“Our revenge will be the laughter of our children”.
That was a quote by the Irish Republican Bobby Sands, who lived in Belfast.
We drove to Northern Ireland today because we were curious about what the North was like. We went on a tour around the city of Belfast led by a man named Mick. The tour was very enjoyable, and we had a lot of fun learning new things about Ireland.
The topic that Mick mostly focused on was the period in Irish history known as “the Troubles“. I had heard about this before, but Mick gave us all the details and some stories about what it was like to live during this time. Here is my perspective and understanding about this piece of history.
After the Irish had been invaded several times by many different forces, the British gained control of the island. The Irish didn’t really mind who ruled them at this point because they were busy surviving, trying to grow their crops and feed themselves. Then, the British decided to build schools and have the Irish attend them so that they could be educated. The only thing was, the lessons were taught in English. Some people were furious because they thought that the British were trying to take away the Irish culture.
This reminds me of the American attack on Canada, (UK at the time), in the War of 1812. The Americans wanted to take over our country, but we defended it and are now an independent nation – independent of England too. Thankfully, we were able to settle this back in the 1800s and now have a very peaceful relationship with most countries throughout the world.
It’s too bad Northern Ireland had to go through these troubled times as many innocent people lost their lives.
What I found interesting in Belfast, is that there is a “peace wall” to separate the two sides, (Republicans and Loyalists) to try and reduce the fighting between them. I think it’s very sad to have walls between the different communities. Hopefully it won’t be long before the walls and the gates are taken down.
One thing we really liked on both sides were the murals. They told lots of different stories and were very colourful. We’ve never seen anything like it!
During the tour, we saw some “Tricolours”, but we mainly saw the Loyalists display their patriotism with all of their Union flags flying – it was like the fourth of July in America – but just everyday!
Thankfully the last number of years have been peaceful and things are much happier between the two sides.
There is no right, and there is no wrong….just a sad history. Hopefully this peace will last and the Bobby Sands’ quote will come true. I wonder what Canada would be like if we had gone through this between the French and English. Would we still be the same country that we are today?
After the tour, we tried to go to the Titanic Museum but it was closed, so we just got a great picture of the building.
Did you know that if you look at the museum from above, it’s shaped like the logo of the White Star Line company who owned the Titanic.
We saw Dr. Ballard at a National Geographic Speaker Series in Toronto, so we really enjoyed learning the “inside scoop” on the Titanic. This is one of the sites we are using to learn Science while on the road.
http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/how-did-the-unsinkable-titanic-sink/
Comments
3 responses to “The Sad, but True, Story”
I’m enjoying following the blog and learning a few things along the way! Well done.
Mikhaila, you described history in a very compelling way – words and photos. Very powerful.
Mikhaila. This blog was very moving! Well done!