Belfast and the north Antrim coast

10 – 13 November 2019: Caitríona’s aunt Pádraigín lives in a lovely close-knit community in west Belfast and we were able to park up the Krystal safe and snug next to her home (and feed our electric cable through her kitchen window!). The whole street kindly kept an eye on our van for us while we were there and even popped over for a guided tour and a chat about future hopes and plans for travels on the road!

11 November: Conway Mill, Belfast. This is Pádraigín’s place of work. Conway Mill was first built in 1842 as a flax-spinning and linen-weaving factory, linen being one of the major industries in the north of Ireland over several centuries. The Mill was extended and developed through the decades but was severely damaged in a sectarian attack at the start of the Troubles in 1969. The factory closed in 1975, with the loss of 200 jobs, having been one of the longest operating linen mills in West Belfast. The building is now in use as a community and adult education centre, housing numerous local ventures and businesses. It also has a lovely café where we had a huge all-day breakfast!

See here a letter of manifesto written by James Connolly to the ‘Linen Slaves of Belfast’, in 1913:
Manifesto (conwaymill.org)

After visiting Conway Mill, we headed north to visit the Giant’s Causeway. It was blowing a gale this particular day and you can see here the wilds of the beautiful north Antrim coast:

Pádraigín wisely opted to remain in the van while the rest of us headed over to admire the causeway in the driving wind and rain. It was well worth the battle with the elements.

The 40,000 interlocking basalt columns are the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption, but legend held that it was built by Fionn Mac Cumhaill, the hunter warrior of the Fenian Cycle of Irish legends. It was said that Fionn was challenged to a fight by the Scottish giant, Benadonner, and that he built the causeway from Antrim to Scotland in order for them to meet. There are similar basalt columns at the Scottish island of Staffa, in the Inner Hebrides, which probably led to this connection being made in the folktale. One version of the story tells that Fionn Mac Cumhaill won the fight; another version tells that Fionn’s wife, Úna, disguised Fionn as a baby and that when Benadonner saw this ‘baby’, he was terrified at what the father must look like and he fled in terror, destroying the causeway behind him as he left.  

And here’s a clip Saul took, showing the size of the waves and the strenth of the sea – listen for the screams of delight at all the seafoam!
Giant’s Causeway, Co. Antrim – YouTube

We also took a little look around the tiny train station of the diesel-powered tramlike train that runs in the summer from the Giant’s Causeway to Bushmiles, two miles away. The original hydro electric tramway was the first long electric tramway in the world in 1883 and it ran for over 65 years. It was built to the Irish narrow gauge of three feet (0.915m). Unfortunately, there were no trains running the day we visited. However, three volunteers were working on cleaning one of the engines in the shed and, when they saw how fascinated Morgan was and how genuinely interested he was, they allowed him to come in to view some of the work they were doing and to take a closer look at the train. I’m sure they were once young, train-loving boys themselves once upon a time and they recognised a kindred spirit!

After the Giant’s Causeway, we drove east to Ballycastle. Pádraigín spent her childhood summers in this seaside town and I spent a portion of each summer here too, as my grandmother retired here from Belfast in the 1980’s. I remember watching at the shore as helicopters delivered poles and equipment in order for an electricity supply to be established on Rathlin Island, in the 1980’s. The world’s first commercial wireless telegraphy link was established by Marconi between Rathlin Island and Ballycastle in 1898 and Irish was spoken on the island until the 1960’s.

After a delicious fish supper at The Golden Cod in Ballycastle, we headed back down to Belfast.