Last month, we spent a week in Ireland with our friends Sarah and Kelan! We started in County Donegal in the northwest of the island before heading east into Northern Ireland — a few hours in Derry/Londonderry and then a few days in Belfast. While I’d passed through Belfast for an afternoon in the past, on my way to the Giant’s Causeway for the first time, I hadn’t done much other than visit the Titanic Museum.
On this visit, we had a lot more time to explore Belfast! And one of the things I knew I didn’t want to miss out on was a Belfast Black Cab Tour. These tours help visitors learn about Belfast’s history and the history of Northern Ireland as a whole. Having read Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe last summer, I was super interested to see all the places in Belfast where history was happening in the book.
So, here’s what you need to know about Belfast and why you can’t miss out on a Belfast Black Cab Tour.
Northern Ireland and The Troubles
Ireland is an island, located to the west of the island of Great Britain. But politically, the island of Ireland is made up of two countries. The Republic of Ireland is its own independent country — what we typically just call “Ireland.” In the northeast part of the island, there’s Northern Ireland, which is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom (along with England, Scotland, and Wales). Confused yet? 🙂
Ireland and Northern Ireland were involved in a conflict called “The Troubles” for about 30 years — from about 1968 until 1998. The Troubles were largely related to Northern Ireland’s relationship with the United Kingdom. Those who wanted Northern Ireland to be part of the UK were the unionists or loyalists; those who wanted Northern Ireland to be united with the Republic of Ireland were the nationalists or republicans. These affiliations fell almost directly along religious lines as well, with unionists typically identifying as Ulster Protestants, while nationalists identified as Irish Catholic.
Northern Ireland was officially formed in 1921, but the living conditions for Catholics living there were tough. They faced systemic discrimination in housing, jobs, and voting. With the civil rights movement in the United States gaining momentum in the 1960s, it inspired similar protests and marches in Northern Ireland. But eventually these marches turned into violent clashes between protesters, opposition groups, and the police. The British army was deployed to get things under control, but it only ended up escalating tensions and violence further.
Over the next 30 years, a variety of paramilitary groups on both sides of the conflict fought, killing each other and often killing innocent civilians as well. Terrorist attacks spread throughout Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and even in England. Paramilitary leaders were jailed, went on hunger strikes, died or were released or escaped. More than 3,500 people were killed as a direct result of The Troubles.
Belfast During The Troubles and Today
Belfast is the capital of Northern Ireland, and it played a crucial role in The Troubles. Between bombings and assassinations, a heavy military presence, and strong sectarian divides between the neighborhoods, Belfast was the heart of the conflict in terms of daily violence and division.
These divisions manifested physically in two main neighborhoods: Shankill Road and Falls Road. Shankill is a Protestant, unionist community, and Falls is a Catholic, nationalist community. Throughout The Troubles, these neighborhoods were often violently targeted by paramilitary attacks from the opposing side.
The loyalist (Protestant/unionist) paramilitary groups were the Ulster Defense Association (UDA) and Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). I say “were,” but the truth is that these groups are still alive… just much quieter than before. Ulster, by the way, is an ancient Irish province, most of which now makes up Northern Ireland.
In 1972, which was the deadliest year of The Troubles, the UVF detonated a bomb in a popular nationalist bar called McGurk’s. While they had allegedly planned to bomb a different pub that was linked to the IRA, security outside meant they couldn’t get in — so they went to McGurk’s instead. When the bomb detonated, the building collapsed and 15 innocent civilians were killed, including two children. 17 more people were wounded.
The republican (Catholic/nationalist) paramilitary group was the Irish Republican Army (IRA). However, there were several factions of the IRA over time as the “original” IRA gave way to the Provisional IRA, which was most active during The Troubles, and the “Real” IRA was formed in 1997 just as the conflict started coming to an end. Just like the UDA/UVF, some form of the IRA still exists today.
The Provisional IRA was responsible for the Shankill Road Bombing in 1993, which was intended to assassinate UDA leaders, who were allegedly meeting in a local fish shop. When two IRA members entered the shop, disguised as deliverymen, the bomb detonated prematurely and killed eight innocent civilians, including two children, and more than 50 people were wounded.
The Troubles officially ended with the Good Friday Agreement (also sometimes known as the Belfast Agreement) on April 10, 1998, which brought an end to most partisan violence in Ireland and Northern Ireland. But Belfast hasn’t forgotten the past, and the Shankill Road and Falls Road communities really haven’t forgotten — memories of The Troubles are everywhere.
Black Cab Tour Belfast Experience
We booked our Black Cab Tour Belfast experience for our last day, a rainy Saturday morning. It was actually a great rainy-day activity because you spend the majority of time inside the car or van, depending on the type of vehicle you get. Our driver/tour guide, Eugene, picked us up at our hotel and explained where we would be visiting: The Shankill Road neighborhood, Falls Road neighborhood, and the Peace Walls.
Keep in mind that every Black Cab Tour will be slightly different, depending on what you book, but these are likely the main areas you will visit.
