Busing on to Belfast

 Sunday August 27, 2023

After a good breakfast at the hotel, we left Dublin and headed north.  A camera just can't capture the beautiful lush green landscape and rolling hills that surround the area.

We stopped at Downpatrick, one of the oldest towns in Ireland.  It is believed that St. Patrick first came here in 432 and brought Christianity to Ireland.   Although many places claim St. Patrick as "their saint", the cathedral here is the burial place of St. Patrick.

The "Dean" of the church gave us a brief history of the church and surrounding area (note his green clerical garb).  It is an Anglican church which incorporates parts of a Benedictine abbey from the 12th century.

St. Patrick is believed to have died in 461-- that's a long time ago!  His remains were discovered by Benedictine monks who settled in the area. The gravesite is marked with a large stone that was put into place in 1900.  The grave also contains remains of two other saints--St. Brigid and St. Columba whose remains were brought here to protect from attacks. 

We travelled on to Belfast, the capital of northern Ireland.  Northern Ireland has about 1.8 million people and is a province of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland (5 million people and 80% of the land) is an independent nation.   As we crossed the country boundary line, phone service changed, the currency changed from Euros to Sterling (pounds) and the speed signs changed from km to miles.  

There was a lot going on in the city, like this bachelorette party, and a guy hanging out the window that mooned the bus! (Didn't catch a picture of that.)

We learned a lot about the troubled past of Northern Ireland--lots of turmoil and conflicts.  We visited the Crumlin Road Gaol--the infamous prison.  It was kept busy from 1846-1996 incarcerating people--men, women and even children. 

We were able to see individual cells, the processing center, hear stories from people who were held in the jail and the courtyard, where it was required that those executed at the jail must be buried.  It was a sobering experience to see the facility and realize that so much went on during our lifetime, when people were jailed during uprisings.  It is an important part of history, not only for this country, but the rest of the world. 

I did find one notorious prisoner that looked familiar!

It was a long day, and we were glad to get to the hotel for a nice salmon dinner, with yummy dessert.  We will be in Belfast again tomorrow where our adventure continues!