We spent the day in Belfast on July 28. Belfast was a more cosmopolitan city – at least to me – than I had anticipated. The downtown area had a very modern feeling, and a lot of new construction was evident. A lot has been written about “The Troubles”, which is still evident in some sections of the city, but that tends to obscure the fact that the city is moving on from that troubled time. There are still strongly sectarian neighborhoods populated by Nationals and Unionists, with propaganda visible along those streets, but there is little evidence of these sentiments in the downtown area.
Our tour took us to Belfast Castle in the afternoon. The castle was first constructed in the late 12th century, has been destroyed and rebuilt a few times in the intervening years. It was donated to the city of Belfast in 1934, and now serves as a popular venue for weddings and other public events.
We traveled by bus to the Shankill Road area, the scene for much of the sectarian violence that ended toward the late 1990’s. Walls throughout the area are adorned with graffiti and elaborate images depicting one side or the other’s political positions. I especially liked the sentiment of an anonymous Philly 2025 visitor below.
