Chronicle- Trip to Ireland- “Rebel Tour”- August 2008
-From my Irish diaries-
THE HURT REMAINS OPENED…
Tuesday 19th August- Barcelona- Dublin- Belfast
11:05- I am in the plane that will take me from Barcelona to Dublin. The air company is called “Aerlingus” and has one of the symbols that represents Ireland: the “Shamrock”, a kind of green clover with three leaves that symbolizes the holy trinity: Father, Mother and Holy Spirit. Although the “Shamrock” is not the official emblem, place that remains for the harp (the musical instrument), it is a very well known symbol, used in many brands and popular communication.
It is said that before the Christian era, the “Shamrock” was a sacred plant for the Druids. It is also connected to Saint Patrick, the patron of Ireland, who according to the legend used it to show the holy trinity and to expel the serpents from Ireland.
I also can add that the number “three” was a sacred number in Celtic mithology. It was associated to Past, Present and Future; Behind, Before and Here. Sky, earth and underworld…
The plane takes off at 11:20. I´m fine, calm and observing everything. I can read the heading of an article that a woman seated two rows in fron of me, is reading: ““Wettest August in 22 years and more to come”.
Towards 2 p.m. I am at Dublin airport. People seem working- class people. I see humble- concentrated expressions. The airport is strange, the construction in itself is strange. You breath a an air of fatigue. I see normal people, normal lives, normal clothes and normal chats. At first sight, people in Dublin don´t seem to have nor the arrogance nor the ruthles enchantment of London citizens. These are my first impressions…
I´m waiting for my friends. I start walking, I take some pictures…
About 4 p.m. we finally met, afterwards, the tour guide find us, we greet each other and go outside the airport to wait for a bus that will take us to a place where we´ll pick up another bus to start our trip to Belfast.
We are nine persons: the tour guide, the driver, a couple, my couple of friends, two friends and me.
This is the first time in my life that I listen the Basc language (all of them speak Basc unless the driver, my couple of friends and me). That and the ads written in Gaelic at the airport make me feel that beautiful sparkle, the way to new knowledges that will delight me, (all the ads at the airport are written in English with its correspondance in Gaelic).
We make the introductions during the trip. The guide tells us that our driver was in prison because he was at the IRA (Irish Revolutionary Army).
From the beginning, the trip appears to be and invitation to listen those hundreds of people that fought against injustice and still nowadays remain without being listened or recognised.
Near six pm we arrive to West Belfast.
Before arriving we observe that the city is surrounded by hills includind Cavehill hill that is believed to have inspired Jonathan Swift´s novel “Gulliver´s travels”, He imagined that this hill had the shape of a sleepy giant protecting the city.
Amongst other facts, our tour guide remind us that Belfast is the city where Titanic ship was built.
When we arrive we lodge in a building with some floors and rooms. The zone is called “Spingfield” and we are just in front of the protestant district “Shankill Road”, which closes its doors by night.
We leave our things and go to have dinner to an Italian restaurant called “Goodfella´s”. The atmosphere is good, we continue the introductions knowing each other to break the ice. I start talking to John, our driver. There´s a certain sadness in him that makes me instictively want to keep in touch.
My first chats are around Irish writers and Gaelic language, (language that sounds as difficult as Belfast accent to me).
When we finish having dinner, we go to a pub of ex republican prisioners, the “Felons Club”. I feel strange. There are big guys with hard expressions at the door. I don´t know what am I doing there but it´s quite exciting. The guide points out that some big one lad is the bodyguard of Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin´s president and Belfast leader at British Parliament). From that night I know that there are many stories to listen, many lives to put in paper, many conflicts that will lay down between brackets of silence and many three dots…
Jonh invites me a beer at “Felons”, I don´t have more options than choosing one “Smithwick´s” because I insist that the best beers are in Belgium, Austria and Germany and I don´t want to drink the typical Irish Guinness.
