Stormont and other places

Tuesday, July 28

Margaret had organized for us to be given a private tour of Stormont, the Northern Ireland Parliament building, on Tuesday, so we chartered a bus and traveled up to Belfast, where Stormont is located on a very formidable hill (we were very glad we didn't have to walk up the hill!). Here's a picture of Stormont that I took from the bus:

Our tour guide told us that after the Belfast Blitz during WWII the building was painted black with tar and cow manure, and the roads leading up to it were painted green so German bombers couldn't locate it at night. Coincidentally the city was never bombed (during the war) again, and it took years for the building to be put back (as close as possible) to its original state.

We were taken into the Assembly Chamber and the Senate Chamber, where the two branches of government meet, but photography is not allowed in those rooms. In the Senate Chamber was a cool sign thanking the government for use the of the room as an operations room by the Royal Air Force in WWII.

This is the main entrance hall. The Assembly Chamber is off to the left from the center of the room and the Senate Chamber is off to the right.

This is the main chandelier, the rest are smaller and replicas, but this one was actually a gift given to Windsor Castle by Kaiser Wilhelm II prior to WWI. Here's what the Stormont website says about it:

The central chandelier is the largest of the five that illuminate the Great Hall, the others being scaled down copies. It was originally a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm to his uncle Edward VII before the First World War. After hanging in the apartments of Windsor Castle for a number of years, it was then presented to the Government of Northern Ireland for the opening of Parliament Buildings.

Weighing just over one third of a ton, the chandelier is one of the most prominent features in the Great Hall. It is made from cast iron guilded with 24-carat gold and has cut crystal drip trays. The Imperial Golden Eagles at its base highlight the chandelier's German origin.

The four smaller chandeliers are made from aluminium and gilded with gold, serving as replicas of the central one but in miniature.

Also, the room was painted with a special waxing process and has required no touch-ups.

The view from the front of Stormont, and the hill we almost had to climb to reach the building.

Mosby and I with our info packets.

We got back on our bus and traveled to Castle Hill in Dungannon. The castle is no longer there but it was a very important spot because of its vantage points.

This was the saddest part of our day. Sean McGuigan, our tour guide, brought us to this cemetary where his friends and former IRA volunteers are buried (their graves are in the picture). Sean is also a former IRA volunteer who was arrested at age 18 and spent 8 1/2 years in prison and participated in the blanket protests. He's now a city councilman and works for peace via politics, however we've talked to people since who consider him no more than a terrorist.