Walk a Kilometre In Our Cloggers

 

Our next plan was four days of hiking along the Antrim Way, a pretty 55 kilometre section on the northern coast of Northern Ireland.  

From Belfast we had to train to the city of Coleraine then a bus to the small town of Ballycastle, the start of our hikes.   

We were up early the next day to catch the first ferry to Rathlin Island and a 14 kilometre round trip hike to a bird sanctuary. This was a deviation from the planned hike and based on a  recommendation our B&B host made to us before we left Canada.  

The 30 minute ferry took us to the small port on Rathlin and the start of our walk. Nonie seems to be getting over here ferryphobia as she just marched onto that ferry with out a look back. 

Our hike took us along the coast of the island. The day was sunny but breezy. I have to say that it  was breezy for most of our time in Ireland. The views of the Atlantic and coastline were stunning. But this was just the start of the coastlines we would see during our hikes. 

The bird sanctuary was home to  kittiwakes, razorbills, fulmars and what every one was there to see, puffins. 

The view point of the sanctuary was set high on a hill overlooking the huge rocky promontory that was completely covered in birds and I expect a lot of bird shit, at least that was what my nose was telling me.

We returned to the port and the ferry back to Ballycastle where we caught a bus to the little town of Ballintoy, the original destination for our planned hike and our second nights accommodation. 

Next day, we were off to Dunseverick Castle. The castle was built in the 5th Century. Little remains of the castle. Severely damaged by Cromwell's troops in the 17th Century then wind and erosion for the next four centuries finished the job seeing much of the castle falling into the sea.  

While the castle was underwhelming, the trip there was glorious. Weather was sunny with the usual breeziness. From our B&B in town we headed down to the small port of Ballintoy where we accessed the trailhead for todays walk.  

We  were warned that in one area  we had to walk around a cliff that might not be passable at high tide but our planned arrival had us there about 90 minutes before low tide so we did not see that it was going to be a problem.

 Upon reaching the cliff face we found that the tide was still lapping up against the cliff. Current temperature at that time was 7C with a breezy wind-chill so removing our boots, socks and rolling up our pant legs to cross the approximate 15 metres of slimy rock covered with 15" of cold Atlantic Ocean was not an option. An alternate route was provided by the company should we run into this problem.  

 

 

The rest of the hike was uneventful and beautiful. For the next two nights our B&B was located in the small town of Bushmills. Those of you who enjoy a nice whiskey may know the name. The tour company  had arranged for Sam of Sam's Taxi to pick us up at Dunsverick and drive us to our B&B in Bushmills. 

Sam arrived bright and early the next morning  to return us to Castle Dunsverick, the start or todays hike. Our original destination was the port city of Portballintrae where he was to pick us up and return us to Bushmills. We had other plans.  

It was another wonderful day with another scenic coastal walk. The weather continued to cooperate with sunshine and breeze. The mornings were cool and the afternoons temperate. Perfect hiking weather. 

Today would also bring us to the icing on our cake walk, the Giants Causeway. 

 

The site is an Irish Nature Preserve and since 1986 a UNESCO World Heritage site. Our path brought us to a stunning overhead view of the site.

While I appreciate the UNESCO designation it acts as an attractant to tourists. Lots and lots and lots and lots of tourists, over 1,000,000 visitors in 2018. 

We accessed the site through the backdoor avoiding the main tourist entrance and ticket booth. It was one of the steepest set of stairs we have every tackled. Thankfully we would not have to return the same way. 

"Around 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleocene Epoch, Antrim was subject to intense volcanic activity, when highly fluid molten basalt intruded through chalk beds to form an extensive volcanic plateau. As the lava cooled, contraction occurred. Horizontal contraction fractured in a similar way to drying mud, with the cracks propagating down as the mass cooled, leaving pillarlike structures, which also fractured horizontally into biscuits.  

In many cases, the horizontal fracture resulted in a bottom face  that was convex, while the upper face of the lower segment is concave, producing  what are called "ball and socket" joints. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant%27s_Causeway

We made the decision the day before and had arranged with Sam to pick us up at the Giant's Causeway  for an early return to Bushmills and a tour of the distillery. There were no tickets available for the day before but with some luck, there was a cancellation and we arranged for two tickets on the last tour of the day through the 400 year old Bushmills distillery. The Irish coffees at the end of the tour were the sprinkles on the icing of todays cakewalk. 

Another day and Sam once again arrived on time to deliver us to the medieval Dunluce Castle, today's starting point. 

