Well if you are reading this and you are under 50 (ish) you might remember that the wife and myself went back for a holiday to the olde sod.  Now her good self is from Dublin.  Four she tells me. (It must be the golfer in her that says that every time I mention Dublin.)  She has never lived in Ulster but like any good woman she knows all about it and like any good wife, she is always right.

We drove down from Co. Antrim through Belfast and into Co. Down where we met my sister in Bangor. She had arrived via Holyhead and Dublin and had driven up to Bangor the night before. This was where I lived my late teen age years and it brought back lots of memories, most of which I cannot share with you here.

The B & B where we were booked into was some 200 metres from where my first girl-friend lived. (what has that got to do with the price of soap you might well ask?).   Like most towns around the world, Bangor has expanded and has discovered that if you put in lots of roundabouts, (in this case cheap roundabouts i.e. painted circles in the middle of the road)  it seems to slow the traffic down quite a bit. Perth discovered this phenomena lately as well. 

The first night was I suppose a typical Ulster night. Strong winds combined with some sort of water which could have been from the waves or the sky. Either way it was wet. Our host at the boarding house suggested various eating houses and for a nostalgic reason I chose to go to Donaghadee, some seven miles down the coast as you can see from the map above. (Did Phil Coulter get it wrong when he wrote the words “It’s six miles from Bangor to Donaghadee”…. Maybe he knew a short cut!)

Well off we set through the town in our big car with the Dublin plates and I was able to negotiate all of the circles in the middle of the road despite the poor visibility. We had travelled some 2 miles out of the town when I noticed a blue light (flashing) in my rear mirror. I looked at the speedometer which of course was in kilometres per hour (Other parts of Ireland use the metric system) and my back seat driver quickly converted to Miles per hour. “You are well under the speed limit” he stated hurriedly.   “What should I do”, I asked slowing down even more and just after a nasty siren noise became audible over the noise of the storm. 

For the first time that I can recall, there was no response from the two backseat drivers who had up to this point virtually driven the car on their own!  “Keep going!” stated the front seat passenger. “There is no place to pull in here!” And with no alternative suggestions, I did just that. After a mile or so I rethought this as the siren was becoming unbearable. I signalled the car behind to pass and slowed down to a walking pace. This seemed to work as we could no longer hear the blasted thing. Nothing seemed to be happening so I gradually accelerated.  Whoa. This had an instant effect. The car behind (OK you guessed it) was a speedy police car and it passed me rapidly if not dangerously and pulled in very smartly in front of me. 

Normally I jump out of the car at this stage as I hate policemen looking down at me but the weather was the deciding factor so I stayed put as the copper jumped out and put on his hat: a sure sign that he was not going to inquire about my health.  At the last minute I pushed the button to slide down the window a fraction to be greeted by a torch peering into the car.

“Any chance you got your licence with you?” he enquired in a clear Co. Down accent.
“Sorry no” I replied in an equally clear Co. Down accent. “I left my wallet at the hotel”.
“And where are you all off to?” he enquired.
Well as we were on the road to Donaghadee, I decided my smart answer was inappropriate. “Donaghadee” I replied laconically.

“Why didn’t you stop when you saw us behind you?” he asked.

“I was trying to” I said, “But I just could not see anywhere to pull in safely”.

“I see” he said. “We stopped you because you seemed to be unsure at all the roundabouts you went around”.

“You are quite correct” I said. “I used to live here some forty years ago and they were not here then and also the weather was making driving difficult!”

“I suppose you are right” he replied. “I don’t smell any drink” (the Ulster equivalent of the breathalyser!)    Well he wouldn’t as we were on our way THERE!

“All right” he said, “Just follow us and I will see you safely into Donaghadee”, whereupon he returned swiftly to his car and promptly did a U-turn. So much for following him!

Different from when I was stopped in the seventies I thought to myself. And so we had a great meal in a pub in Donaghadee despite being the only customers who were eating.  We put it down to either the economic climate or the real climate!

The lighthouse at Donaghadee dates from 1836. The tower is built of cut limestone, fluted, and in its early days was unpainted in natural grey colour. The tower, including the lantern and dome, is now painted white with a black plinth since some time 1869 and 1875.

Conversion to an unwatched electric lighthouse was made in 1934 and this made it the first Irish lighthouse to be converted to electric.

 

 

The next day was equally bad weatherwise (what’s new) so we decided to go and visit the Titanic Quarter in Belfast. This visit was very high on my agenda as I had written about it during the 100^th anniversary of its sinking in April. I was not disappointed as you will be able to see if and when you read my next blog.

