King Billy's On the Wall!

Yesterday evening, I went out of my element to go and see firsthand the Ulster Protestant celebrations surrounding the Williamite history and July 12th. In Northern Ireland every year, and in pockets across the world, the Orange Order and the Protestant Unionist community celebrate their "Britishness" through the celebrations of July Twelfth. This day historically marks the Battle of the Boyne, when Prince William of Orange (soon to become King William III of Great Britain) defeated James the Second, the Catholic monarch of Britain at the time. The victory is seen by Northern Ireland Protestants today as a great victory for their ancestors and religion against the despotic Catholic Irish. And so, to celebrate every year, they parade, and march, and have large bonfires commemorating the event.


Last night, the Protestant Sandy Row district of Belfast staged their annual Orange Order march, leading up to July Twelfth, and I decided to brave it and go see for myself these highly contentious and triumphalist parades. 


There were ten Orange Lodges that participated in the event, from around Belfast, and each lodge also has its fife and drum bands which march. Supporters lined the streets in preparation for the march, waving Union Jacks and Protestant Ulster flags, and singing Unionist songs. The police and security forces had to block of the streets around Sandy Row to prevent any clashes that could potentially occur with Irish Catholic nationalists out in opposition to the event, but I was able to get into the area and find a front row position to watch them gather for the parade and then march. I was a little intimidated, and it probably wasn't the smartest place to be-- the working class Protestants of the Sandy Row district are generally a bit edgy about outsiders, and the Ulster Volunteer Force (one of the Loyalist Paramilitaries) is still active in the area. I did get a few dirty looks when I pulled my camera out, and one skin-head looking guy with a bunch of pro-British tattoos did say something to me at one point, but I just moved away up the street from him and didn't have any issues. 

Raising up young Ulster Protestants to be just like their Orange Order fathers... I'm not sure that's a good thing.

"King Billy's on the Wall"

There's a famous unionist song associated with the Twelfth that the people of the Sandy Row were singing last night as they prepared for the parade- 

"Well there's a famous painting that everybody knows

It stands upon a gable wall over at Sandy Row
In memory of King William and brothers who did join
They fought for our deliverance at the Battle of the Boyne.

King Billy's on the wall
King Billy's on the wall
He stands so high, he shines so bright
He lights up the Falls (referring to the Catholic Falls Road)
There's millions come to see him, they stand and gaze in awe
They remember 1690, King Billy's on the wall."

History Being Made

Yesterday, I got to be in Belfast as history was made. Queen Elizabeth arrived on Tuesday in Northern Ireland as part of her Diamond Jubilee tour throughout Great Britain. On Tuesday she first made history by visiting a catholic church in Enniskillen while visiting this historic town. Yesterday, the Queen arrived in Belfast to meet with Martin McGuinness, and other dignitaries at the Lyric Theatre, in South Belfast. Michael D. Higgins, the Irish president, and the First Minister of Northern Ireland, Peter Robinson, were also present, but the spotlight was on Martin McGuinness and the Queen as a significant step forward in peace process. Martin McGuinness, as well as being Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, served as the IRA Commander during "The Troubles." Her majesty and Mr. McGuinness had never met before, and there was obvious tension, seeing that he had been responsible for the death of the Queen's own uncle, Lord Mountbatten, when his yacht was blown out of the water near Donegal Bay in 1979. Martin McGuinness and the Sinn Fein party had refused to recognized the Queen's visit to Ireland last summer as well, in a political statement against continued occupation of the North.


The two put differences aside yesterday, however, as they met and shook hands. It is reported that McGuinness went so far as to greet the Queen in the Gaelic Irish, and something about the Troubles and the Peace Process was said in passing. The stipulation of the meeting was that it was not considered to be part of the Jubilee festivities, as Sinn Fein does not recognize that the Jubilee should be celebrated in Northern Ireland. The meeting went well, however, it was completely closed off from the public for security reasons on all sides. A mile perimeter was maintained from the public around the venue of the historic meeting, as extremist loyalists and republicans were both upset at the step forward. 

There was no getting around the police barricades around the 

meeting with Mr. McGuinness

The venue of the historic meeting- Lyric Theatre

Later in the day, the Queen went on to Stormont, the seat of government in Northern Ireland, where she celebrated at a Diamond Jubilee event attended by 20,000 people. In this location, it was thought safe enough for her to appear publicly, as all the people admitted had been screened before being allowed in and the secluded nature of Stormont in general.

Many were excited for their Queen's visit:

Houses were decked out to the tune of "Rule Britannia" 

throughout the Loyalist areas of the city

Cheering Crowds welcomed their Queen in the streets 

of Belfast, despite her inability to appear publicly, due to

security concerns

Others were very angry about the Queen coming to Belfast:

Graffiti along the walls of the Falls Road District- the Irish Catholic

 neighborhood segregated by the Peace Wall

For those who can't see close enough, it reads "Send the Brit

Queen Packing, Back to the Depths of Hades- You're Not Welcome

Here." These banners were up all over the Irish Nationalist areas, on 

telephone poles and held up by protesters. 

Protesters outside City Hall, asking about the lost victims 

of the Troubles

Protesters along the main route that the royal entourage would 

have had to travel

A very moving image could be seen on the hillside above 

Belfast, near the spot where the United Irishmen first met to

discuss the dream of an Irish Republic in the late 1700s. 