The site has been occupied since the 15th Century but the ruins are mainly from the 16th and 17th Century. It has been home to many of the movers and shakers of Irish history. 

This was our last day of hiking and we were feeling a little sad that it was coming to an end. Todays walk would bring us to Portstewart, our final destination. Our first sight of the  golden sands of White Rocks beach cheered us up.

 

But as usual, it was a breezy day so a dip was out of the question. 

The trip was a wonderful experience and I see us doing something like this again. Tomorrow, a bus from Portstewart to Coleraine, train to Belfast and another train to Dublin and one last day to explore the city. 

Belfast- It Ain't Disneyland

Belfast has had a turbulent history. Throughout its 1,000 years, it was never far from war, rebellion, famine, greed and heartbreak. It has has taken this history and woven it into their tourism offerings.

The Titanic Experience 

The Titanic Experience was a special built attraction constructed in 2012. Our visit was definitely an experience but not one I was expecting.

 The “Experience” included giant video screens, flashing lights, animatronics, loud sound effects and a gondola ride. It was long on details of the construction and physical destruction of the ship but short on the personal tragedy making it more like an attraction at Disneyland  and avoided anything that might spoil your visit.

 

The Belfast Troubles Walking Tour

 

 

We opted for the simple walking tour of  Belfast and not the Troubles Walking Tour but no matter where we went in Belfast, the guide would bring up some story that revolved around the Troubles.  I grew up through this time but really did not understand the “why” of the Troubles just the death and destruction that showed up in the news every night.  I promised myself that I would do a little research when I returned home to learn a more about the “Why”.  Below is a very condensed history to give some context to our tour. If you want to know more about the Troubles I have attached a link. What I did find scary is that a similar scenario seems to be unfolding with our neighbours to the south some of which has started to seep across our border. Is sectarian/political violence brewing in North America or is it already here?

 https://www.britannica.com/event/The-Troubles-Northern-Ireland-history/The-Sunningdale-Agreement-hunger-strikes-Bobby-Sands-and-the-Brighton-bombing

The start of the troubles can be traced back to the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12^th Century which was the start of an eight century domination of Ireland by England and then Great Britain.

While the English lords ruled all of Ireland many English immigrants settled in the north of Ireland in the rich province of Ulster; fast forward to the 20^th Century and the Protestants (English) came to considerably outnumber the indigenous Irish with very little assimilation.  By the start of the 20^th Century, it was around a two thirds Protestant majority.    

Following the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921) the British were forced to cede self- governance to the Irish but created a separate self-governing entity for the province of Ulster. It can be said that while the use of religious theology to identify the two groups most of their differences were found in their culture and politics. Sadly, those in power chose to use their power to ensure their domination over the other

 

Tensions between the two groups started almost immediately but remained restrained for the next 45 years. The Sixties were a time of increasing civil unrest round the world, most visibly in the USA. In 1968, a march was organized in Derry to highlight the continuing problems of discrimination and gerrymandering by the Protestant majority. The march devolved into a riot that soon spread to Belfast. The British Army was brought in to assist the Royal Ulster Constabulary maintain the peace.

 

The army was to remain in Northern Ireland for the next 30 years. On April 10, 1998 the two factions got their act together and signed the Easter Accord which saw a cessation of fighting but it still took another 9 years to form a true power sharing government that continues today. 

The Famine Murals

 

When the Great Famine (1845-1849) was brought up we were quickly corrected that there was no famine. So some historical context is necessary. At the beginning of the 19^th Century, Anglo-Irish families owned most of the land while Irish Catholics were banned from owning land, voting or holding elective office and were relegated to work as tenant farmers. Records indicate that even during the worst effects of the potato blight the English owners continued to export large quantities of food and live stock mostly to England, food that could have been used to feed the poor. Over 1,000,000 people perished from the starvation while another 1 to 2 million emigrated from the Island. 

“The exact role of the British government in the Potato Famine and its aftermath—whether it ignored the plight of Ireland’s poor out of malice, or if their collective inaction and inadequate response could be attributed to incompetence—is still being debated.”

https://www.history.com/topics/immigration/irish-potato-famine

 

When I went back through my pictures to pick some out for this blog I discovered that I had only taken a total of four pictures. I cannot explain or even remember why. We spent 12 hours touring the city. It is a clean and safe city, not Disney perfect like Dublin but I am sure it rated more than 4 pictures. I cannot explain it. It seems that our visit to Belfast has left us with more questions than answers.