Wednesday 20th August- Belfast
We wake up at nine in the morning to have breakfast all together. Afterwards we go for a walk to the centre of the city to start our political tour. The meeting point is “Kelly´s Cellars” pub where there´s a label reminding that “Irishmen Society met there” 1791- 1798, the one that was a republican organisation that defended Irland´s independence from Great Britain. Some years later and as a reply, the Orange order is born as an auxiliary military force to spy and control the Irishmen Socity´s activities.
We start walking by the centre of the town until we arrive to a zone full of murals. We are going to visit basically the two zones of conflicts, “Shankill road” (protestant), and “Falls Road” (Catholic), which are paralel streets and are separated by a mural of peace. The guide tells us all the political issues around each mural.
We continue walking until we reach the Republican Irish Museum, which was opened in 2007 honouring the memory of the republican Eileen Hickey who believed that it was very important to educate the youth in the understanding of the struggle for republican freedom in Ireland.
Many of the objects that are exposed were done by republican prisoners including objects from the 1798 rebelion.
We have a quick look and go to a room where we´ll watch a documentary about the conflicts. I jot down and take pictures to try to leave a summarised rough of the situation later on.
I think one of the phrases that defines the concept of the struggle is one that is exposed in the museum, is from the republican Robert Emmet, who says in a quote titled: “Who fears to speak of ´98?”: “ (…) We war not against property, we war against not religious sect, we war not against past opinions or prejudices, we war against English dominion (…)”.
With this line I decide to open the book of the dark and bloody struggle suffered by Ireland. Hence it must be understood that the division between catholics and protestans is not the only thing that led to the division of the country.
The first settlers appeared in Ireland in 800 BC, Vikings arrived afterwards. Normands arrived later and later on English, who set 700 years of dominion over Ireland since 1169. English started a “plantation” process, they brought English and Scottish protestants which led to a religious conflict.
Making apart many historical details, we have to situate ourselves in a very important revolution called “Ester Rising 1916”, which lasted six days from 24th April til 30th. Groups of the Irish volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army took different places in Dublin and proclaimed the “Republic of Ireland independet from Great Britain”.
There were more than 1600 hurt people and the responsibles –15 leaders- were executed. In 1919 “Sinn Féin” (the main republican party in Ireland) set the Republic, the one that was refused by British Government, hence IRA (Irish Repulican Army) was formed.
From then onwards Ireland went into a civil war (1919- 1921). Who took part in it are usually called “The old IRA”, to make a difference from the later organisasions that took the same name.
In 1921 Ireland is divided (those who want to be part of the UK and those who don´t), then there are those who support this and those who are against. Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland concepts are born.
It is vital to point out that protestant and catholic identities are political kinds of identities more than religious ones. Protestants (54 % of the population) are usually unionists), they want Ireland to be part of the UK, Catholics (44 %, most of them nationalist, want a united island).
In 1922 British government executes Michael Collins (director of IRA intelligence service, person who negociated the English- Irish treat), as a consequence Ireland suffers a civil war from 1921 until 1923.
The 14th of August 1969 starts the “Bogside Battle” at Derry city (called Londonderry by British government and Derry by Catholics), the struggle is between catholics and local police.
In 1972 “Bloody Sunday” occurs in Derry. Fourteen people are killed by a British regiment.
As a scary fact, it can be mentioned the “Dirty Protest”. These were facts suffered by prisoners in Nothern Ireland during the 70s, in favour of better conditions for political prisoners of the IRA.
In 1972, after a hunger strike of 40 members of the IRA, British government gives these prisoners a special status: they don´t have to wear uniform or work in the prison. Everything changes in 1976 when this stops and the prisoners are not going to have these privileges anymore.
Prisoners in “H blocks”, isolation cells near of Belfast, reply to this dressing themselves with simple blankets because they refuse to dress themselves with the uniforms (thanks to what they received hard beats). They also decide to decorate the walls with their own excrements because it is more hygienic than leave it on the floor, where they slept. This was over when the police cleaned the cells by force, breaking the windows and attacking the prisoners.
