situation for us and informing us of unique approaches to naturally integrating the two groups of people to lead to a more unified group of people eventually in Belfast. This divide, while mainly focused in Belfast, is something that is very much present in Northern Ireland as a whole. The Troubles seem to have shaped the attitudes and perceptions of people in Belfast, and reconciliation is getting closer. However, Doug made an excellent point when saying that just because there is an absence of violence does not mean that there is peace.

            When reflecting on our trip to Belfast, we really resonated with what Doug had to say about the church historically being a lot of the problem in the situation when the church should really be a part of the solution, which is being worked towards more now. Overall, we felt like the city was a sad and broken place, and it was somewhat difficult for us to understand that all of this unrest is not something that was only in the past but it still very much present today. 

 A typical residential street in the Belfast area

 Unionist mural

A stretch of murals along the Peace Wall in Belfast

Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol was a prison built in Kilmainham in Dublin in 1796, intended to replace a dungeon nearby. There was no segregation of prisoners; men, women, and children were incarcerated up to 5 in each cell, with only a single candle for light and heat. The candle had to last the prisoner for two weeks. The cells were 28 meters squared. There are even records of a few children held there who were around but 5 years of age.

Many leaders of Irish rebellions were imprisoned including Emmet, Parnell, Davitt, Patrick Pearse, William Pearse, Connolly, de Valera, Plunkett, MacDonagh, and Countess Markievicz, and fourteen were executed by the British and in 1923 by the Irish Free State.

Kilmainham Gaol was decommissioned as a prison by the Irish Free State government in 1924; at this time there was no declared interest in its preservation as a monument to the struggle for national independence because of its reputation for oppression and suffering.

After WWII an architectural survey revealed that the jail was in a ruinous condition. In the 1950s, still no advancement on any preservation was taking place. The Kilmainham Jail Restoration Society in 1958 decided to restore the prison and build a museum using voluntary labor and donated materials. After much restoration, it was finally opened to the public in 1971.

It has been run by the Office of Public Works (OPW) since the mid-1980s.

     Today, the prison houses a museum on the history of Irish nationalism and offers guided tours. An art gallery on the top floor exhibits paintings, sculptures and jewelry of prisoners incarcerated in prisons all over contemporary Ireland.

      Members of our group found the Kilmainham Gaol to be both an extremely interesting site to visit, but also to be very moving, hearing about the sort of conditions the prisoners faced in their time there. It was perplexing to consider the decisions of how poor to make their conditions, especially in light of what the tour guide explained about how since the general population was experiencing such poverty, they had to make prison conditions even worse than what they were experiencing because people were committing crimes just to be put in prison so that they could survive. This gave us a more concrete feel for what the Irish people were experiencing. It was also surreal to see the prison cells of such famous figures in Irish history, knowing the willingness with which they faced these conditions and, for many of them, faced execution. Seeing the execution yard was also very surreal as well as moving.

Cell of Constance Markievicz

Newer wing of the prison, modeled after the Victorian prisons' style

Prison execution yard

Majesty and Magnitude: Christ's Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral of Dublin

On Wednesday the 27^th of March, a cold and blustery day, we of the ISP took the trip down to Dublin to see, among other sites, two cathedrals, Christ’s Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We took tours at both locations, and thus learned much about their histories, as well as about their lasting significance to Ireland.  

Christ’s Church, a Church of Ireland, was built in 1172 by a man named Silkenbeard. Its original structure was wooden. It was formally named the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. It houses Strongbow’s tomb and crypt, and boasts some of the largest crypts of any churches in Ireland. Handel’s Messiah was first performed at Christ’s Church. Although Jonathan Swift did not initially want this work to be performed because he found it profane, he allowed it to be performed in the end, and it was thus at the site of Christ’s Church that the very first Hallelujah Chorus was sung. When the church was in need of restoration, a man by the name of George Edmund Street helped to fund the process. It still functions today as a working church, and people from around the world come to tour it in all of its splendor.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral, apart from what its name might suggest, is not actually a Roman Catholic cathedral, either. It was built from 1191-1270, in the Gothic style, and although it was originally Roman Catholic, it became during the Protestant Reformation a part of the Church of Ireland; this change over time gives the cathedral a uniquely rich and diverse history. The church itself is located on the River Poddle in Dublin, and it is known as the largest and tallest cathedral in all of Ireland. It was built on the River Poddle because it was believed to be the location of a well in which St. Patrick, after whom the cathedral was named, baptized new believers into the Christian faith. In the 1600s, Cromwell used St. Patrick’s as a stable over the course of his campaign of violence across the nation of Ireland. After some time, the church fell into disrepair, and Arthur Guinness funded its restoration in the later nineteenth century (1860-1865). Among other associations with famous people, the well-known Irish writer Jonathan Swift is buried at St. Patrick’s. Physically, the cathedral is stunning. Its sheer size alone possesses theological implications; the builders were very conscious of the way in which the overwhelming size of the cathedral would inspire awe and remind one of one’s own smallness in the grand scheme of things, and within the theological realm. The high ceilings within also aspire to this function. Once inside the cathedral, one’s eyes are drawn immediately upward toward the stained-glass windows and, further up, the high vaulted ceiling. These factors of height and grandeur, inescapably present on the inside of the structure, are also theologically significant; by drawing people upward in their focus, there is the implication of drawing people toward God, which is reflective of the role of the Church. The stained-glass windows of St. Patrick’s are large and ornate, and had the functional purpose of conveying portions of the biblical narrative to those who were illiterate or who wanted to experience more of the richness of the biblical text through visual art. The church as a whole is set into a cruciform shape, which is symbolic of the cross on which Jesus died for the salvation of all. Also of note are the Door of Reconciliation (whose story involves two feuding families who reconciled through the door) and the organ (which is the largest in all of Ireland, with over 4,000 pipes).

