Cruising with Rexcat and Rexie: Belfast, Ireland

Our third and last stop in the United Kingdom is Belfast, Ireland.

We have previously visited Croatia and expected a war torn country. We were pleasantly surprised that it was not.

However, I was not prepared for what we found in Belfast. Most people believe the problems in Belfast are done and over. Well, I can tell you first hand they are not. More on this later.

As we leave the dock on our excursion, we find a British cruiser in port.

We took the Belfast Highlights & Shopping excursion. Here are some views of Belfast as we head for our first stop.

Belfast is also known as the port where Titanic was built. In earlier days, Belfast had over 40 different ship building companies. The giant cranes are famous and owned by Harland and Wolff Shipyards, only one of two still in business.

In the early days, cruise ships could not dock in Belfast, so small boats were built to take passengers to and from the cruise liners. This ship is the Nomadic, and is in one of the pictures of the titanic being built. It has been completely rebuilt and is available for viewing.

There is a large museum dedicated to the Titanic. What is interesting is that the actual museum is built on the exact spot in which the Titanic was built. The corners of the building are in the same shape of the bow of the Titanic and are the same height as the original ship.

This building was the original building in which the furniture was upholstered.

Next, we traveled to the Irish “Whitehouse”, Stormont Estate. This is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

A local resident was walking his dogs.They were beautiful and when I asked what type they were, he told me and I said “Oh.” I could not understand his Irish brogue at all. I did get something about being from Russia, but the rest is lost in the wind.

As we drove through the city, I noticed that all the businesses had steel gates on their fronts. When I say all, I mean ALL. I guess that is a holdover from the “conflict.” Conflict is what the locals call their past unrest.

Next, we drove down the Protestant Shankill Road. There are a number of murals about the conflict. While many of these were called “in memory of” murals, some of them seemed a little “in your face.”

Next we head to the Catholic Falls Road and pass this memorial for the ship builders who built the Titanic.

A few more city scenes.

We passed this building, which looked very similar to Paddy’s Market in Sydney, Australia.

Keep in mind that the Irish do love their bars.

Next we drove to the famous Queens College. A very beautiful building and campus.

As we enter the main door, we find a statue of Galileo in the rotunda below a beautiful piece of stained glass in the window.

We then walked into the campus quad.

All of the windows in this building were leaded glass, which was quite amazing.

I have a thing about old structures and flying buttresses. This was actually a flying buttress below ground that held the basement wall in place. A first for me.

Most of the people from the bus were elsewhere and a security guard asked us if we had any questions. We really didn’t, and then he asked us if we had ever seen the Great Hall. No we had not, we answered. So, he starts unlocking doors and ushering four of us through door after door.

When we finally entered the Great Hall, it was amazing. It somewhat reminded me of the Great Hall at Hogwarts. (not sure that this is spelled correctly) It was set up for a special dinner that evening.

Around the wall were pictures of their past chancellors.

As we left, the security guard said we probably should not mention it to others on the bus that we had seen the Great Hall. What a treat this was. If you know anyone at Queens College, please do not mention anything about the Great Hall.

Next, we drove by the Grand Opera House.

Fiddler On the Roof was being held here at this time.

Next, we drove to the Catholic Falls Road, which had seen it’s share of violence.

As we drove through the gates, we found out that whenever there was any problem, these gates were closed. Our guide said that they had just opened a couple of weeks ago after being closed for a short time.

As we drive down this road, we see more murals on the walls. Again, many of these seem very inflammatory.

This last sign seems to indicate that every is OK. Not so! Our guide told us that there is still a lot of tension between the sides and it keeps bubbling over. Several weeks ago, she was showing a busload of Italians the street. They had stopped and was looking at the signs when she thought she heard something and thought she had dropped something from her purse. As she looked down, she realized that rocks were being thrown over the fence (the tall fence) and they were trying to hit the group. Nobody got hit, but we were not allowed to get out of the bus on this road.

Next, we stopped and visited the Belfast Cathedral, St. Anne’s. The Cathedral is dedicated to St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The name was chosen as a compliment to Anne, Countess of Donegall, wife of Lord Donegall who gave the first St. Anne’s Church of Belfast.

Inside we were welcomed by one of the priests and given a tour of the Cathedral.

The Cathedral was built over 38 years. The Spire was the last part of the Cathedral to be completed and was erected in 2007 as a symbol of Christian Hope. It was dedicated on 9/11 in the presence of the Bishop of New York and the Mayor of New York. The American flag flies forever in the Cathedral in remembrance of the Irish killed on 9/11.

Obviously, a lot of stained glass.

There were many scenes created by mosaic. It took two women over seven years to place all the pieces in all the mosaics.

This four sided lectern housed four books which listed all the soldiers who lost their live in World War I. Each year, they were brought out and placed on this lectern for all to view.

The Military Chapel of Remembrance was consecrated on June 6, 1981 on the anniversary of D-Day in which the parent regiments of the Royal Irish took part.

They expect the unit to hold services shortly as they withdraw from Afganistan for the final time.

This view is from behind the altar and is called the Ambulatory. The Ambulatory is a walkway which runs around the Sanctuary behind the Altar. It is not a usual feature in the Church of Ireland.

This way, pilgrims could walk up a side aisle and around the back of the altar where there are a number of side-chapels, without disrupting any act of worship which may have been taking place.

This gentleman is the architect of the Cathedral.

This gentleman was the master stone mason for the Cathedral and it took him 12 years to carve the stone that is in the Cathedral.

Holy Communion or Eucharist is celebrated in the Cathedral twice each Sunday , on Wednesdays, and Saints’ Day.

These are the choir stalls where the choir sits during services.

The organ is the largest pip organ in Northern Ireland.

The Cathedral actually sits on a floating foundation. Because of this is that the Sanctuary is unique in that it is designed with a wood roof to save weight.

I wasn’t able to get a good picture of it, but the aisle is sinking and when you walk down it it is like walking on a mini roller coaster.

This tapestry was created by the women of the church, as well as all the kneeling pads.

There is a kneeling pad for each person in the Cathedral and we were told that no two are identical in design.

This tapestry is actually a coffin drape and is used anytime one of the members passes.

These are some of the carvings that the master stone mason spent 12 years on.

The Baptistery was dedicated in 1928. Here we see another mosaic that is just spectacular.

The actual baptistery is made of marble from various parts of Ireland.

The floor was also made from similar marble from throughout Ireland.

The entrance to the Cathedral has this maze. If you follow the white path, you enter the Cathedral while the black path will never allow you to enter. They use this symbolism with the children every year.