Whiskey and Scots Irish; old giants and causeways; places of old mayhem.
25th-26th May 2008
25th-26th May 2008
Location: Belfast, Bushmills, Coleraine, Giant's Causeway
Well in my previous post I detailed some of the sights, sites and experiences I had in 1066 country (Here) back in the month of May this year. This was a worthy time indeed. Well spent and very satisfying to my Historian´s heart.
Having had such good company and filled evermore and anon with the desire to explore more of this vivid and interesting world we are fortunate to live in, I was more than pleased to accept an invitation from Shane (my History colleague at the school) to visit his family home back in Northern Ireland. An English lad that he is (through and through) Shane had moved to Northern Ireland some years ago to marry a lovely lass from this part of the world. This has caused immense and amusing confusion in the school we both work at. Many of the staff seem still to think that Shane is Irish and the rumours of this also spread to other parts of the school - students and parents alike have regaled him with this view.
Anyway, regardless of such ill-informed views and their cause for mirth, I was off to visit Shane and family in this part of the world. Having graciously accepted me into their home I was to be charmed and delighted by the company of the Tregear family and their generosity in showing me around their part of the world.
First up on the itinerary was a trip to the town of Bushmills. Shane and family live in the very northern part of Ireland - near to the Giant´s causeway - in the town of Coleraine. It was in the nearby town of Bushmills though that Shane´s wife had grown up and where much of her extended family still live. Bushmills is most famous for its whisky and well its whisky. Bushmills whisky is well known around the world and is particularly famous for having the oldest existing distillery still in existence in the world - it just celebrated its 400th birthday recently in fact.
So we did a little exploration -a tour of the distillery and its works in action...
From the outside, Old Bushmills Distillery
Shane, Ingrid and their two boys - in the midst of the tour.
With the smell of fermenting grain ever with us it was exciting to at last see the barrels themselves. Typically the whisky is aged for at least 10 years and spends time in three different types of used barrels - port, brandy and bourbon. These flavours then go through the alcohol and create its unique Bushmills taste.
Having seen the bottling in action, the fermentation process and the distilling of the pure alcohol it was time for a little taste testing afterwards. 4 different kinds of mixed and pure malt whiskies. No don´t worry the kids didn´t try any.
Having finished in the distillery and having met some of the extended family we were now off to visit the Giant´s causeway. I cannot really explain properly just how fortunate I was that the the weather was absolutely perfect for the whole of my trip. Clear blue skies and the heat of the coming summer were to be my experience of Ireland. But of course this is far from the norm - even in the spring and summer of the year. Ireland is not the Green Isle or the Emerald Isle for no reason. There is a lot if rain that typically falls in this part of the world.
Anyway, having thanked God for my blessings in this regard I was going to enjoy this time of year to the best of my ability. For Shane and his family perhaps even more so. Such beautiful days are rare enough in both England and Ireland to make the very best of them possible. Such was the perfection of the day in fact that we decided to walk our way to the Giantś Causeway.
On the way we pass the church where Shane and Ingrid were married.
The walk up revealed some beautiful green countryside, but as we neared the coastline this started to change to coarser grass and sandy dune like country. Along here runs the train service connecting Bushmills with the Giant´s Causeway. The grass is actually coarse and dry enough to catch fire as the sparks from the train go by.
Up to the top of the dunes we go.
To be greeted by some truly amazing scenary and coastline.
And just to prove I was here. Yep, there´s the big fellow himself.
Stark and rugged coastline then arched around to us as we continued....
....and finally we reach the causeway itself. For a part-time Geographer such as myself this is the place that a Geographer´s dreams are made of. Some 40,000 interlocking basalt columns link together in a causeway that sweeps out into the sea and over across to Scotland, which can be seen from this point. This was all the result of an ancient volcanic eruption and makes for a very interesting study in and of itself. But I shall not bore you with such details... instead ...
Instead I shall bore you with details of the old Irish and Scottish legends about this place and its opposite end - Fingal´s cave on the Isle of Staffa off Scotland, where similar basalt columns exist.
As we wave from the top of the columns I want you to imagine the weight and gravity of these formations to the ancient mind. With a lack of science to hand to explain them the people of these regions created delightful legends about their appearence.
According to the main legend we have available the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill built the causeway so that he could walk to Scotland and fight his Scottish counterpart - the giant Benandonner. Alas, perhaps having drunk too much whiskey (ok, ok, I added that bit in) Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. The much larger Benandonner came to look for his Irish foe. But, as wives often do, Fionn´s wife Oonagh protects him. She lays a blanket over him so that she can pretend that Fionn is actually their baby son. Benandonner sees the size of the 'infant', and flees in terror assuming that Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. As he flees he rips up the Causeway in case he is followed by the terrible Fionn.