 

 

I was half way along a great wee article about Belfast, my favourite city, when I got a call from my famous editor (Yeah you guessed it …Fred) telling me that he had an idea! “Prime Minister”, I thought to myself, “An idea!”   “Yeah” he said laconically. “Write something about Derry”. Well it so happened that I did mention that Derry was named the UK city of Culture for 2013 in my last article.

Of course I had been to Derry in my youth but only to pass through on our way to Donegal. Yeah, we were a so called rugby team at the time. Few of us knew anything about the city and anyway we were going to have great craic in Donegal, so what was the point in stopping!

When I visited it last year, I did not rate it as a city of culture but since then I have learned more and much to my astonishment it was also (apparently) named as ‘One of the Top Ten Cities in the World to visit in 2013’ by the Lonely Planet’s ‘Best in Travel Guide 2013’. They say in their brochure that:

 “Derry / Londonderry, is a city pulsing with life, resonant with centuries of heritage and passion, yet fresh as an Atlantic breeze.”  I can only ask myself who writes that kind of stuff and wonder if they have actually visited the city! Only kidding. Sure it’s a grand place and it’s only a few miles from the South where the most northerly part of Ireland exists. You might like to explain that to any foreigners who read this column.

 

The first name for this ancient city was Daire Calgach, meaning ‘oak grove’ which is still an apt description as there are sturdy oak trees scattered across the city. The name Derry is an anglicisation of this.
It is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland. In 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and the "London" prefix was added, changing the name of the city to Londonderry. While the city is more usually known as Derry, Londonderry is also used and remains the legal name.

 

The old walled city lies on the west bank of the River Foyle, which is spanned by two road bridges and one footbridge. The city now covers both banks (Cityside on the west and Waterside on the east). The city district also extends to rural areas to the southeast. The population of the city proper (the area defined by its 17th-century charter) was 83,652 in the 2012 Census, while the greater area had a population of 105,066.

I was told (who by you might ask?) it’s an old city with a young heart. Derry / Londonderry’s population is one of the youngest in Europe and as such there are plenty of lively pubs, clubs and nightspots, world-class restaurants and an impressive arts and music scene to discover.

Unfortunately, I arrived there on a Sunday when most of these impressive places were closed. So I missed out in more ways than one.   Derry is a compact city and easy to explore. There are great walking opportunities along the historic 400 year-old walls. Still intact and retaining the original gateways, this is the best-preserved walled city in Ireland. Guilds from the City of London financed the walls, hence the origins of the name Londonderry. The Maiden City title is derived from the unconquered walls’ status. The walls were never broken, withstanding several sieges.

The city’s history and evolution, is explained in The Story of Derry at the Tower Museum. This permanent exhibition is the city’s journey through many centuries from its geological origins through its Christian, maritime, emigration, economic and more recent political events.

Within the walls is a progressive, dynamic arts environment where new writing, film and dramatic arts flourish. The Verbal Arts Centre, Nerve Centre, the Millennium Forum, Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin and The Playhouse are venues for artistic expression by local and international writers, singers, dancers and theatre groups.

 

 

The city is bulging with galleries and art spaces, such as the Void, and Centre for Contemporary Art, along with a number of smaller galleries including Context, Gordon, Eden Place and Cowley Cooper.

Now what about this city of culture idea? Well, with a bit of research I found out the following.
 UK City of Culture is a designation given to a city in the U.K. for a period of one year. The aim of the initiative, which is administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is to "build on the success of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture 2008, which had significant social and economic benefits for the area".  Well it did not seem to help their soccer team did it?

A total of 14 cities applied for the honour including Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield and (wait for it)              The winner is ….em        Derry!          And very well done to you boys up there!

“Was there any trouble here recently?” I asked a local.  “Nat a tall”, she replied. “Don’t we have lots of wee peace monuments now!” she related as she pointed out one of them to me. (see below).

 

 

 

 So, put it on your itinerary for your next trip. It looks like I will have to return. I simply missed out on all the action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well HOW’s about ye!   Sure am going to tell youse all a wee story about our trip to Ireland. O.K. enough of that but you can hear or see I have been back to the olde sod and have lots of stories in store. Now to start with,  I do not remember everybody and his dog using the word “wee” so often …but they did…. including the dog! There was a wee card, a wee car, a wee bus, a wee pint, in a wee minute, in fact a wee everything!  I met a young Aussie girl who had lived there for only four years. “This is a grand wee country”, she told me. I tried to think up a typical aussie expression which I never use. “Good on you,” I replied sarcastically.

