Irish princess Aoife and Norman warrior Strongbow married in 1170 in Waterford.
With all the travelling I have done I don’t know why it has taken me so long to visit Ireland, home to many of my ancestors and many of my late husband’s as well. Finally I made it to the Emerald Isle, arriving first in Belfast in Northern Ireland in the middle of this month. In the past two weeks I have been trying to grasp Irish history.
Belfast street with view of green hills outside the city.
Northern Ireland has had 18 years of peace after the 30 year conflict (1968-98) called The Troubles but still things can get out of hand around July 12th, the anniversary of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne. This was a deciding battle between Protestant and Catholic forces in England and Ireland when Catholic English King James II failed to regain his throne from the Dutch Prince William of Orange and his wife, Mary, James' daughter. When July 12th had passed, calmly this year, I flew across from England to have a look at another of my ancestral lands.
Mural in Catholic section of Belfast commemorates Bobby Sands, MP, (1954-81) who died in prison hunger strike.
Gate in the wall between Catholic and Protestant sections of Belfast.
Belfast mural of the side wanting Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
After 5 days in Northern Ireland I travelled south to the Republic of Ireland with stays so far in the cities of Cork and Waterford where I have continued to absorb Irish culture and history. I learned that the Vikings were an important historical force, founding Waterford, Ireland's oldest city, in 914, as well as Dublin, Wexford, Cork and Limerick.
Viking longboat replica bears Waterford's Viking name.
I am starting to realize how much the history of Ireland is intertwined with that of England. At the Medieval Museum in Waterford I learned that this link goes back to the Norman invasion of 1170 when Dermot MacMurragh, deposed King of Leinster, appealed to King Henry II of England for help to regain his kingdom. After the invasion Dermot’s daughter Aoife (pronounced Ee fa) married Richard de Clare, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke, aka Strongbow, the leader of the invasion. The King of England became Lord of Ireland and England/Britain has been involved in Ireland ever since.
The Medieval Museum opened in Waterford in 2012.
Emigration is another important theme in Irish history. The Cobh Heritage Centre in the seaport town of Cobh, fomerly Queenstown, adjacent to Cork tells some of the the stories of the 3 million people who left Ireland between 1815 and 1970. In 1892 Annie Moore, aged 15, travelling with her younger brothers, was the first immigrant processed at the new Ellis Island centre in the USA. She is commemorated with sculptures on both sides of the Atlantic.
Moore children symbolize 3 million Irish emigrants.
1916 was an important year for Ireland with the centenaries of both the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme being observed this year.
The 1916 Easter Rising remembered in Shandon, one of the oldest parts of the city of Cork.
Ulster Museum, Belfast display commemorating the participation of Irish soldiers in WWI.
Cultures and cities continue to grow and evolve and in Waterford the co-existence of new and old is highlighted in the Waterford Walls project, a street art festival established in 2015.
Waterford Walls - vibrant street art and part of the city's medieval wall.