That is just one of the atrocities commited on those years, one of the hardest to beleive…
Let´s go forward in time until 1996 when IRA stops fire. In 1998 appears the “Good Friday agreement” between British and Irish government, in which Gaelic language is recognised in Northern Ireland, British troops go away and the democratic future of Northern Ireland will be determined by its population amongst many other things.
Watching that documentary has been a strong emotional shock. You leave the place in silence; when you have to sign the guestbook, you don´t know what to write. All you can think of is respect, silence and a secret crispation of pain.
As an anecdote I can tell that we visited the Sinn Féin shop and when we went out of it it started to rain. I took an umbrella with total innocence and when the guide turned back he asked me to save it. He almost falls in a faint. I had bought that umbrella in London and it´s decorated with the British flag. I swear it was not my intention. I just come from a place where this hatred load and division, colours, flags and symbols are not an object of analysis to be acused of belonging to one side or another. Days went by and you understood these struggle, so you adapted or camouflaged yourself according to the landscapes.
During the walk we visited a place called “The Garden of Remembrance”, there you could see more names, phrases, etc.. of people who died in all these struggles. All Belfast appears to me like a big cementery…
There were beautiful little children playing in the streets (most of them red heads)… They have dark and conflictive glances, sometimes you feel as if they were going to tell you something or do something to you. I feel I have to be alert to every movement, every glance and situation. You breath a tense air…
In the afternoon it was curious to visit a cultural centre where Gaelic language is taught. We picked up a brochure from there which cointained translations between English and Gaelic. Our guide taught us some basic expressions later on.
I keep in mind one of the images I saw at the museum, it said: “Wanted for murder and torture of Irish prisoners”, the picture that goes with it, it´s from Margaret Tatcher…
In the evening we visit more pubs. The “Jonh Hewit” where I taste the Erdinger (German beer), this pub is known because it is usually visited by journalists, bohemians, writers, etc… afterwards we go to Kelly´s Cellars where the Irishmen society met, and later on to the Madman where we see groups of people dancing Irish dances.
This night I am dressed in my Scottish dress and someone starts talking to me at the pub. His first question is if I´m Scottish, then followed the same old song, I told him he had to guess where was I from, after passing me all around the world map, I finished saying where I am from. (I think I have become the longest riddle to find out, he he)
Thursday 21st August- Belfast- Derry
In the morning we go to visit the protestant district of Shankill Road in Belfast. The murals and the decoration are full of references to the British crown.
In the afternoon we start the trip to Derry, we go to the Antrim coast until we arrive to the “Giant´s causeway” considered the eigth wonder of the world and patrimonity of the humanity. There we take pictures and walk quite a lot. We enjoyed a marvelous day. I play jokes and say that I have brought the good weather to Ireland because everytime we speak with some other tourist that is visiting Ireland since many more days than us, he or she tell us that has been through very bad weather days, awfully rainy.
Afterwards we see the Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge that hangs to more than 25 metres over the sea. We are watching it with binoculars but there are many tourists that go down there and cross it. We sit down to have a picninc. John points out that you can see Scotland from there!.
When we arrive to Derry we go to a hostal that we don´t like very much but there aren´t more options!, go for a short walk in this beautiful walled city and we see more murals. I think the one that called out my attention was one that points out the Irish origins of Che Guevara, in fact, later on at the Sinnn Féinn shop in Dublin I bought a T-shirt that said “In my son´s veins flew the blood of Irish rebels”, quote that is said to belong to Ernesto Che Guevara´s father and it´s in reference to his second surname “Lynch”, (in the T- shirt, the image of Che Guevara is next to one of Bobby Sands, who was a republican of the IRA that died after a hunger strike of 66 days in prison).
In the evening we go to have dinner and later to pubs. We enter to the “Sandinos” that is full of murals and images of Che and has a pretty latin american- revolutionary style. Afterwards we visit the “Peadar O´ Donnell´s” where we spend one of the most beautiful nights. In that pub the atmosphere is great and people are very open. There are musicians playing Irish music with some of the typical Irish instruments such as the Pennywhistle or the Bodhram.