The historical significance of Christ’s Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral to Ireland can largely be seen in the change that they have undergone since the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Although they at first stood as Roman Catholic cathedrals, this mode of existence changed after King Henry VIII ordered that all the churches in England and Ireland should either convert to Protestantism or be shut down. St. Patrick’s and Christ’s Church embraced the theological shift, and began their journeys as churches under the category of the Church of Ireland, which is comparable in its doctrine to the Anglican Church. They were able to survive as churches because of this shift. Both Christ’s Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral are lastingly significant not only because they represent some of the richness of Irish religious history, but because they are still used today for the function for which they were originally intended. They stand, thus, as both a testament to historic Christian belief and as a testament to the lasting nature of this belief—cathedrals, like historic Christian belief, have stood the test of time, and both continue to inspire Christians today. Cathedrals serve as a potent reminder of the grandeur of God, and of the power that a majestic and intentionally theocentric environment can have on worship.

Our group’s personal reactions to the sites varied. Some reflected that the churches felt more like museums than actual functioning churches, given the bustling tours and gift shops at each; we may have experienced a different flavor, for instance, if we had decided to attend actual church services there rather than to simply take the tours that were offered. Many of us were also struck by the stories that the tour guide at St. Patrick’s told about workers who would, in their attempts to fix some issues of piping, stumble across dead bodies that could not be buried very deep below the ground because the River Poddle runs right under the church. Experts are not sure exactly how many bodies are buried at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but estimates suggest that between six hundred and eight hundred bodies may be interred on church grounds. This number amazed us! With all the surprises that these tours had in store for us, we certainly emerged with a greater appreciation for the rich history and current richness of faith that exists inside of and because of these glorious cathedrals. 

the flags at St. Patrick's Cathedral

the exterior of Christ's Church

the exterior of St. Patrick's Cathedral

a stained-glass window at Christ's Church

Derry: A Tale of Two Cities

            Derry, also known as Londonderry depending on whom you speak to, was a site of interest on our last group trip. After all hopping onto our coach bus, the group drove up to the city proper for an exciting tour of the city courtesy of Brian!

            County Derry is one of the few counties considered part of Northern Ireland, which split from the Republic of Ireland in 1922.  Unlike most of Northern Ireland though, despite the Protestant/Unionist control, the majority of the people living in the area are Catholic/Nationalist.  Thus, depending on their beliefs and loyalties, they will refer to the county as either Derry or Londonderry. Recently, however, it has been accepted as politically correct to refer to it as Derry-Londonderry.  We found out that this area was deeply affected by the Troubles, with a long history of conflict. In August 1969, the people of the district of Derry called the Bogside resisted attempts by the Royal Ulster Constabulary to breach barricades that had been erected in defense of the area. The “battle” between Bogside and Riverside was mostly youth, and proceeded for three days until the British army intervened.  Derry’s history of violence continued with Bloody Sunday, the culmination of the three years after the Battle of the Bogside.  On Sunday, 30 January 1972, the British army opened fire on a peacefully protesting crowd because they thought that there was an IRA sniper amongst them. 14 innocent people were killed; as a result the IRA gained support and anti-British sentiment increased dramatically.

            In many ways Derry is physically similar to many other cities.  There is an air of poverty around what seems to be just another grungy and run-down city, and the people are generally working class. However, Brian talked about several factors that make Derry a bit more unusual. In commemoration of the Troubles and all the tumultuous history of the area, several murals have been painted on assorted building sides.  While some of these have become run down, they remain powerfully narrative. Derry is a walled city, so Brian led our group around the top of the wall so we were able to view many of the important locales.  From the wall we were able to see the Peace Bridge, which was built in a swerving path to represent the long road to peace.

            Derry also holds great significance to Ireland, both historically and to the development of the country today. The area’s deep association with Ireland’s violent past, particularly with the Troubles, means it is irrevocably woven into the fabric of the nation. Events like Bloody Sunday and the aftermath reached international knowledge, and brought awareness to the horrors going on in Ireland.  This brought a large movement to reconciliation within the country; however, the debate of Derry versus Londonderry evidences that some conflict remains. According to Brian, it is only in the very recent past that Derry has felt peaceful.

            Our group had fairly unified personal reactions to the city of Derry.  We were first struck with surprise at how grungy it appeared, but there was also a palpable feel of hurt in the air. Despite the violence and hurt people have experienced, though, we were surprised at Brian’s portrayal of how friendly the people are.  One thing that stuck out was the story of the mural of the fourteen-year old girl who was shot—her mother walks by it every day and sees it as a wonderful testament to her life and death. We were touched by the difficult dichotomy between feeling the hurt that happened there and sensing the presence of steps towards reconciliation. In addition, it was clear that enormous amounts of time, effort, and money must have gone into making the murals, but the people of Derry considered it important enough that it was necessary.  Through it all, our group came away with a sense of the difficulties the country of Ireland has endured, but also the extraordinary strength of the Irish people as well. 

 Two of the murals in Derry.