Cool, calm and collected, Josh dismisses the tales as pure myth...
Another family shot.
The two boys show the sheer scale of this place.
Well what an experience. The dizzying spectacle of this place is one that any should experience when visiting Ireland. A very worthwhile day indeed.
Well from one experience to the next as some say. After a delightful night in the company of Shane and family I was on the move again the next day back to Belfast. This was to be an experience a little more mixed and touched with both the sadness and joy of human capability. A city on the move and in recovery there is nonetheless the evidence of old divisions - social, cultural and religious all mixed together into the same pot.
But of course Belfast is much more than just its recent history. Once a bustling port city with the one of the largest shipyards in the world this is the city that produced the Titanic and suffered the 2nd largest casualities in the British Isles from German bombing in the 2nd World War - due to its strategic importance.
Still it is the city at the crux and centre of Nothern Irish troubles. Right from the Government of Ireland act made in 1920 tensions grew between Republicans and Unionists. This also played itself out along religious lines. Most Protestants tending to be Loyalists to the throne of the United Kingdom and most Roman Catholics tending to be Nationalists wanting unity with the Republic of Ireland. A time called The Troubles was when this tension exploded into serious acts of murder, destruction and terrorism. Lasting from around 1969 to 2001 over 1000 people died in this time period.
To explore this I decided to embark on the Hop On Hop Off bus system which runs in Belfast. Each bus has a guide on to the locations visited...
Stormont - the seat of Northern Irish government and the current Northern Ireland Assembly. Apparently, when Bill Clinton visited as part of his peace efforts in the late 90´s he laughed out loud upon seeing the building - it is bigger than the White House!
C.S. Lewis grew up in Belfast and attended this school. He was tutored and inspired here to his interests in Northern European Mythology.
Deep feeling present in Protestant Unionist suburbs.
Walls separate many of the Protestant and Catholic suburbs in the city. Usually in the working class areas.
Headquarters of Sinn Fein in one of the Catholic suburbs. Nearby were many murals supporting Nationalist causes - including the causes of other groups around the world.
To wrap up the day I spent some time exploring the city centre. I particularly enjoyed the markets at the City Hall and entered some of the very old pubs in the city.
From Northern Ireland I would be moving on to the Czech Republic for the rest of my May holiday. More on that in my next post.
Well in my previous post I detailed some of the sights, sites and experiences I had in 1066 country (Here) back in the month of May this year. This was a worthy time indeed. Well spent and very satisfying to my Historian´s heart.
Having had such good company and filled evermore and anon with the desire to explore more of this vivid and interesting world we are fortunate to live in, I was more than pleased to accept an invitation from Shane (my History colleague at the school) to visit his family home back in Northern Ireland. An English lad that he is (through and through) Shane had moved to Northern Ireland some years ago to marry a lovely lass from this part of the world. This has caused immense and amusing confusion in the school we both work at. Many of the staff seem still to think that Shane is Irish and the rumours of this also spread to other parts of the school - students and parents alike have regaled him with this view.
Anyway, regardless of such ill-informed views and their cause for mirth, I was off to visit Shane and family in this part of the world. Having graciously accepted me into their home I was to be charmed and delighted by the company of the Tregear family and their generosity in showing me around their part of the world.
First up on the itinerary was a trip to the town of Bushmills. Shane and family live in the very northern part of Ireland - near to the Giant´s causeway - in the town of Coleraine. It was in the nearby town of Bushmills though that Shane´s wife had grown up and where much of her extended family still live. Bushmills is most famous for its whisky and well its whisky. Bushmills whisky is well known around the world and is particularly famous for having the oldest existing distillery still in existence in the world - it just celebrated its 400th birthday recently in fact.
So we did a little exploration -a tour of the distillery and its works in action...
From the outside, Old Bushmills Distillery
Shane, Ingrid and their two boys - in the midst of the tour.
With the smell of fermenting grain ever with us it was exciting to at last see the barrels themselves. Typically the whisky is aged for at least 10 years and spends time in three different types of used barrels - port, brandy and bourbon. These flavours then go through the alcohol and create its unique Bushmills taste.
Having seen the bottling in action, the fermentation process and the distilling of the pure alcohol it was time for a little taste testing afterwards. 4 different kinds of mixed and pure malt whiskies. No don´t worry the kids didn´t try any.
Having finished in the distillery and having met some of the extended family we were now off to visit the Giant´s causeway. I cannot really explain properly just how fortunate I was that the the weather was absolutely perfect for the whole of my trip. Clear blue skies and the heat of the coming summer were to be my experience of Ireland. But of course this is far from the norm - even in the spring and summer of the year. Ireland is not the Green Isle or the Emerald Isle for no reason. There is a lot if rain that typically falls in this part of the world.
