Belfast Streets Leave Me Troubled to Make Sense of Violence

Day 64, 2025 European Odyssey

Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025; Belfast, Northern Ireland.

There’s nothing I like better than doing just enough research to scratch the surface and write approximately 700 words about a port. I’ll connect my visit with an earlier one – perhaps to the same port, perhaps to one half-the-world away. I’ll link to some basic history while trying to provide a fresh take.

Today I am stumped. I just spent a few hours walking through Belfast’s recent history on a small-group tour. You’ve probably heard of “The Troubles,” the conflict in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s to 1998. Before today my knowledge didn’t even scratch the surface – I just knew it was a violent conflict between those who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom and those who wanted to join the Republic of Ireland.

After a few hours, I am still hard-pressed to attempt to describe it with any perspective. I’ve come away understanding better the geography where the conflict occurred. But I still have no clear understanding of the nuances that led to it.

I chose a walking tour (Experience Belfast) of the troubled area rather than a taxi or bus tour just driving by. Describing his tour as “Troubles Tour: Walls and Bridges,” our local guide Arthur warned us he wouldn’t tell the story chronologically, but rather jump around as we walked the streets where key events took place. His goal was that by being on the streets where it happened, the scenes might come to life, but it left me a bit confused.

Of course, in the half-century since the Troubles began, and especially since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, some of the streets and neighborhoods have changed, resulting in discordance between the narrative and the sights surrounding us. While Arthur’s stories of the old neighborhoods were compelling and vivid, my photographs show new apartments, service stations and office buildings.

What did leave its mark were the murals. Some reference lives lost during the Troubles, while most make political statements about more recent and even current events. Violence and hatred of the “other” are not limited to Northern Ireland’s Troubles.

The murals cover the walls – sometimes buildings, sometimes physical walls. The four-mile-long peace wall stacks layers of concrete, solid metal panels, bars and finally concertina wire. It still separates the mostly Irish nationalist area from the territory of the loyalists.

Where streets cross, heavy iron barricades are connected by metal gates. I was shocked to learn that last night and every night the gates are closed and locked, even after all these years.

In spite of what I sensed were Arthur’s sympathies with the nationalists, he laid bare the violence and atrocities of both sides. He also spoke of non-physical bridges – boxing and punk music, for example — still trying to bring hope and peace.

Our tour ended near where it began at Donegall Square and the ornate Victorian-styled Belfast City Hall, with a tall statue of Queen Victoria at its entrance. I shook off my lingering sense of melancholy and lack of understanding by shopping for skin care products in the large Boots drugstore. Shops with familiar names (Gucci, Rolex, Zara, Foot Locker) line streets filled with crowds enjoying a Sunday afternoon.

Cruise ships dock farther down the River Lagan, a few miles from the city center. Some independent taxi tours started at the pier, but I bought an $18 ticket for the shuttle to Donegall Square. We passed Titanic Belfast, where the Titanic was built and launched. My 2019 multimedia tour of the museum and docks was outstanding, as was my excursion then to the Giant’s Causeway.

Today having arrived at Donegall Square about an hour before my tour, I wanted to have coffee at Daisies Belfast, a nearby chocolatier. Unfortunately, it was closed on Sunday mornings, but I did get a photo of its storefront for my good friend Daisy (who lovingly adopted my cats when I headed to sea three years ago).

Back on the ship, I enjoyed another dinner at Tamarind, the ship’s pan-Asian specialty restaurant. I’ve been working my way through its menu this summer, but tonight decided to make a dinner of my favorite starters: the Taste of Tamarind sampler of shrimp tempura, Korean beef bulgogi taco, lumpiang Shanghai and lamb and port satay, followed by an entrée-sized Thai beef salad.