We arrived in Dublin airport from a very hot Dubai and this time I brought the wife with me on the trip. Well to be truthful, she brought me.  We were then whisked off to Naas where we settled in to recover from the long trip. As luck would have it, our host was working for Arthur (of the Guinness variety) and we were duly treated to a visit to the famous St. James Gate, where we experienced one of the highlights of the trip. This was worth a story in itself but as I am writing the Ulster column, I will let you use your imagination here.

The following day we were driven to Co. Clare where we visited the Aran Islands and Westport where some lucky leprechaun now owns a very good cam recorder and (if he did not sell it) a top camera. At this point I became the owner of my wife’s snapshot box!

 We had quite a few adventures around the Cliffs of Moher, Doolin, Durty Nellys before returning to Dublin and boarding a ferry to England where I had a gig at a local folk club. 

Then off to Nice in France, the Cinque Terre in Italy, Antibes in France, Barcelona and believe it or not a jet star flight to BELFAST. We landed at Aldergrove Airport. It was difficult for me to believe that in some thirty years it (the airport) had hardly changed. Well not the better anyway. As we strode serenely through the green “Nothing to Declare” aisle, I remarked to my wife that there was no one in sight of the customs officer variety. “Sure don’t we all have honest faces over here” remarked a passenger who had suddenly arrived to overtake us and had overheard my remark.

Now this was the first part of our trip where we had no accommodation arranged but who wants to go to Ulster in October. It turned out that hundreds of people from Donegal did!  Donegal were in the final of the All Ireland and the more than helpful young man at the information desk told us in his droll accent: ”Hard to get anywhere in Belfast to stay this weekend. It’s all booked up!”  I suggested we might hire a car and go north. “Aye youse could try that. Youse’ll have no trouble getting yourselves a car.”   He proceeded to phone the Causeway Hotel situated conveniently enough at the Giant’s Causeway. “I have a great deal for youse” he says after spending a few minutes on the phone. “Go get yourselves a car.”

I obediently trotted over to the budget car desk and asked the price of the cheapest car. “I could tell you that” this obnoxious git says, “but it would be of no use to ya!  None left! All hired out (you guessed it) by folks coming to watch the big game tomorrow. No need to try Avis or the others. We are all in the same boat.” He was most amused when I told him it was a car I was after not a bl…..BOAT!

So now we have a dilemma. We have a hotel (possibly) but no means to get there. We could I suppose get the express to Belfast and wait until tomorrow to get a bus to Antrim and Ballymena. Then to Ballycastle and perhaps walk the last few miles (they still have miles there) to the Causeway Hotel. Needless to say I did not suggest this idea to my wife. I did want to live a little longer!  “Maybe we can hire a car outside the airport” I suggested. So we tried to get out of the airport which of course was surrounded by security wire. Now I have always believed in Irish Luck and sure enough we were stopped by someone (job description unknown) who asked us what we were about. (Translation…. What are you trying to achieve?)  We explained our situation and in five minutes he had solved our problem. He phoned a company called Dooleys (head office in Limerick), who had one car left and they could send a mini bus to pick us up as they were about one and a half miles from the airport. We ran back inside the airport to book the hotel and half an hour later we were driving towards Antrim, Ballymena, Ballycastle and the Giant’s Causeway in a luxurious Ford.

 

 

 

The hotel was outstanding and situated a short walk from the entry to some really spectacular views.

 

The next day was one of the three that summer when it did not rain so after doing the obligatory walk around the famous Causeway, we drove to Portstewart, Portrush, Coleraine, Limavady and Derry or if you prefer Londonderry!  I confess I had never stopped in Derry before and it really is a spectacular walled city. It appears that it is the worthy recipient of the prestigious title “U.K. City of Culture 2013!  I did not like to mention that this was still 2012. We looked over at Donegal a few miles on before driving back to Royal Portrush Golf Club where they charge a cool 140 pounds each for a round of golf! Luckily for me it rained the day we were booked in for, so we cancelled. We had great craic in the hotel bar that night. I never realised how much I missed the good old Ulster humour but it just does not translate well in the written form, so I have left it out!
 The next day we drove the few miles to the Carrick-a-Rede Island and Rope Bridge. I do not have a great head for heights and the last time I walked it, it was so misty, I couldn’t see what was below. This time, as you see from the photograph, it was a little more spectacular.

