Belfast (Northern Ireland)

So we arrived in Belfast, Northern Island as part of the back end of our Iceland cruise. Jill had arranged a day trip out to see the Giant’s Causeway, so we had an early morning pick up from the ship. As luck would have it, Belfast is pretty small and we had the opportunity to do a town tour before we headed out.

In recent years the docklands area has become home to major TV and film productions. In fact, the area around the docks is known as the Titanic Quarter. This was the second thing that struck us about Belfast. The Quarters.

Common knowledge and even the most basic understanding of mathematics would indicate that there are four quarters. Apparently this is not the case in Belfast, where they clearly needed seven. Modern-day Belfast is divided into seven and not the usual four quarters. These include:

• Cathedral Quarter –  takes its name from St. Anne’s Cathedral and is the city’s main cultural area
• Titanic Quarter – is a 75 hectare area of reclaimed land near the harbour, that includes the entertainment arena, Titanic Museum and major trendy housing developments.
• Gaeltacht Quarter – Its the Irish area of town.
• Smithfield Market and Library Quarter – centres on Smithfield Market (a 19th century shopping area) and contains many of Belfast’s major historic sites.
• Linen Quarter – was the former home of the linen industry and now houses the Ulster Hall and Grand Opera House, along with a large number of hotels, bars, restaurants and cafes.
• Market Quarter – The area once had 14 markets, but today only St George’s Market, built between 1890 and 1896, remains.
• Queen’s Quarter – is the University area and is home to Queen’s Unicersity, the Botanic Gardens and the Ulster Museum.

Having headed out of Belfast we headed to the town of Portrush, a popular holiday destination in the North of Island. From here we got to take in the amazing coastline all while being surrounded by sheep and cattle farms. The traditional hedgerows was a fantastic sight that sadly we do not get to see back home. From here we headed around to Dunluce Castle which is one of the most picturesque and romantic of Irish Castles. The present castle ruins date from the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Giant’s Causeway lay just around the corner, at the foot of the basalt cliff,s along the coast. The area is known as the Antrim plateau and the causeway is made up of around 40,000 massive black basalt columns that stick out of the sea. There are two main explanations for the Giant’s causeway. The first is the geological one which is both sensible and logical, the other is the myth.

The Myth

As legend has it, Northern Ireland was once home to a giant named Finn McCool (also called Fionn Mac Cumhaill). Ireland was being threatened by another giant from across the Irish Sea in Scotland (Benandonner). To put an end to the threats, Finn built a bridge (the Giant’s causeway) across to Scotland by pulling out the earth from the centre of island (creating a hollow that is now Lough Neagh). Once the bridge was built he headed over to confront Benandonner, but when he got there he saw that Benandonner was a massive giant, much bigger than Finn.

So he headed back to Ireland and told his wife. At the same time Benandonner had noticed the bridge and crossed over to confront Finn. Finn’s wife told him to dress as a baby and pretend to sleep. When Benandonner arrived he was told that Finn was out working in the fields, but that Benandonner should be quiet as their child (the full grown Finn) was asleep.

Benandonner saw Finn disguised as a baby and realised that if the baby is that big, the father must be far larger and rushed back to Scotland, tearing away as much of the Causeway (destroying the bridge) as he could.

And of course, this was the first time that I set foot in Ireland (albeit Northern Island) so I had to sample a pint of Guinness. As Jill is not a huge fan of the darker beers she had the Italian Birra Moretti, a long time sip of choice.

Our cruise ship pulled into the town of Cobh, with the intention that everyone would hop on the train for a short ride to the City of Cork (the boat couldn’t get in that far). Which is exactly what we did (obedient little people we are).

Cork

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and third largest city on the island of Ireland. It is in the South in the province of Munster and has about 220,000 people living there. It is a nice little town but nowhere near as pretty as where we had been over the last few weeks. The stone in the area was gray, as was the sky and so too the feeling that you got from being here.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the town, the people were friendly, it was comfortable and safe walking around everywhere and the people we met were chatty and friendly. There was the usual collection of churches and historical buildings to ogle at. Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral is the big show and was amazing and one of the nicest and most impressive that we have seen so far.

A short walk from the main cathedral was the Elizabeth Fort, unsurprisingly a fort on the top of the hill. This was free to get into, and you were met by a lovely person who explained the history before you even walked through the door. From here you could explore at your leisure.

Unsurprisingly a fort on the top of the hill. This was free to get into, and you were met by a lovely person who explained the history before you even walked through the door. From here you could explore at your leisure.

Needless to say, you got some fairly spectacular views over the city from high on the walls of the fort. And then a meander through the streets of town, stopping at the English markets and some other key sights.

Cobh

Making sure that we didn’t miss the boat we hopped the train early and headed back to the port town of Cobh. Along the way we found a lovely little castle on display that we snapped from out of the train window. We later found out that this was Belvelly Castle “De Barrà” a 14th/15th century stone tower-house overlooking the water between Great Island & Fota Island.

Upon arrival we wandered the streets of this little (under 10,000 pop) place. And what a lovely little town it was. It was actually named as one of the 25 most beautiful small towns in Europe.

The town itself is most famous for being the last port of departure of the Titanic before it (spoiler alert) hit an iceberg and sank. But it is seriously pretty, and the people are remarkably friendly (given that they get regularly descended upon by hordes from cruise liners).

The town itself is most famous for being the last port of departure of the Titanic before it (spoiler alert) hit an iceberg and sank. But it is seriously pretty, and the people are remarkably friendly (given that they get regularly descended upon by hordes from cruise liners).

Having wandered the town (didn’t take too long) we found a nice quite local establishment and sampled some of their local wares. Guinness has long been a favourite of mine, however I had a local brew that may have knocked it off the perch. Unfortunately, being local, I will never find it in any other pub anywhere in the world. Alas.