Museum of Free Derry and "The Troubles"

While visiting Derry, our group took some time out of our busy schedule to visit the Museum of Free Derry. The purpose of the museum is to tell the story of what happened in the city during the period 1968- 1972, popularly known as ‘the troubles’.

Glenfada Park in disrepair 2005

 The Museum began as a block of flats in Glenfada Park which was the site of many murders during Bloody Sunday in 1972. The building fell into disrepair and was later saved by the Bloody Sunday Trust.

Phase 1 2006

The museum opened in 2007 (phase 1), but was later reconstructed and reopened in early 2017 (phase 2)

Phase 2 2017

 

 

 

 

The newly constructed building is almost twice the size of the previous museum, and holds 20,000 artefacts. The new building also offers space for exhibitions and a class room.

 

 

 

 The museum and its contents are a representation of the struggles the oppressed people of Derry faced. Throughout this time, young Irish people questioned their identity as an Irish person and were faced with the harsh reality that they are in fact looked down on.

like many Irish characters we have read about in class, they didn't simply dismiss their Irish heritage when faced with opposition, they embraced it and fought to keep their culture alive. One thing that has become evident throughout history is, the Irish will never give up and will continue to fight for freedom.

 

 

Photo taken on-site

The Troubles

"The Troubles" are characterized as the civil rights era, Battle of the Bogside, Internment, Bloody Sunday and Operation Motorman.

One event highlighted by the Museum of Free Derry was Bloody Sunday. On January 30^th 1972, a march was organized by the NICRA against the Internment and the ban on marches by the government. The march was organized to be a peaceful march through Derry, but things did not go as planned.

Although the IRA promised to stay away in order to keep the peace, British soldiers put up barricades to prevent the march from entering the city center square, and a little over an hour after the march began, 13 innocent men had died.

The British Army labeled the men they killed as 'bombers' and reported that the young men were armed, but it was later found that all men killed were unarmed civilians.

Bloody Sunday has become a source of international inspiration for the people of Northern Ireland and continues to be an event with great significance in the community. There are murals and monuments commemorating the events taken place that day to remind the people of the history they share and the lives they have lost in order to secure freedom.

If you are ever in Northern Ireland I encourage you to visit the Museum of Free Derry!

 

 

 

More than Religion in Ireland

Early on in the class it occurred to me that I did not have many preexisting beliefs or expectations of the culture of Ireland. Going in, the only expectation I had was that the Irish people and their culture had a strong connection to Catholicism. Being someone who is skeptical of all religion, many questions came to mind about their beliefs. As it turns out I was more uneducated on the subject than I had realized.

Maynooth University

Religion had been mentioned in many of the course readings that lead up to the trip, but it was not until I had read Document B by Robert Bell that I realized my own view of Catholicism was unfair. In some ways Bell reinforced my expectations, commenting on blind faith in the church and the priests.

However, after Bell describes the Irish as being “the most credulous and superstitious than those of any other country” I wondered what differentiates any religion from superstition. My skepticism began to turn more towards Bell than the religion after his use of the derogatory term “popery” illustrated his bias. This brought my own lack of understanding to my attention.

This bias left me wanting to claim his assessment as unfair, but I could not do this without accepting the same criticism of my own expectations.

As it turns out religion was just as prominent on the trip as I had anticipated, but not at all in the way I expected.

Upon learning of the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants I was surprised when I noticed that none of the fighting seemed to be over specific beliefs of either religion. The Irish people were divided into groups and classified by names that did not truly represent the problems.

Though technically it would seem that the terms of Catholic and Protestant do fit the division, they were fighting because of cultural oppression not a difference of religious beliefs.

It seems more fitting to say that the conflict occurs between the Irish that want to be independent (who happen to be Catholic) and those that wish to remain a part of England (who are likely Protestant).

One such conflict was the Battle of the Bogside, which was a riot that took place in Derry, Northern Ireland. It would be easy to simplify these groups down to Catholic and Protestant, yet these titles would not truly reflect the heart of the conflict that was taking place.

To simplify Irish culture down to either Catholic or Protestant would be to overlook many of the finer details present in the history of the land. In truth it is a land rich with culture and passion despite the turmoil and suffering.

My advice to future students hoping to travel to Ireland is to not underestimate or simplify the amount of history present. Both Dublin and Derry are packed with history and knowledge that extend beyond the boundaries of religious differences.

The amount of information present will likely be overwhelming at first, but it is best to retain as much as you can. Though it is true that there will be plenty of people and noise around (more so in Dublin) I recommend taking a few moments along the way to reflect on what you have seen and heard as you are able throughout the trip.

I found that keeping a journal helps with this process, so a pocket sized note pad is strongly recommended. Additional, the places I found to be the best for thinking would be Killarney, Howth, and the Giant’s Causeway.

Finally, the obvious recommendation, keep an out for the safety of your fellow group members and have fun!