A Prison, A Road, A Wall and food

Arrggghhh. In Dingle and the MacBook seems to be having issues with iPhoto. I'm hoping the reboot resolves the problems but given the age of the laptop one can never be sure. Anyway, more than a day behind in posting. What a surprise?! Not. Here are pictures from Sunday when Bernie and I went to prison, saw Shankill Road and had dinner.  

Crumlin Road Gaol (gaol is jail)

J and D thought of your collection while in the gift shop but refrained

Prisoner 2013

Her buds

And we are off on the 1:30pm tour.  Led my the affable Lucy!

This is the room you were first brought into where you stripped.

When Lucy said something about prisoners with tatoos this tour member wondered about her beau.

Then down the stairs to the Tunnel where prisoners were transported to their cells. 

What ghosts

The execution room.  Interestingly enough instead of being outside or underground this chamber was actually right off the room where the prisoner came for last rights, etc.  Some stayed in that room for weeks before their execution never knowing what was behind the second door in the cell.

Lucy explaining the art of hanging.  How professional executioners needed to be used.  Rope had to be an appropriate weight, noose properly tied and adjusted on the condemn's neck, etc.

Otherwise instead of breaking the neck insuring instant death, one strangled, slowly and painfully and occasionally were decapitated.

Bernie staring down into where the bodies dropped below

And did I mention corporal punishment with the cat o nine tails?

So yes I'll leave you hanging until I have had breakfast.

Two breakfasts actually as I am more than a day behind in posting.

Hard to keep up.  What follows are a continuation of Sunday in Belfast with B.

After our visit to the Crumlin Road Gaol Bernie asked our taxi driver, Junior to take us to see Shankill Road. An old Belfast neighborhood it's history has been on of strife, especially during The Troubles. Protestants and Catholics live in Shankill but are separated by a peace wall. An interesting commentary from my perspective in the completely different looks of the wall on each side.

We started on the Protestant side.

Memorial to Jackie Coulter member of the C Company of the UDA,

the Ulster Defence Association which was established in 1971

King William 

A popular UDA Pub

I signed the wall

The wall.

Hopeful

Graffitied

Now the Catholic Side

Commemorating the IRA, Ex Prisoners, Political Activists of Clonard

Falls Road runs through W Belfast and is known for it's freedom and peace murals. The most famous is the Bobby Sands Mural

 He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in Prison Maze.  An IRA member. 

Headquaters

Yep Frederick Douglas and Obama

This one conveys solidarity between Palestine and Irish POWS

This is our wonderful cab driver Junior ending our tour and heading over to drop us off for dinner at Mourne's Seafood

Bernie had tried to book us in on Saturday night but first opening was 10pm. I don't think so. Place was open but was closing at 6pm so turned out it was THE perfect day to visit.

B texting something to some one.  Work never stops for her.

Have no clue why neither of us snapped a picture of the food but let me just say every frigging morsel of it was wonderful. We had oysters, mussels, shrimp and I had a bowl of the best seafood chowder I've ever had anywhere.

Did I mention the sticky toffee pudding?  Yikes!

Happy, Happy, Happy