John meets up another republican friend that invites us beers and later on Whiskey and Bailey.
It was a very special night… Very funny… We took pictures and chatted all night long!
Friday 22nd August- Derry Sligo
In the morning we visit the museum dedicated to Bloodey Sunday in Derry. There you can see lots of belongings from killed people, newspaper articles, documentaries and fourteen commemorative crosses. Outside there is the famous mural that says “You are now entering Free Derry”.
Every mural is like a slap, a tear shout, maybe the expression through art is the best way to exorcise so much pain…
In the afternoon we visit the Glenveagh nationa park. John tells us that the English took off all the oaks from that place and that nowadays there are protected species of animals in secret places.
We also watch the landscape that has ruins of houses that remain from the “Great Famine” period. This went through fifty years and the consequences came after 1851. The basic food in Ireland was the potato which was became infected by a particular fungus that caused the death to the one that ate it. A big portion of the population emigrated to Great Britain, USA, Canada, Argentina and Australia.
(As a curious detail, we see zones- towns that have a specific name in Gaelic, due to these are zones where the only language spoken is Gaelic).
Our next visit is to the Teelin cliffs (the highest in Europe) in Donegal county. There we stop to have a picnic. The day is beautiful…
We passed Killybegs bay very quickly where you can see ships and boats. The place is very picturesque.
We arrive to Sligo and go to a beautiful jostal, is so beautiful that you want to stay there forever. The typical place in the outskirts with warm living room and a chimmey. Comfortable and spacious rooms, showers, etc… Not much later we go to a beach to play “Hurling”, a traditional sport in Ireland in which you play with a stick and a ball. Every team needs fifteen players. We only tried to play considering the only one that played well was John, of course!!!
In the evening we go to have dinner. We split the team, one goes for some pizzas, Jonh, my student, his wife and me go to a restaurant. Sligo is a colurful pretty city.
The traditional pub crawl find us. I couldn´t go to the first one (Shoot the crows), I went to a place where a boy played traditional Irish music and some rock in the guitar. There was a moment when I was drinking at the bar and a girl comes up and asks for a beer and a vodka with lemon. The gilr tells me that she will go back in a minute, so I have to inform this to the barman, I tell her not to be worried as I will. When she comes back she asks me what am I drinking, “a beer” -I say-, and she says “I will pay you another because you took care of my drinks”. I couldn´t believe it, I thanked her of course… People in Ireland are so special, so warm and open…
Saturday 23rd August- Sligo- Galway
Ready to go to Galway. On our way pass the National Park in Connemara and the guide shows us the place where Prince Charls goes on holidays.
It is raining and little by little we remain in silence. We are tired, more than once with stomach ache, dizzy, so I try to fight those states, I look at the landscapes and I write this short poem:
“Green lands by the road
no sunsets but smells like a hidden God,
The leaves are dressed in rain
That falls like devil´s nails…”
We arrive to a beautiful place where it is the “Kylemore Abbey”. Regrettably it is raining hard and we can not go up to watch it. We are just there and go to eat something at the restaurant in the some.
More intense emotions await for us in the afternoon when we visit Irish writer W.B. Yeats´grave at Drumcliff church. John remembers a poem:
“Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams”
It´s raining when we get to Galway. We lodge in a hostal that will be the same we´ll take at Dublin. It is funny to hear tango when we go up to the reception aerea.
With that weather we go out for a walk in the city centre. We go to lovely streets and do some shopping. Galway is a very distinguished city. Before we arrive to Galway we pass Westport which seems a lovely town we regret not to have had time to visit.
Pub crawl in the evening. This time to “King´s head” where I tried the “Killkenny” Irish beer. We get lost with John amongst the crown and we end up talking to a stranger outside the pub, he was from Northern Ireland, very kind and open.
Afterwards some girls approach us begging. He give them some coins but they were pounds (that is the currency in Northern Ireland), then I take some Euro coins and give it to them.
