Ireland - The Gathering

A Titanic Memory

Sue shares her Family Titanic Tale

Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will.

James Stephens

In 1912, the greatest cruise liner of its day struck an iceberg and sunk with the loss of over 1500 lives. The headline story is well-known, and popular films have retold it until fact and fiction blurred into one for many people but the truth is captured in the individual stories of survivors and the families of the lost souls.

Susie Millar shared her family story with us, her Great Grandfather brought the great engines of Titanic to life in the Belfast shipyard and boarded her bound for New York to start a new life for his two boys. Before he left, he gave each son two new pennies and implored them not to spend them until they were reunited. Susie reached into her pocket and produced the two pennies her Grandfather never got to spend.

For decades, Belfast ignored its part in the Titanic story and it great ship building heritage. James Cameron’s Titanic film epic renewed interest worldwide and Belfast embraced the story to build the stunning Titanic Quarter on the shipyards that once produced Titanic and her sister ships. The structure is symbolic of the tragedy and houses displays detailing the events but the real drama is outside. Wandering the slipway, we imagined the thousands of skilled workers that once swarmed over the great iron leviathans that carried men and women across the world; immigrants, traders, workers and wealthy travellers all sharing the high seas seeking new adventures or a better life.

Titanic Centre - Belfast

Titanic Centre – Belfast

Remembering the Iceberg

Remembering the Iceberg

 

The Troubles

Bogside, Derry

Our patience will achieve more than our force.

Edmund Burke

The history of English oppression and Ireland’s struggle for independence is a key theme of any tour of the country but it comes into sharper focus once you cross the border into Northern Ireland. Despite a decade of peace, the old hatreds and prejudices are clearly visible in places like Bogside in Derry or the Shankill and Falls Roads areas of Belfast. I did not feel welcomed in these areas by the local community, and it seemed intrusive to thrust even our small tour group into this area of raw tension and passion.

Of course to understand Irish history, you must come to grips with these areas and the sectarian violence that forged their hatreds into steely resistance but the wounds are still raw and it seems wrong to turn their suffering into a tourist photo opportunity. Go by all means but step lightly into the community because its their home not our tourist destination.

 

Belfast Mural Sein Fein HQ, Belfast Falls Rd Belfast