Day 9: Off to Ireland via Ferry!

Here’s the eighth post sharing our adventures in the British Isles and Ireland from September 29 to October 17, 2025, for genealogy, business, and sightseeing. Hope you enjoy it!

Tuesday, October 7, 2025

We got up super early to board the bus that would take us from Scotland to Northern Ireland. I was intrigued by the fact that the bus would get in line and then roll into the bowels of the boat. I’ve taken a car ferry before, but I never knew a bus could travel that way. 

I was glad to learn that we would not be allowed to remain on the bus during the trip. We climbed a couple of flights of stairs to get to the passenger decks. I think there might have also been an elevator. 

The ferry ride to Belfast only took about two hours, and we decided to grab a bite to eat to pass the time. While Jim was getting the food, another couple asked to sit with us, because it was very crowded in the cafeteria. They were on the same Trafalgar tour as ours, but with a different travel director, bus, and lodgings. We enjoyed chatting with them, and when we were done eating, we said goodbye and went wandering around the ferry.

We went out on the deck, but it was very cold, so back in the warmth we bought coffee and a big bag of M&M’s. We ate most of the candy in the lounge while regarding the peaceful view. A little while later, with our stomachs as hard as rocks, it was time to return to board the bus again and visit Ireland for a few days.

On the bus in Northern Ireland, John, our travel director, played “Brown Eyed Girl,” because Van Morrison is from Northern Ireland. So is actor Liam Neesen. 

When we reached Belfast, Angela, our energetic guide for the city, hopped on the bus. Here are some facts she shared about the conflicts in Northern Ireland:

• England and Ireland have a history of conflicts that lasted hundreds of years. 
• In the 1600s, as an attempt to breed out Catholics, England encouraged Scottish protestants to migrate to the northern part of Ireland. They called the area of relocation the “Plantation on Ulster.”
• Because of the Scottish migration, the accent in Northern Ireland is different from the Republic of Ireland.
• During the Great Famine (1845-1852), the British commandeered Irish resources, leaving only fungus-infected potatoes. Many people died and many fled, especially to North America. Today, the Irish don’t grow many fruits and vegetables, instead favoring livestock farming.
• English law denied Catholics good jobs and housing. This was a major reason for “The Troubles,” which lasted from the late 1960s to the late 1990s.
• Belfast was a war zone during The Troubles.
• Hunger strikes were part of The Troubles, and the most famous of these was the one staged by Bobby Sands, a member of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. In Belfast, a mural of the poet and revolutionary consumes the side of a building and features a Sands quote, “Everyone republican or otherwise has their own particular role to play . . . our revenge will be the laughter of our children.” Sands was one of ten men who died in hunger strikes. His lasted 65 days.
• In the late 1990s, as the death toll reached 3,000, President Bill Clinton sent Senator George Mitchell to help make peace in Ireland. The result was the Good Friday peace accord of 1998, which ceased the fighting. 
• Brexit (2020) has complicated Ireland relations. Some think that there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but that would violate the Good Friday agreement. Passports do not need to be presented when crossing the border. 
• A measure for reunification was voted down a few years ago, but a new one might be coming up soon. The political party, Sinn Féin, is in favor of unification.
• Today, both British and Irish flags fly in Northern Ireland. 

Here are a few more facts about Belfast:

• St. Anne’s Cathedral, also known as Belfast Cathedral, was once a Catholic Cathedral but is now Church of England, like many historic churches in the UK and Ireland because of Henry VIII.
• Belfast was once the largest ship builder, rope maker, and whiskey maker in the world. It was also once the richest city in the British Empire. 
• The first commercial airline started in Belfast. Today, Belfast remains the maker of most of the airplane seats in the world. 
• Mary Anne McCracken (1770-1866), protestant social activist, founded a newspaper called The Newsletter, which still runs today. She also owned a linen business and advocated for the poor. During the Great Famine, McCracken co-founded an organization that collected funds and provided direct aid to starving people. 
• Famous people from Belfast include C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia); William Thomas, also known as Lord Kelvin, best known for inventing the international system of absolute temperature, and Frank Pantridge, who developed the portable heart defibrillator in 1965.

After our bus tour of Belfast, we stopped at the Titanic Belfast, a museum with a monument containing the names of 1,500+ victims in alphabetical order. At the museum, we wandered through the gift shop and walk along an exhibition depicting the footprint of the Titanic. 

On to Dublin!

After our brief tour of Belfast, it was on to Dublin, where we spent two nights. We passed the Samuel Beckett Bridge, which looks like a floating harp (the symbol of Ireland). Beckett (1906-1989) was an Irish playwright, poet, novelist, and literary critic.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Old Punch Bowl. As I was returning from the restroom, I thought about how awesome it was that I was at a REAL genuine Irish pub in Ireland!

Dinner was delicious and filling. The owners and staff were so welcoming. I have never, ever had the experience of being asked if I wanted seconds at a restaurant. If you find yourself in Dublin, treat yourself to this pub. We were even entertained by an Irish band!

After dinner, we headed to the Clayton Hotel in Ballsbridge to lay our heads down before a day of sightseeing the next day, including the Guinness Museum.