It reads ÉRIU IS OUR QUEEN. Eiru is the ancient personification of Mother Ireland, and beside the giant coloured Irish flag, it was meant to be a symbol to be seen from anywhere in the city as well as from the air. 

Regardless where your religion or politics lie, whether Irish Nationalist or Ulster Unionist, Catholic or Protestant, the day marked a historical event in the move forward for Northern Ireland, as the leader of the Sinn Fein party and the Queen of Great Britain were able to meet and be cordial to one another. There is hope that the situation will maintain its stability to a point where a lasting peace is possible. Still a long way to go, but there is hope. 

A Hostel Environment...

      It really is something, living in one of these backpacking hostels. You get the strangest mix of people you could ever imagine. I'm currently staying at Lagan's backpackers hostel, near Queens University, South Belfast. I'm in a bunkie room with several other people, then there's the all girls bunkie down the hall.
      An Afrikaans immigrant named William is running it; he's a white Boer who left after the fall of apartheid, so that tells you something. Then, the residents... There are two Canadian girls backpacking through the British Isles all summer, a French couple doing something similar, a girl from Cork up for a few days of sight-seeing, me, doing my interviews, a few Germans, and then one other dumb American who didn't realize that he couldn't take a bus to Scotland from here. There are a few other young people from the States who have "forsaken the American way" and are touring Europe on their parents' credit cards for six months. The hipster type that hate "the system" but couldn't explain what that meant if you asked them. 
      Overall, its always interesting to stay in one of these student/backpacker hostels for cheap. You never quite know what you'll get. Typically, there are the Europeans, touring for cheap and sightseeing along the way, and then there are a few pseudo-intellectual American students that talk about philosophy and occupying Wall Street. I try to differentiate myself from this latter group as much as possible, but it is always an experience. On the upside, our friend William serves a hot breakfast of eggs and sausages, and there is internet to post on the blog. Also, its in a good location for a lot of my interviews, and in a non-sectarian district of the city, so I don't have to worry about that. 

Into the North

Back in bleak Belfast again, and true to form it is a cold, miserable day in the capital city of the Troubles. I met with the head of the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland this afternoon in Ballyclare, north of the city. It is a Ulster Unionist Hotbed, with Union Jacks flying from every household and pictures of the Queen in every window. Now I am back in Belfast for a night, staying in a hostel along the River Lagan. Another busy day tomorrow of research and interviews. Cheers!

The Final Day in France

The third and final day that Alex and I were in Paris, we packed in another full day, trying to get as much in as possible. After waking up we caught the metro line up to Saint-Denis and the basilica there. This basilica is famous as the final resting place for most of the French monarchs and sits on the sight where the patron saint of France (Saint Denis) was laid to rest. After a full morning of touring the abbey and the church, we returned to the center of the city for one last Parisian meal. After lunch, we went to the National Residence of the Invalids-- a large complex that was originally built to house and care for veterans of Frances wars, but now serves as home to the French Military Museum and the mausoleum of Napoleon Bonaparte. After touring this museum complex for the afternoon, we had to rush to catch our bus back to the airport, picking up some baguettes as a quick and cheap substitute for dinner. Safely making it back to Ireland and the O'Deas, I saw Alex off the next morning as he flew on from Dublin. It was a great trip to France, Paris is quite the city and I really enjoyed seeing some of the highlights there for a few days. 

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The Basilica of Saint Denis

The basilica and abbey at Saint-Denis has served the royalty of France as a mass mausoleum since the time of Dagobert I, when this Merovingian king of the Franks was buried there in 639 A.D. Since that time, the vast majority of French monarchs and their spouses have been interred at Saint-Denis.

Tomb of Dagobert I

The monarchs interred at Saint Denis are held in beautiful cadaver-tombs, with their effigies represented on the stone lids of these sarcophagi. 

King Louis the Sixteenth and his queen, Mary Antoinette, were not initially buried at Saint Denis after their execution by the French revolutionaries, but their remains were eventually gathered and re-interred in the basilica with the rest of the monarchs.

Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette

The history of Saint Denis, however, goes back further than the royal necropolis there. Denis, the patron saint of France, supposedly chose this spot for his own burial site. As the legend goes, he was the Bishop of Paris around 250 A.D. Angering the pagans in Paris at the time, he was seized and beheaded on the hill of Montmartre. After his decapitation, however, his body reached down and picked up his head. He carried it in his hands to the site that would become Saint Denis, where he finally collapsed and died. The head and heart of this patron saint are said to be held in the high alter of the church, while his body lies below its foundation. 

The High Altar of Saint Denis

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The Residence of the Invalids and the National Military Museum

The National Military Museum of France, located in the old veterans' hospital and resident complex, displays many artifacts and weaponry from France's glorious military tradition, dating from the Middle Ages, through the Bourbon Era, the Napoleonic Wars, French Imperialism, and the World Wars. It was very neat, I really enjoyed it, and saw some very great stuff in there, including many of Napoleon's personal effects.

Above: Several of Napoleon's uniforms from his various campaigns, Napoleon's 

swords, and his own telescope. The grey coat and hat in the center were worn

by Napoleon during his great defeat at Waterloo. 

Chapel altar (right)

Tomb of Ferdinand Foch (left)

The Chapel at Invalids is also the final resting place of many of France's most famous generals, including Ferdinand Foch of World War One fame, Turenne the Sun King's lead man, and Vauban, the famous defense strategist. The chapel also houses the Bonaparte brothers, Joseph and Jerome. Their more famous brother's tomb is located in the center of the building.

Tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte