The bus headed off from Dublin early yesterday morning, heading north. Every few hours european driving regulations require buses and trucks to stop for breaks, so we have regular little 15 minute stops at points of interest. Among these were a stop at St. Peter's Church in Drogheda to see the mummified head of Saint Oliver Plunkett, a stop in a graveyard to see an old round tower and some high crosses, and a visit up the hills to see an ancient stone fort and yet another gorgeous view.
We spent the evening and night in Derry (/Londonderry) which is right on the Ireland / North Ireland border, and one of the historic hotbeds of the troubles in Northern Ireland. The city is technically part of North Ireland (and thus the UK), but the majority of the population is catholic and wants to be part of the Republic of Ireland. The minority protestant population lives on the other side of the river, and signs of division are everywhere. The city is infamously the site of "Bloody Sunday" where 26 unarmed protesters were killed by British military in 1972. We had a walking tour in the rain led by one of the very patriotic for the Republic of Ireland people which included a lot of history on all the troubles and the different factions in the city. Our hostel is right across from the police station, which is surrounded by tall fences, barbed wire and gate checkpoints. Apparently a big car bomb went off down the street from our hostel a couple months ago, exciting.
At night a group of us went to Peadar O'Donnell's Bar, which came highly recommended by our guide. Since Derry isn't much of a tourist city it was almost all locals, and about as immersed in Irish culture as you can get. At 11pm there was live traditional irish music and 8 pints of Guiness later I wasn't really in the mood for a before bed post.
4 comments:
Glad you're enjoying the Guinness. Sounds like a tour I would enjoy, maybe a few more cemeteries to look for ancestors! btw, your 4th great grandfather, Robert Fowler was born in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.
The Stinsons are probably from Northern Ireland too, but we don't know where. And 8 pints of Guinness! My limit is exactly 3 1/2.
Aw, no picture of the mummified head?
I did take a picture (its in my picture archive) but it turned out really poorly because of reflections and trying to focus on something encased in glass. Link
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