Kyle's Ireland Trip: Week Eleven - Northern Ireland Trip

Pottery From Belleek

This week we took a trip to the Northern part of Ireland. The Northern part of Ireland is part of the England and is somewhat separated from the Ireland as a whole. The reason that I saw it is somewhat separated from the Ireland is because there is no border control or check points to cross, there is just an invisible line. Our first stop was to Belleek Pottery. This is an interesting Pottery manufacture in the sense that there are twelve different artisans that work on each piece of pottery. Seeing how each piece of pottery has been made was very interesting. I am not an artsy person so I was more interested in the history of the factory rather than the pottery itself. Our next stop was to Ulster American Park. This park gave a glimpse of how the Irish people lived before the time of the potato famine. I really enjoyed the my time here learning about the history of early Irish Immigrants. This was only the one half of the park the other half was about the Irish immigrants when they landed in America. We got to see the transition they faced when getting off the ship at port. The transition would have been very usual and different from the lives that they had previously been living. For instance getting off the ship they would be surrounded by stores that would be selling all sorts of different things. Our last stop was in the city of Belfast. This city was one of the larger cities that we have been too, due to the fact that it is a large shipping port. Many people have warned me about going into the northern part of Ireland and to be careful who I talk too and who approaches me. But I have had the privilege to go to the north during a time when peace negotiations have been happening for many years now. However I will note that the time that I spent in Belfast I felt a lot of tension. This tension that I felt while in Belfast is due to how divided the city is because of religion. The city has been separated into Protestant and Catholic pieces that are fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. Fortunately for my fellow classmates and myself we were able to travel around Belfast and back to our home away from home with no trouble at all.