(Money issues are an important topic in this country. We had to take British pounds and when we were in Sligo we could use Euros. A couple of Euros I had changed in Belfast were changed in Irish pounds, the ones that are not valid in Uk. It´s incredible to see until what point all these conflicts get…)
Afterwards we go to another pub and we stayed there . It was like a disco- pub. We have a great time but I prefer traditional pubs with traditional music.
Galway is a city that attracts many tourists, is a very beautiful place, but the atmosphere is very different from what we had seen before.
Sunday 24th August- Galway- Dublin
We go from Galway to Dublin. Much before we stop to see the cliffs of Moher. These are very tall and Jonh tells us that every year someone falls accidentally or commiting suicide. Irish landscapes are imposing, green, tall, strong, wide…
When we go down we see a boar that remembers “Saint Brendan” an Irish monk known as “the sailor”. It is said that Saint Brendan went after the mythical paradise with other moks, the numer goes from 18 to 150. After a long trip they reached the “ Terra Repromissionis” or promised land, a beautiful land full of leafy vegetation. The narration offers a wide range about the geographical position of this land and the scenary of Saint Brendan´s legend.
On our way back, we go on our trip to Dublin. We pass Limerick and see the famous “Shannon” river, so recurring in Frank McCourt´s book “Angela´s Ashes”.
We arrive to Dublin at about six pm. We lodge in the same kind of hostal that in Galway, but this looks much better. We are located in the famous zone called “The temple bar”.
We say good bye to Jonh who has to go back to Belfast. We really hope to see him in Barcelona soon, I am as tired as sad to say good bye to this fantastic person…
We go out to some pubs (Kelly´s Bar, Foggy Dew, The Mezz)in the evening, later on we go to sleep and we prepare ourselves to live our last day in Ireland.
Monday 25th August- Dublin
We go to have breakfast in the morning and from there to the city centre for a walk. We see the famous Post Office, scenary of the easter rising in Dublin 1916.
We see statues and arrive to the famous Trinity College”, beautiful place, full of green fields.
A quick visit for the Sinn Féin shop and go for lunch.
In the afternoon we are expected to pay a ticket to enter to the most famous prison in Dublin, the “Kilmainham Gaol” (and the fact to pay a ticket to enter to prison it sounds weirs… I would say we would have to pay to go out, don´t you think, ? he he).
The gaol was built in 1716 and closed its doors in 1924. All the leaders of Irish rebellions were prisoners and executed here. The tour starts at the chapel where a guide tells us that a prisoner got married before being executed and later on his wife was a prisoner and executed too.
At the beginning, there were no separation for sex or aga at this prison. Men, women as well as children were kept all together. The lack of ventilation made them sick and quickly died. At those times Ireland was so poor that many wished to go to prison to receive a plate of food. The youngest prisoner was five years old. People were jailed because of potato or bread robberies adn all kind of minor crimes.
We also visited a room where prisoners were interviewed by journalist that wrote their last words, printed tehm and sold them to the public on the execution day.
As a curious detail, the acoustic of this place is fantastic as fas as it has been used to hold concerts and make several movies.
The last visit is to a patio where there are two crosses, one in each extreme representing the first and last persons executed at this prison.
We go back to the hostal and afterwards we go for a coffee with Muffins and other delicious things form Dublin.
In the evening it´s time to go to the famous Temple Bar, afterwards to The Porter House that offers a wide range of beers from all over the world. There I try a delicious Russian beer “Bajithka”.
Later on we go for some pizzas and we say good bye to our guide and trio mates, because I will have to be at the airport at dawn.
Tuesday 26th August- Airport, return to Barcelona
I go out to Dublin airport at dawn. I feel so many emotions removing inside of me… Every time I return from a trip, I return with a new soul inside, with someone that is with me. When on the road I remember when we said good bye to Jonh and his words shine in that site I always keep for special spirits: “When we were at prison, we weren´t unhappy”. “I have lived from the darkest emotions to the highest ones, I could have been born in London and have another kind of life, but if I had to go back in time, I would live everything again”.
N.B.: Many thanks to our guide who showed us so many things with so much passion and energy!
Belfast