 

Our next adventure was driving down the Antrim coast. A road noted for its bends and landslides. It is a narrow road also and the day being Sunday, it was choc a block with cyclists who we simply had to pass. The passenger seat in our Ford was not the place to be! We then arrived at Ballyclare to meet an old friend. Yes another bally and this is where Gareth Maybin plays most of his golf. Gareth was the only Irish golfer to play at the Lake Karrinyup golf tournament this year. Unfortunately he did not play his best. Bally of course means “place of” as if you didn’t know. Sometimes we think of it as “town of”. My favourite is Ballynoe which is situated just south of Downpatrick.  I have not yet found its sister city …Ballyea!

Oopps what is he rabbiting on about now I can hear you say. And so onward to Co. Down. The Ards peninsula, Bangor, Newtownards, Donaghadee, Portaferry, Strangford, Tyrella, Newcastle, the Mourne Mountains, Downpatrick, Killyleagh, Shrigley, Comber and back to Bangor.

Oh what a great memories those places brought back.  But I will save them for another day. So you can look forward to reading (in the NEXT BLOG) about our great trip to Donaghadee when we were stopped by the Royal Ulster Constabulary, (we had  Dublin license plates!)  and of course Belfast (where I was able to visit the Falls and Shankill Roads and some very new exciting bars in the centre of the city) and of course I did visit the Titanic Quarter. Well I had to didn’t I? 

 

RMS Titanic was a passenger liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after colliding with an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.

The sinking of Titanic caused the deaths of 1,517 people in one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage. One of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line, she was built between 1909–11 by the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. She carried over 2,200 people – 1,316 passengers and about 900 crew.  Yes that is the story in a nutshell but of course there are many personal stories to be told concerning this tragedy.

 

Fifty years ago the people of Ulster did not mention the word “Titanic” with much pride. I vaguely remember (Well, I was very young at the time!) a conversation when the word was used with a strange, mysterious tone.

Where and when did the story begin? A good starting point might be as far back as 1791 when William Ritchie of Scotland founded Belfast’s city first major shipbuilding company. His first ship “The Hibernia” was launched shortly after this and thus paved the way for a successful shipbuilding empire.

In 1854 Edward Harland, a young English engineer arrived in Belfast to manage the Queen’s Island shipbuilding yard. A few years later, he bought out his employer and subsequently joined forces with Wolff thus forming the famous company.  They were soon to buy the White Star Line and over the next few decades they built over seventy ships.

In 1908, it was agreed to build two new ships; “The Olympic” and “The Titanic”. The names of the ships were to reflect their remarkable size. Over 264 metres long (880 feet for all of you who still use the old system) with a tonnage of 46,328. They were to be the largest man-made moveable objects on earth.

In 1909 work began on RMS TITANIC making Belfast one of the world’s greatest ports and a world leader in shipbuilding.   The OLYMPIC was successfully launched in 1910 and on the 31^st May 1911 the TITANIC was launched before a cheering crowd of 10 000 onlookers.

The great empty vessel was then towed to the new Thompson Outfitting Warf and Gray’s Dock to have the boilers and engines, funnels and superstructure added.  

On the 2^nd of April 1912, thousands of people lined Belfast Lough to proudly watch the new wonder of the world set off for Southampton. A week later, complete with around 1 300 passengers, she departed for Cherbourg in France and Cobh (then called Queenstown) in Co. Cork, Ireland.   At 1:30 precisely, on the 11^th April, she set off for New York. There are some great tales about the nine or so passengers who disembarked at Cobh as was well reported in the last edition of THE IRISH SCENE. 

At approximately 22.50 with some 1,500 miles of ocean behind them the Californian sent a wireless message directly to the Titanic telling them that they were stopped and surrounded by ice.  At 23:30 an iceberg was spotted but with its huge mass and the great speed it was moving at, it proved impossible to manoeuvre the ship away from the iceberg. Titanic struck the iceberg at 23:40 and the impact opened up six watertight compartments below the waterline. It took Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer approximately fifteen minutes to calculate that the great ship would go down within two hours and so it was not until shortly after midnight that the first wireless messages for help were transmitted. Another ship was seen to approach at this time but mysteriously disappeared. Until this day no satisfactory explanation has been given which fit the known facts.

At Quarter past midnight the first lifeboat was lowered into the freezing waters. Though designed for 65 people, devastatingly there were only 28 on board. For the next hour and a half confusion reigned when it became clear there was insufficient room for all the passengers on board.