What You’ll See in the Shankill and Falls Neighborhoods
The Shankill and Falls Neighborhoods are both still deeply segregated to this day, and it’s not hard to see where loyalties lie. That’s because both neighborhoods are full of iconography related to their respective paramilitary groups, as well as plain old sectarian pride.
While the UDA, UVF, and IRA may not be very active these days, you might not know it from a drive through this part of Belfast. For example, there are UDA badges proudly displayed on the sides of buildings in the Shankill neighborhood. And there are Easter Lilies in the Falls neighborhood, which are associated with the IRA and remembering IRA martyrs.
But here’s a fun fact: the UDA, UVF, and IRA are all considered “proscribed terrorist organisations” in the United Kingdom, which means it is illegal to belong to, support, promote, or fund these groups. However, the displays mentioned above are tolerated despite technically being illegal. With the unionists and nationalists seeming to stick to their own (segregated) neighborhoods, there doesn’t appear to be a threat of violence. Though it makes you wonder… who are these symbols for?
Shankill Road Neighborhood
Our first stop on the tour was the “Welcome to Shankill Road” mural. Eugene explained that many of the murals we’d see in the Shankill neighborhood would use a blue and red color palette, in accordance with the colors of the flag of the United Kingdom — and this mural was our first example. He also pointed out that despite the seemingly “Welcome” message of the mural, in which the word “Welcome” is written in 18 languages, Irish is NOT one of the languages. Of course, the Irish language would be more associated with the nationalist side.
“You’re saying ‘Welcome,’ but you can’t even say it in the language of your neighbors.”
Next, we stopped at a mural to the UDA paramilitary commander, Stevie McKeag. I was going to go into a lot of detail about each of the murals, but then I realized if I share too much, you have no reason to go on the tour yourself. 😉
As we continued through the neighborhood, Eugene drew our attention to some homes that were absolutely covered in tiny little flags — the flag of the United Kingdom. Each year on July 12, Ulster Protestants celebrate the 1690 victory of the Protestant King William of Orange over the Catholic King James II, which was one of the main reasons that Protestants became a majority in Ulster. Despite the fact that it was nearly a month until “The Twelfth,” people were going all out getting ready.
The last murals we saw in the Shankill area were to King William of Orange and Queen Elizabeth II. Of course, the mural for William of Orange went against the trend of the red and blue coloring.
Peace Wall
Next, we made a stop at Belfast’s famous Peace Walls. These walls were originally constructed to keep the two neighborhoods separate, and they were initially supposed to be temporary. But since they worked so well, they kept them up — and kept building them higher, longer, and wider.
At the area of the Peace Walls we visited, at Conway Street and Cupar Way, there were high fences extending up above the walls. And just on the other side are the backyards of a Catholic neighborhood. In fact, their backyards are almost completely enclosed in fences, to protect them from anything that may be thrown over the wall.
Most of the walls are in Belfast, but some extend outside the city. In total, there are more than 20 miles (32 km) of Peace Walls, and there are 11 gates that allow you to pass from one side of the barricade from the other. But the gates are often staffed by police, and the gates close at sundown — illustrating how sectarian tension is still very much alive today.
Falls Road Neighborhood
Then, it was time to cross into the Falls Road neighborhood. One thing that we noticed after Eugene pointed it out was that the largest nationalist displays were more focused on IRA martyrdom, rather than militaristic images like we’d seen from the unionists. Although we did see a few smaller republican militaristic murals here and there.
Our first stop was the Clonard Martyrs Memorial off Bombay Street. It wasn’t a mural, but more like a memory garden. (You can also see the peace wall fence in the background.)
The largest display of nationalist murals we saw was at the corner of Falls Road and Northumberland Street. Here, at the “International Wall” or “Solidarity Wall,” you’ll find a stretch of more than 20 murals side-by-side. These murals celebrate the republican cause and memorialize those who died or were imprisoned for it. And while they have always shown solidarity with other liberation, the wall is currently dedicated almost entirely to Palestine.
And our final stop in the Falls neighborhood was Belfast’s most famous mural: The Bobby Sands Mural. (You’ll see it at the very top of this article!) Again, I won’t go into the story so you can learn on your own visit, but Bobby Sands was definitely a martyr for the republican cause, having died in prison during a hunger strike.
Final Thoughts on Belfast and the Black Cab Tour
In several visits to Ireland over the years, I’ve become so much more interested in Irish/North Irish history and learning about The Troubles — which is also partly due to the Say Nothing book I mentioned earlier, as well as watching Derry Girls. And because it is all fairly recent history, it means that it’s still so alive in everyday life. Which you can very much see in Belfast.
For this reason, I’m so glad we went on the Black Cab Tour to have the opportunity to visit the communities and see the impact of history on everyday life. Our tour guide told us that the population of Belfast is still very polarized — you pretty much have to choose one side or the other. And it didn’t take us long to figure out which “side” he belonged to, though he did a pretty good job of sharing both sides of the story.
It just made it clear that there really is no way to get a 100% unbiased perspective on The Troubles — but you can come visit for yourself, and draw your own conclusions.
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Have you ever read Say Nothing (or watched the TV show) or considered visiting Belfast? What have you learned about The Troubles through your own research or experiences? Let me know in the comments!
-Cathy
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