September 26, 2012

LAST DAY IN IRELAND

Today I would spend part of the day at PRONI, the Public Records Office for Northern Ireland.

But ... as we finished breakfast, I decided to call the phone number from Friar's Bush. I spoke to a receptionist and told her of my interest and she subsequently forwarded my call to someone on the Belfast City Council.  I told that person that I was a writer from Colorado and would only be in town that day and that I was curious about the cemetery and its history. I was surprised when she asked if I could meet someone there at 3:00. Wow!

I spent the morning at PRONI. The building is very tight and secure and I had to produce my passport and put all of my stuff except my notebook and pencil in a locked locker, even my jacket. Proceeding to the second floor records room, it was a little audacious. PRONI contains many church records (some of which are online) but the official births, deaths, etc. record is in another building in Belfast.  My problem is in going back to the mid and late 1700's is that many records were lost or destroyed (why hang onto them, right?); also, many citizens could not write and thus signed their name with an x.

I started by search through the manual listing all of the Presbyterian churches in Ireland for which there are records.  I had the names of Rev. Martin's parishes (leader of the 5 ships) and also some additional nearby parishes, so I started with that. After you find what you are looking for in the book, you go to a computer and put in a search for that record (a names search for James Kirk did some names but I don't think it was the right area). The record has a title and you then fill out a paper requesting access to that record.  I asked for the record for Kilraughts  (which was one of the parishes), knowing that the records only began about 1811, but hoping to find a trace of the fourth brother. I then had to go to another room where I was given a table # where I had to sit and then went to the desk where I was handed a very old fragile book with information written in for this church in old handwriting (very small) - additionally, there was a packet with photocopies of the same records.  This was very difficult; finally, the assistant brought me a magnifying glass. I spent a lot of time on this and found nothing productive, and back to the reading room again, where I looked at some other records on microfilm.

The day had actually turned nice and very sunny. After lunch at the PRONI cafeteria, I took a city bus to the city centre in order to make my way back to the University area. In a conversation with a young woman on the bus, she told me that she was walking to the University and would be happy to walk with  me. Katrina (don't you love her name?) and I had a lovely walk and the day had turned quite warm.

I arrived at the cemetery at exactly 3 p.m. where another couple and an employee of the City Council were waiting.   We had a fabulous tour. Friar's Bush is Belfast's oldest Christian burial ground (Catholic). It derives its name from the old hawthorn tree (the trysting thorn) in the center of the site, where Catholics, to escape detection, gathered in secret to celebrate mass.

The story goes that the priest would row up the Lagan River to a fording point and enter the property from the rear. Folklore tells that he was killed by the militia from the front of the property as he finished mass. 

In penal times, as peasants tell,
A friar came with book and bell,
To chant his mass each Sabbath morn
Beneath Strath-mills' trysting thorn.

The oldest grave known dates back to 1717, that of Thomas Gibson. However,beside the hawthorn tree is a circular stone (not a grave marker) with three crudely cut crosses and a hollow near the top. This stone may have been used by friars celebrating mass, and many researchers believe it may date to be 1500's or before.

Archaelogy students from the University are currently using carbon dating to determine if in fact this area is the site of an ancient burial ground possibly as old as the site in Newgrange. It may be some time before their findings are published.

Our leader pointed out the most notable graves, and we learned about many famous people buried here. Beginning in 1845, potato crops began to fail and as a result of blight, half a million people were evicted from their homes. All over Ireland crowds of starving mobs were attacking food stores. Huge quantities of food were exported from Ireland to England; ship after ship laden with wheat, oats, cattle, pigs, eggs and butter sailed away from a country on the verge of starvation. The Irish were told to solve their own food problems.

In 1847 it got worse. An outbreak of Typhus ravaged the area, and in Belfast, which was overcrowded from rural areas coming in to find work, 8,000 people died. The wagons went through Belfast daily and scooped the dead from the streets, piling them in a heap in the rear of the cemetery to be cremated. One and one half million emigrated to America.

Our last stop was to see the plaque dedicated to the large mound containing the remains of 800 souls who succumbed to cholera and typhus. Most of these souls were cremated in the far corner of the graveyard and their ashes buried. This area is known as Plaguey Hill (some reports indicate that in fact 3,000 are buried in this small area).   It was a bit disconcerting to be walking among these "souls" but I learned a lot and have four pages of typed notes given to me by our guide.

Ownership of the cemetery was handed over to the Belfast City Council after being in the ownership of the Catholic Church for 173 years.

Now back to my temporary ATC home to pack for the return to France. Culture shock again?