Dying to tell a story...

This mornings correspondent is Jayson Lesyk:

Today we were taken on a tour around two major cemeteries in the heart of Belfast, the City Cemetery and Milltown Cemetery. We met up with our guide for the day, the former Lord-Major of Belfast Tom Hartley. We were slightly delayed at the start of our first tour as the confused taxi driver had dropped off three people from our group at the wrong cemetery. So, Mr. Bizga and a friend of Tom’s had to drive out to retrieve them.


During this time we met with a twenty-one year old student from America named Ben. Ben was studying the Troubles and the Irish Peace Process through the lens of literature, and had been traveling around to all the major cities and areas that had been affected or were associated with the Troubles. This was of particular interest to Ms. Duarte, being an English teacher (and obviously a lover of all literature), and the two hit it off well as they conversed on the various works which held a great deal of relevance and importance to the studies we were involved with at Queens and Ben’s own.


After finally collecting all the members of our group we started off around the gigantic cemetery. We were first taken to a normal looking plot of land and Tom explained that the graves that lay along paths or those that were more visible meant they had cost much more than others and held a much greater value. Many graves had whole families, 20 some even with distant relatives, buried within the confines of a small three-person plot.


Tom then brought us around and pointed out some of the other gravestones that had historical and cultural relevance. Some had markings and styles that were unique to those certain graves, as they were not commonly used beyond the point of the cemeteries creation and first use. Some gravestones were quite weathered and worn down due to the different stone that was used and had been battered by rain, wind, and heavy storms.


Then Tom brought us much farther into the cemetery to some graves that showed a progression from what Northern Ireland had been before the Troubles and the Civil War to how sectarian it has become today. He pointed out one certain grave of a Protestant Presbyterian man that had his entire gravestone written in (Irish) Gaelic and had it ornamented with Celtic and traditionally Irish Catholic symbols. This showed how nonsectarian Irish culture in Northern Ireland and Ireland as a whole had once been and how “divisive” cultural symbols were once shared by both communities.


We moved farther yet over to some graves of a more artistic importance as they had tradition Celtic symbolism and markings that had come up through the ages from the original settlers and inhabitants of Ireland. Some were carved into stone crosses, some into the elaborate headstones. As we walked up the path Tom pointed out the many gigantic obelisks that stood over ten or even fifteen feet tall. These were usually prominent people who were immensely wealthy and powerful.


After touring around the City Cemetery we were taken to the Roman Catholic Milltown Cemetery where there was buried some of the most important persons involved with the Catholic Nationalist/Republican cause. Starting out the first thing I noticed was that a good number of Milltown’s tombstones had engraved on them “R.I.P.”, which I did not see once while in the City Cemetery.


Tom took us over to look at the graves of deceased British Military officers that had been Catholics and former IRA members. It was interesting to see how much of the shared history is lost between the communities. He took us over to see the grave of Bobby Sands and a few other Hunger Strikers. This was also next to the three IRA members who were killed in cold blood in Gibraltar by the SAS. Tom told us how Michael Stone attempted and failed to assassinate Gerry Adams as he participated in the funeral procession. His first shots missed Adams and he was eventually subdued.


Seeing all of these graves and those at the City Cemetery really helped explain how the conflict is deeply rooted in history. The complexity of the situation was brought out by the intermingling of religious affiliation and symbols. In the City Cemetery, the complete separation of sects to the point that there is an underground wall to separate Protestant and Catholic graves so the tainted soil of each wouldn’t mix with the other. The absolute hatred and distinction between ones identity that is even carried on into death made it clear that the connections and resentment that is held by the people of Ireland is so ingrained in the culture that it is such a shock that the country has come so far in the past ten to twenty years. Overall it was a great experience that we all thoroughly enjoyed.


Before departing with Tom one of us asked him, “Do you hope to be buried in either of the cemeteries?” Eagerly he answered, “I would love to be buried in the City Cemetery one day.” So hopefully, although not any time soon, Tom will one day get his wish and will be laid to rest in the City Cemetery; as the situation stands, it seems that he is ‘dying to get in!’

This afternoon’s correspondent is Patrick Burke:

After having lunch at Subway, we went to the Lower Castlereagh Community Group (LCCG) to help out with activities. However, when we got there they had no idea we were coming until tomorrow and didn't have anything for us to do at that time. Instead, Gareth took us on a long walking tour of East Belfast. This informal tour helped us to understand the lower Castlereagh community. We stopped in a candy store and the owners showed us how they made some of the area’s favorite candy, such as Honeycomb (which tastes like hard cotton candy) and lollipop versions of the Red Hand of Ulster. According to legend, two chieftains were racing in boats to get to the shore of Ireland, and whoever won would become king of the land. When one of the men saw that he was losing, he cut off his hand and threw it ashore, winning the race. The Red Hand is a popular and traditional symbol throughout Ireland, particularly Ulster. Gareth also showed us lots of murals, most of which had been demilitarized, meaning that instead of pointing guns, their weapons are lowered and the people are silhouettes. However, most of the murals still showed themes of violence. One of the missions of the LCCG is to make the community safer by promoting peace, but still keeping Protestant traditions.

Gareth took us back to the office where we waited quite some time for a cab. Jayson and I decided to kick around the soccer ball outside the LCCG office. We were having fun in our own fantasy world because we thought we were getting pretty good at soccer. That was until the local boys from around Lower Castlereagh came along and wanted to play. Jayson and I decided it would be best if we sat this one out while they displayed their passing skills. This whole time, it was difficult to get a cab, and nobody really knew why. That was until we found out a bomb threat had occurred several miles away on the Albert Bridge. Apparently someone had left their van parked on the side of the road. For everyone's safety, the entire central city was shut down, causing major traffic jams. Gareth eventually was able to find a taxi service that would be able to take us back to the Elms. Fortunately, the threat turned out to be a false alarm.

That evening we went out to a nice dinner at the Barking Dog with our teachers, the Bellis, Niall, and Ben. The food was first-rate and the restaurant was very nice. I had the fish of the day which tasted delicious. Since most of us were split from the adults and Ben, we mainly talked to Niall the whole time about what it is like to live in West Belfast. We tried to convince the teachers to let us out for the night to hang out at the Odyssey or go to a movie, but since there was a bomb scare, that wasn’t a possibility. Mr. Bizga was in the train station earlier that day getting train tickets during initial moments of the bomb scare and felt the genuine panic of residents and thought it better to not take any chances. It’s different here for the people who actually live in the country. Niall said that there were frequent bomb threats, but they usually ended up being nothing. Although Niall was nonchalant about the whole issue, but some of us were very worried. We returned to the Elms to visit with Niall and watch a Harry Potter movie. A quiet ending to a busy day.