Report: A visit to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland

In Hilary term 2022, second-year History student Michael Zajac travelled to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, with the help of an Undergraduate Travel Grant.

During this trip, I was able to visit numerous museums, landmarks, and monuments across both Dublin and Belfast.

The Little Museum of Dublin offered an engaging and humorous insight into the history of Dublin across various centuries, with the tour based on singing and acting performances from the guides. Nonetheless, the tour provided some very useful specific details and insights into some key events in Dublin such as the 1916 Easter Rising.

It was very interesting to enter the General Post Office (GPO) where the Irish Volunteers had been based during the Rising. Even the gift shop in the GPO offered a fascinating insight into Irish Nationalism, with numerous books written on Nationalist heroes such as Pearse, de Valera and Parnell marketed for very young children, with these biographies written in an entirely pro-Nationalist manner. It was evident that the events of 1870-1921 were still remembered and discussed vividly amongst people in Dublin.

The Jeanie Johnston Famine experience offered me the opportunity to enter a replica of the Jeanie Johnston and explore the vessel. I was given an insight into the realities of the Irish famine and the experiences of those who emigrated away from Ireland. The EPIC Emigration Museum provided an interactive experience to consider the stories of hundreds of Irish people who had emigrated and made lasting differences to our current world. The Museum helped me to consider Irish culture through the lens of emigration.

I was also fortunate enough to have a day trip from Dublin to visit the Cliffs of Moher, Galway, and the Burren National Park. The cliffs were spectacular and the views from O’Brien’s Tower were truly impressive. Visiting the Burren National Park and walking amongst the flora was also a great experience. The last stop on the tour was Galway, which was a great city filled with culture with a great atmosphere. Simply exploring the city with the bustling streets and live music was a hugely enjoyable and rewarding experience.

After visiting other Dublin monuments such as Trinity College Dublin, Dublin Castle, and Temple Bar, I then visited Belfast. Ulster Museum was very useful as it had numerous exhibitions which were relevant and insightful for both my Further Subject and History of the British Isles paper. Looking at the propaganda used by both the nationalist and unionist causes, in terms of posters, cartoons and speeches proved to be very useful and I took notes of certain statistics and quotations to use in my future essays on Ireland. The museum also had great knowledge and detail on Ireland’s experience of the Glorious Revolution which I have since applied to my first essay for my History of the British Isles V paper.

Visiting the Belfast Peace Wall was also a very interesting experience to see the impact and legacy of the Northern Irish Troubles. At the Catholic memorial on Bombay Street, I was approached by a local Catholic man who lived on the road. For ten minutes he spoke about Ireland’s struggle against the English, giving me an 800-year summary of Ireland’s experiences. His account was very interesting and demonstrated to me the resilience and formidability of the Irish national question.

Thus, the trip was very enjoyable and offered me a great opportunity to explore the island of Ireland and enrich my knowledge of Irish history. I am very grateful for the generosity of the college in giving me this opportunity to supplement my knowledge for my Further Subject on Nationalism, Politics and Culture in Ireland 1870-1921, as well as for my History of the British Isles V 1685-1830 paper; I believe this trip contributed to my recent collection, which received a first.