At two o’clock the lights went out and the second and third funnel broke away. At this stage people were being washed off the forward end of the deck. The band now played a find hymn (“Nearer my God to Thee”) and at 2:20, with a great deal of churning water, it was suddenly quiet; the great ship had disappeared to the bottom of the ocean.

Two hours later the “Carpathia” arrived at the scene where she managed to pick up 705 survivors before sailing on to New York.

When they heard the devastating news, the people of Ulster were shocked, shamed and embarrassed. Only a few weeks earlier, they had all been so terribly proud. No one spoke much about the incident and if they did, it was with the strange mysterious tone I spoke of at the beginning of this article.

A recent investigation proved how unlucky the ship had been to sink so rapidly. IF the Titanic had struck the iceberg full-on she may have survived. IF the lookout had been able to use field glasses she may have survived.  IF the designer had been allowed to use his original plan she may have survived. IF stronger rivets had been used on the hull she may have survived. IF the designer had been allowed to provide 48 life boats many more people would have survived. If the California’s radio officer had not turned off his radio and gone to bed, many more would have survived. IF the captain had received ALL the messages which other ships had sent, she would have survived. IF the huge iceberg had not drifted so unexpectedly far south, she would have survived.    FINALLY IF any one of the above events had not happened as they did she would most definitely have survived.

Yeah, I realise a lot of IFs here but to the best of my knowledge ALL TRUE. 

A few years ago, in true Ulster fashion, it was realised that the rest of the world was fascinated by the event and that they were really missing out on sharing some of the amazing stories arising from it. They had some great stories to share and who better to tell the stories than Susie Millar; the great-granddaughter of Thomas Millar, who had been a deck engineer on the ship. Before he left Belfast, Thomas then aged 33 gave both his sons two new pennies, telling them: "Don't spend those until I see you again."

He never came back. His younger son kept those pennies and the family passed them on to his granddaughter, Susie Millar, who was present at a ceremony to mark the centenary of the launch of the luxury liner into the river Lagan in Belfast, where the ship had been built.

The name of the most famous ship to sink in modern history is now being used to re-launch a neglected area of Belfast. Up to £7bn has been invested in Titanic Quarter and an interactive Visitor Centre which should have been well and truly opened by the time you are reading this article; the opening was on April 15^th to coincide with the sinking 100 years ago.
 (Have you really gotten this far?  Well Done!)

The main building, shaped like four ship hulls, overlooks the site where the ship was built.

 It is clad in metal shards and when the light plays on them it looks like the movement of water. From above, the building resembles a white star, the symbol of Titanic’s operators. Housed in an iconic, 6-floor building, this state-of-the-art visitor experience tells the story of the Titanic from the start. The adventure begins the moment you walk through the door and into the building's giant atrium surrounded by the four high ‘hull’ shaped sections I mentioned earlier which house the experience. As you wander up through Titanic Belfast, you will experience a thrilling ride through the re-construction of the shipyards and the Titanic under construction. The stories of passengers, crew and the heroes of the day will be told in an exciting, captivating way. At the conclusion, you can visit the wreck at her resting place on the floor of the North Atlantic.!

The last time I flew into Belfast, I got the shock of my life when the airline welcomed me to “George Best Airport”. But the next time I go, it will have changed yet again as the airport is almost adjacent to the old shipyard. I can’t wait to go and maybe I will see some of you there. If you get there before me; let Fred or me know.  Apparently our host and guide will be none other than Susie Millar herself! 

You might like to watch a YOUTUBE clip of a new song composed by Ian Lily and myself.

You will need to copy the following into your browser.     http://youtu.be/rxDpZBPRxQ0

 David MacConnell        

Whitewater rafting

This was a hoot twenty four hours after the event. Not to be recommended for those over 50! The seven to eight metre drop was quite horrific. See the YOUTUBE link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7a_ggEx6ZUQ

Remember September 2001

Difficult to believe it is 10 years on. I wrote this song then and should really update the recording but here it is if you have not listened to it before.

Click HERE

Contact me if you want a version of the words (updated).

Australian Beaches

My daughter went on a holiday last week and kindly lent my wife her car. We took it up north on a road which had just been opened and arrived at a town called Lancelin. This is a fishing town where they catch crayfish. Not one person was on this very pristine beach. Even in Perth there are some fabulous beaches. The closest one for my family is pictured above but of course they (the kids) do not hang out with me any more. The temperatures this summer have been quite high and for a longer period of time. I heard someone complain the other day about the lack of rain and too much sunshine. "Go to Ireland for a week or two !" I retorted.