Anyway, having thanked God for my blessings in this regard I was going to enjoy this time of year to the best of my ability. For Shane and his family perhaps even more so. Such beautiful days are rare enough in both England and Ireland to make the very best of them possible. Such was the perfection of the day in fact that we decided to walk our way to the Giantś Causeway.
On the way we pass the church where Shane and Ingrid were married.
The walk up revealed some beautiful green countryside, but as we neared the coastline this started to change to coarser grass and sandy dune like country. Along here runs the train service connecting Bushmills with the Giant´s Causeway. The grass is actually coarse and dry enough to catch fire as the sparks from the train go by.
Up to the top of the dunes we go.
To be greeted by some truly amazing scenary and coastline.
And just to prove I was here. Yep, there´s the big fellow himself.
Stark and rugged coastline then arched around to us as we continued....
....and finally we reach the causeway itself. For a part-time Geographer such as myself this is the place that a Geographer´s dreams are made of. Some 40,000 interlocking basalt columns link together in a causeway that sweeps out into the sea and over across to Scotland, which can be seen from this point. This was all the result of an ancient volcanic eruption and makes for a very interesting study in and of itself. But I shall not bore you with such details... instead ...
Instead I shall bore you with details of the old Irish and Scottish legends about this place and its opposite end - Fingal´s cave on the Isle of Staffa off Scotland, where similar basalt columns exist.
As we wave from the top of the columns I want you to imagine the weight and gravity of these formations to the ancient mind. With a lack of science to hand to explain them the people of these regions created delightful legends about their appearence.
According to the main legend we have available the Irish giant Fionn mac Cumhaill built the causeway so that he could walk to Scotland and fight his Scottish counterpart - the giant Benandonner. Alas, perhaps having drunk too much whiskey (ok, ok, I added that bit in) Fionn fell asleep before he got to Scotland. The much larger Benandonner came to look for his Irish foe. But, as wives often do, Fionn´s wife Oonagh protects him. She lays a blanket over him so that she can pretend that Fionn is actually their baby son. Benandonner sees the size of the 'infant', and flees in terror assuming that Fionn, must be gigantic indeed. As he flees he rips up the Causeway in case he is followed by the terrible Fionn.
Cool, calm and collected, Josh dismisses the tales as pure myth...
Another family shot.
The two boys show the sheer scale of this place.
Well what an experience. The dizzying spectacle of this place is one that any should experience when visiting Ireland. A very worthwhile day indeed.
Well from one experience to the next as some say. After a delightful night in the company of Shane and family I was on the move again the next day back to Belfast. This was to be an experience a little more mixed and touched with both the sadness and joy of human capability. A city on the move and in recovery there is nonetheless the evidence of old divisions - social, cultural and religious all mixed together into the same pot.
But of course Belfast is much more than just its recent history. Once a bustling port city with the one of the largest shipyards in the world this is the city that produced the Titanic and suffered the 2nd largest casualities in the British Isles from German bombing in the 2nd World War - due to its strategic importance.
Still it is the city at the crux and centre of Nothern Irish troubles. Right from the Government of Ireland act made in 1920 tensions grew between Republicans and Unionists. This also played itself out along religious lines. Most Protestants tending to be Loyalists to the throne of the United Kingdom and most Roman Catholics tending to be Nationalists wanting unity with the Republic of Ireland. A time called The Troubles was when this tension exploded into serious acts of murder, destruction and terrorism. Lasting from around 1969 to 2001 over 1000 people died in this time period.
To explore this I decided to embark on the Hop On Hop Off bus system which runs in Belfast. Each bus has a guide on to the locations visited...
Stormont - the seat of Northern Irish government and the current Northern Ireland Assembly. Apparently, when Bill Clinton visited as part of his peace efforts in the late 90´s he laughed out loud upon seeing the building - it is bigger than the White House!
C.S. Lewis grew up in Belfast and attended this school. He was tutored and inspired here to his interests in Northern European Mythology.
Deep feeling present in Protestant Unionist suburbs.
Walls separate many of the Protestant and Catholic suburbs in the city. Usually in the working class areas.
Headquarters of Sinn Fein in one of the Catholic suburbs. Nearby were many murals supporting Nationalist causes - including the causes of other groups around the world.
To wrap up the day I spent some time exploring the city centre. I particularly enjoyed the markets at the City Hall and entered some of the very old pubs in the city.
From Northern Ireland I would be moving on to the Czech Republic for the rest of my May holiday. More on that in my next post.
2 comments:
How do I know you didn't just photoshop your pics to make it look like you were there? lol
Haha, just kidding
"Oh ye of little faith" Konrad.
Just imagine though if it was true and I was actually still in Australia and making all this up...
hehe!
Josh
Post a Comment