Politics, a parade and the ship went down

A poignant scene
Increasingly, Saint Patrick’s Day can be seen as an excuse for a spot of alcohol-fuelled revelry. In Belfast, as you’ve discovered, it is a little more important than that.

Northern Ireland
Nice tour and very informative. Have fun!

Boy I wish I was traveling with you
I'm glad we are traveling and blogging at the same time, but I look forward to the day that we do it together. Glad you are enjoying yourself and learning some history as well. Enjoy the next leg of your trip.

Fascinating read!
Thank you for that history lesson. I too have forgotten about the history of the people in Belfast. Love your blogs. Keep them coming.

Shamrocks galore
You certainly have found a lot of happy Irish folk. Are you going to Derry? - I did an interesting informative guided walk round the Walls there - in the pouring rain of course. Don't forget when you cross the border into the Republic you will be in the Eurozone !! Its quite confusing when you are going back and forth. Cheers Lynne

but it still appears fragile
Hope peace in Nthn Ireland is stronger than that. The "troubles" affected many generations as Britain sought to retain control in this pocket of the island that has always constituted Eire...apparently on behalf of the Protestant population. My reading of history is religious wars are always controversial.

Loved the pics of the children. The \'troubles\' of back to the time of Cromwell and the Potato famine. My grandmother would refer to them whenever speaking about Ireland. I read a wonderful book called\" All Standing: The Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston\". It is about a coffin ship that took Irish immigrants to the USA. Some of the history is in the book particularly the vituperative speeches from Cromwell and other in the English Parliament. The Koch brothers and the Tea Party people must have read these speeches as they use the same like of reasoning- inferring that immigrants are worse than vermin. Perhaps that hatred toward the Irish is one reason I\'ve never been keen to go to London. So many of the \'troubles\' the world is still dealing with today are due the the collapse of their Empire: Israel. Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, pretty much the entire middle east. But I digress... A friend of mine has used Air B&B 9in Wash. DC and NYC with great success. Safe travels... Carolyn

intresting
Hi both,interesting to see Ireland viewed from an outsiders perspective. Both Robert and I have Irish ancestry somewhere, but I have never been to Ireland. I was completely put off by the 'Troubles' and although I know it is a very beautiful place, I doubt if I will ever go. Very nice to read such a positive article, however.

Great immersion in history!
Belfast and Londonderry are so rich in the tragic, interesting history of that beautiful land. So glad you're getting steeped in it. You're so right about the fragility of the peace--I passed more than one pub that forbade the wearing of the colors (green or orange). The mass sounded heavenly--how wonderful that they had a choir singing on a Monday. Happy St. Patrick's Day!