Fe Fi Fo Fum

Elizabeth's black and white photo
of the Titanic gantry posts.
Actual gantry was three times higher.

During our time in Belfast we headed to the Titanic Belfast display which was amazing in the way it

Titanic Belfast

told the story of the design, construction, sinking and rediscovery of the ship. It is phenomenal even now to think of the scale of the construction of the Titanic and the fact that some 15 000 men worked on building it. The posts showing the gantries where the Titanic and Olympia were built are only a third of the height of the actual gantry at the Harland and Wolff shipworks so that gives some sense of the scale of the undertaking. The ride in the display through the contruction listening to the stories of the workers was extremely well done. The display outside showed the disproportionate number of third class passengers who perished when the Titanic sank. That was quite confronting until you then looked at the percentage of crew who lost their lives – it is true they literally went down with the ship.

We had quite a shock with the cost of items once we entered Northern Ireland and the money changed to pounds sterling rather than the Euro particularly when you consider exchange rates. The cost of fuel on the signs was virtually unchanged but rather than being 1 Euro 20 it became 1 pound 20. Admittedly it was at the Europa  but our two drinks at dinner cost 11 pound or about $23 – needless to say the drinks have been somewhat limited and I have to say that as well as being significantly cheaper I prefer Spanish beer.

Oil rig in for refurbishment
Harland & Wolff shipyards

Yesterday we headed up to the Northern Ireland coast and where the Irish Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean and the Giant’s Causeway. The Giant’s Causeway is one of the three World Heritage areas in Ireland and is an amazing geological formation. Finn McCool was the giant who started to make the causeway to go and fight the giant who lived in Scotland. As he headed over to Scotland he realised that the Scottish giant was much bigger than him and he became quite worried because he would lose the fight. As the Scottish giant then came to Ireland Finn McCool had his wife dress him in baby clothes, put a dummy in his mouth and leave him in a crib. According to legend, the Scottish giant realising if Finn McCool was only a baby then the giant must be huge so he retreated to Scotland. Finn McCool realised he had a lucky escape so pulled down the causeway leaving only the remnants we see now. Looking around the headland there are a number of things which Finn left behind – things like his pipe organ, Humphrey his camel, the chimneys of his house if you but use your imagination. This is such a great story and it was really good fun to walk around and look at the amazing scenery around.

Giant's Causeway

Columns in Giant's Causeway

Today we headed to St Patrick’s cathedral in Amagh which is the seat of the Catholic cardinal in Ireland. It was certainly a very different experience to St Patrick’s in Dublin as there were children preparing for confirmation and a mass about to start. While it was certainly a tourist experience it was also a place of worship and had a completely different feel. In legend, St Patrick established his first church in Amagh in 445 and so now Amagh is the location as the head of both the Catholic Church and Church of Ireland within Ireland. It also has two St Patrick’s Cathedrals – one Catholic and one Church of Ireland courtesy of King Henry VIII and his reformation. It is certainly quite interesting that this small city (the smallest city in Ireland with a population of 15 000) in Northern Ireland is the location of for the head of both Religions. Just shows the power of St Patrick in Ireland. The current Catholic cathedral was commenced in 1840 to replace their earlier cathedral which obviously had a conversion after Henry VIII. Typically the Catholics had their ‘revenge’ – the Catholic cathedral is on a higher hill than the earlier cathedral!!

St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral Amagh

Leaving Northern Ireland we headed back to the Republic of Ireland and the Marian shrine of Knock. A number of villagers in 1879 saw an apparition of Our Lady with St Joseph and St John the Evangelist and since then it has become a major pilgrimage site. Much of this is due to the local parish priest from the 1960s Monsignor Horan who was obviously an entrepreneur extraordinaire. He set about building a huge church to seat 10 000 people, getting an international airport constructed and then having Pope John Paul II visit in 1979 for the 100 year anniversary. At the papal visit, John Paul II conferred the title Basilica upon the church as it has relics from St Therese of Lisieux. Monsignor Horan was one influential character. We arrived in time for the anointing mass in the parish church which was just an amazing time of grace.

Tomorrow we head to Croagh Patrick and then to Galway.

Love to all
S&E