St. Patrick's Day 2007 - Belfast, Northern Ireland

By the end of work on Friday, I still hadn't made plans for St. Patrick's Day, but I decided it would be fitting to celebrate the holiday in Ireland. Dublin would have been my first choice, but I didn’t want to bother with finding a place to stay on short notice and dealing with the massive crowds. Instead, I figured a day trip to Northern Ireland would be a good substitute since access is quicker and easier from Scotland. It’s still Ireland – the difference being Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland (including Dublin) on the south portion of the island is an independent nation.

I got up early Saturday morning and drove two hours to the Port of Stranraer on the southwest coast of Scotland, where I boarded a StenaLine ferry to Ireland. A couple hours later I was exploring the streets of Belfast, a city infamous as the center of the past Troubles between nationalist and loyalist forces and fueled by Protestant-Catholic sectarian conflict.

I had enough time before my return ferry to Scotland to get a flavor of the city and experience a bit of local culture. It’s clear that a lot of capital has been invested in recent years to revitalize the city, but there are still plenty of run-down areas and places you’re not going to see advertised in tourist brochures. The deep-rooted hostility and tension between Catholics and Protestants was palpable, and is still a major factor in the lives of the local residents.


A nice little message in the center of one of the roundabouts en-route to Stranraer. I would have loved to stay and count sheep, but I had a wee ferry to catch!

Is that Dolly and her lambs Dolly and Dolly? Sudden appearances of towns (like Lendalfoot here on the Southwest Scottish coast) on the carriageway offer prime photo opportunities as drivers are forced to slow down from highway speeds to near-crawls as the roads wind through the narrow streets of town. By the way, I have yet to see a single carriage on the carriageway. Does anyone drive those anymore? The last one I knew of turned into a pumpkin.

The StenaLine ferry at port in Stranraer just prior to departure. As usual, I made my usual appearance by sprinting across the parking lot and through the terminals in order to get on-board in time.

The cruise ship-like interior of the ferry. Even though the trip was only a couple hours long, passengers had access to several on-board restaurants, slot machines, a video arcade, several bars, quiet lounges, and a gift shop. Unfortunately the exterior windows were made of semi-opaque plexiglass, and didn't provide much access for taking photographs of the sea or the hills surrounding Stranraer and Belfast Harbors.

My first site of Belfast as the ferry approached the harbor. (I've been seeing a lot of shipyards lately). It was an overcast and rainy day, so I didn't see much of the famous green Irish landscape.

The gantry crane on the left is either "Samson" or "Goliath," one of two massive cranes built for the Harland and Wolff Shipyards. The slightly larger of the two is as tall as a 35-story building, and has a span longer than 1.5 (American) football fields. The Titanic was built at this shipyard.

This green-haired Scotsman disembarking the ferry is ready to PARTY!

St. Patrick riding his snake through the streets of Belfast.

Locals headed toward the free concert at the Courthouse plaza after the parade. This procession of "regular people" occurred sooner than I expected. The entire St. Patrick's Day parade only had about 10 entries, and they were almost all schoolkids. Worse yet, there were no firetrucks, and no one threw candy.

Belfast City Hall - an impressive architectural landmark.

Austin Powers paying a visit to City Hall.

All right, I looked up "academical" and verified that it is a legitimate variation of "academic." It just looked too much like something George W. would make up.

The famous Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street. I poked my head inside to see the elaborate woodwork and architectural features (very impressive!), but opted to avoid the crowd and looked elsewhere for a St. Patrick's Day drink.

The Europa Hotel in the background has the dubious distinctive of being the most bombed hotel (30+ times) in Europe (maybe behind the Sarajevo Holiday Inn, but who's counting?). That was where I knew I'd find my perfect pint of Guinness.

Following Irish protocol - Guinness in the pub! Yes, it does taste better from the tap in Ireland - even from the Europa bar. Soon after I sat down, a retired couple local to the area joined me at my table and we chatted it up for over an hour. It was interesting to hear their perspective on living in a region notorious for decades of violence and guerrilla warfare. They also explained to me that St. Patrick's Day events in Northern Ireland (as opposed to the Republic of Ireland) are somewhat subdued affairs in many places because the day is viewed by many Protestants as a primarily Catholic celebration.

Despite similar links to Linfield, observers won't find a similar greeting for those visiting McMinnville, Oregon. There are also similarities with Norway, but this ski mask-wearing guy with the assault rifle isn't training for the biathlon.

This particular mural subtly hints that I'm entering a neighborhood (likely Protestant) associated with a loyalist paramilitary group (i.e. traditionally loyal to the Queen of England).

...fortunately this happy mural on the other side of the street of the "Sandy Row" mural put me at ease and made me feel welcome to the neighborhood (yeah, right).

Some local neighborhood kids posing for a photo on the other side of town. Apparently visitors are unusual to this neighborhood, as the kids were quick to spot me out and run across the street to ask where I was from. I figured I was in a Catholic neighborhood by the looks of the green Celtic Football Club jersey worn by the boy on the right. Glasgow's Old Firm football teams, Celtic and Rangers, have a strong following outside the city, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, are strongly supported along sectarian lines.

Some newer development along River Lagan, which flows through Belfast. The sign explains the Classical-Celtic symbolism of a nearby sculpture and the "celebration of diversity of culture that exists in our global village."