My grandmother was born in Derry, Northern Ireland. I went for a visit in 1994. I was able to see where she grew up and meet her first cousin Molly. Molly's granddaughter Leona went to a "mixed" high school (protestants and Catholics). Against her grandmother's wishes of course. We were staying on the protestant side of town. When we arrived at Molly's house, apparently in a "protestant cab," we were assigned a Catholic long lost relative as our cab driver for the rest of the visit. Of course the hotel staff then saw us arrive in a "catholic cab." I have no idea how they knew but they did, somehow. To top it all off, my mother kept saying "Derry" in the protestant part of town and "London Derry" in the catholic part. Her mixup sounds innocent enough, except of course that our visit was 4 weeks after the first cease fire in 1994. Derry had seen peace longer than Belfast, but still.
Today I see in the Washington Post that the IRA has announced an end to their armed campaign? Thanks be to God!! I pray it is so and that peace finally comes to this troubled land.
And as we know, peace is contagious. First Northern Ireland, then Palestine & Israel? Iraq?
Let's get busy praying folks. That all God's children will knock it off, behave, and learn to get along like the big global family that we are.
Peace, like prayer, is good for you.
3 comments:
It's a wee bit better now.
In fact, two of my sisters-in-law live on the Waterside and are surrounded by Protestants and Catholics in roughly equal measure. That was not the case in 1994, and was certainly not the case in 1978 when I got married at St. Patrick's Pennyburn and no one knew that I was not a Catholic until I was turned away at Mass -- at my own wedding, no less. I later converted (though I have lately begun to wonder why), but the late 70s were the days of brutal sectarian killings and we honeymooned in Donegal just to be safe.
That was 27 years ago now (on Thursday, actually) and in the years since Derry has been utterly transformed. I took my son, now 20 and named after Derry's patron saint, on what became an oddly nostalgic walk through the Bogside last Christmas, past the now-demolished high-rise flats where I would take him in stroller to watch the riots when he was young (and yes, it was not a smart thing to do, but it has given him great stories to tell) and up through the Creggan where I would not venture until recently. We even stopped in The Dungloe and saw Martin McGuinness, the brave and wonderful Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein, having a pint. True, Protestants have almost disappeared from the Cityside, but you no longer see Saracens racing through the streets or hear occasional gunfire or have to worry overmuch about driving down the Lecky Road.
There are lots of "protestant taxis" now, though you can still get a black taxi (forever associated with the IRA)in front of Bradley's at the bottom of the Strand. As I have learned from my brothers-in-law, taxis are much better than designated drivers as now everyone can drink, and do so immoderately in the Irish tradition.
The city has an air of prosperity about it that is recent but I think quite welcome by everyone. Much of the city centre had to be rebuilt after the IRA bombing campaigns of the 70s and 80s, and though some of the new architecture is ghastly, Derry is today a fully-functioning city. I think it is one of the most beautiful places on earth -- even in the rain, which is constant for much of the year -- but its residents suffered for many years to bring it back from the dead.
I go back almost every year and would have to say that over the past four or five I have noticed a decline in Mass attendance, and with that, a falling away of interest in matters of faith and denomination. This is anecdotal, really, but the Northern Irish are even more exhausted with terrorism than we are in here in the States and seem at last prepared to put the worst of their tribal differences aside. I actually think it will last -- all the false glamour that used to attach to being at one with the 'hard men' seems to me to have disappeared. I have been disappointed before, but I cannot remember the last time my mother-in-law mentioned a bombing or a kidnapping or a sectarian murder. The signs are mostly hopeful
Wow! Thanks for the update on Derry, John!!!!
Even in 1994 it was being transformed. Especially compared to Belfast. I had never been there before, but you could see hopeful signs of peace and prosperity. I'm so glad it has continued.
I'm a Dubliner myself and I'm hopeful that peace will finally be secure for our island.
I've blogged about it quite alot over the last week:
http://unitedirelander.blogspot.com
Apologies for that shameless self-plug.;) I like your site though. Good stuff.
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