Portrush in Northern Ireland was a holiday place for Unionists. It has a different culture than the Republic of Ireland. As an example, there are only three bars in the town. During The Troubles of the 70’s and 80’s, it was a rough area.
The British Open took place here in 1951. It was the first time that the golf tournament took place outside of the U.K.
A Scottish accent is common in this area. Scotland is only 12 miles across the sea so there was a lot of trading.
Blue flag means that conditions are good on the beach.
The castle was built by the Clan MacQuillan around 1500 and taken over by Clan MacDonnell in the mid-1550s. During a stormy night in 1639, a portion of the structure containing the castle’s kitchens suddenly collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean. The site served as a major visual inspiration and filming location backdrop in Game of Thrones.
The Antrim Coast features some of the most beautiful landscapes on the Emerald Island. It has bizarre basalt columns and local legends of the Giant’s Causeway.
Watch this clever animated telling of the legend:
The 40,000 interlocking basalt columns can be “slippy”. This word made us all laugh since we say slippery.
The National Trust is responsible for this UNESCO site. Unfortunately, people are wedging coins into the cracks. This has had disastrous consequences – splitting of the cracks due to the coins’ expansion as well as the oxidation of the metal in the coins.
We hiked up the mountain and stopped to take in the view. I was telling our fellow travelers about alpine divorces. This is when your non-outdoor husband wants to go hiking. He might just want to get rid of you.
Legend has it that Robert the Bruce fought multiple battles against the larger English army to win Scotland’s freedom, but lost six times. Discouraged and exhausted, he took refuge in a cave on nearby Rathlin Island. While resting, he watched a small spider trying to spin a web from the cave wall. The spider failed six times, falling down each time, but succeeded on its seventh attempt. Inspired by this persistence, Bruce returned to lead his men to victory.
We had lunch at the lovely village of Bushmills. Our restaurant was known for slow food. It was more like slow service.
Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland. It was referred to as Linenopolis since there were so many linen mills. Millie is the term for a young working class factory woman, specifically those who labored in the 19th- and 20th-century linen mills of Belfast.
The population of Belfast is 350,000. It is a young population due to colleges.
The Black Velvet Band is a song about a beautiful girl in Belfast.
The Disappeared refers to 17 individuals abducted, murdered, and secretly buried during Northern Ireland’s Troubles. They have recovered 13 bodies with four cases remaining unresolved.
No colors for sports teams are allowed in pubs.
There are 54 peace walls all over Northern Ireland. The citizens of Belfast have voted to have the peace walls removed but not until 2027.
Our hotel Europa is known as the world’s most bombed hotel. Between 1970 and 1994 it was targeted 33 times. The hotel is very safe now. They have a unique elevator system. It was confusing at first, but we think that this will be the future.
How to Defuse a Bomb: The Project Children Story is a documentary about children from both sides in Northern Ireland living together with a host family in New York. By the end of their summer, they have become best friends.
The legend says two contenders raced across the sea to claim land in Ulster. Realizing he was losing, one competitor cut off his own hand and threw it onto the shore to touch the land first. (My two brothers were VERY competitive, but I hope that they wouldn’t go to this extreme.)
Lilting is a traditional Irish vocal style where a person uses rhythmic, nonsensical syllables to mimic the lively melodies and ornaments of traditional instruments like the fiddle or flute.
Van Morrison is the most famous musician from Belfast and considered the most temperamental.
After the United Kingdom, which country consumes the greatest quantity of Guinness? Nigeria. Who would have guessed it?
A DeLorean car was built in Belfast. A tricked out version was used in Back to the Future.
The Rose of Tralee International Festival is one of Ireland’s largest and longest-running festivals, held every August in the town of Tralee, County Kerry. Centered on a televised contest, it celebrates young women of Irish descent from around the world based on personality and heritage rather than physical appearance. Over 40,000 ladies compete for the title. Similar to Miss America, the winner serves for a year touring the world as an Irish ambassador.
Rob and I stayed up late with the rest of Ireland to see the winner:
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