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Click on globe for map
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| NORTHERN IRELAND |
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Belfast is ringed by, a sea lough, precipitous hills and a river valley. Now home to nearly half a million people this was once a 17th century village. It was from here that the industrial revolution took hold in Ulster with industries like linen and particularly shipbuilding. The world's largest dry dock is here and the shipyard's giant cranes are a major landmark. The city abounds with excellent examples of Victorian and Edwardian architecture. Highlights include...
Built with Italian marble in 1906 to emulate the classical Renaissance style by many of the same construction workers who worked on the fateful ship the Titanic (also built in the city). This magnificent building allows access to its Chambers, Halls and Grand Staircase on certain days.
Ulster
Museum
Nestled
in the lush Botanical Gardens the museum plays host to a range of international
art. It is however for the focus on Irish art, history, natural sciences
and archaeology that the museum is best known. This includes furniture,
glass, silver, ceramics, and a display of life in Ireland over 9,000 years.
Additionally visitors can view the gold and silver jewelry from the Girona,
part of the Spanish Armada ship, wrecked off the Giant's Causeway in 1588
and recovered by divers in 1968.
Botanical Gardens
First
opened in 1828 the Gardens and their distinctive Palm House have become
a major Belfast landmark. The Tropical Ravine is unique within the UK,
allowing visitors to walk around a balcony overlooking plants growing
in a sunken ravine. Information labels provide facts on the plants. With
the main section completed in 1840 with the Dome added in 1852 The Palm
House itself is one of the earliest examples of a glasshouse constructed
of curved iron and glass.
Belfast
Castle
Overlooking the city from the slopes of Cave Hill the history of this
impressive sandstone building is intimately bound up with that of the
city itself. The building was completed in 1870 and based on the style
of the Scottish Barons. The castle cellars open to the public now contain
exhibits to give visitors a taste of what it was like to be in Victorian
times with recreations of of twisting streets, authentic shops etc...
Carrick
-A- Rede Rope Bridge
Located
on the North Antrim Coast this spot is ideally combine with a visit to
the Giants Causeway. The bridge is about 100ft above the sea and 70ft
across. There has beena rope bridge here since the 1600s for use by local
fishermen to reach the best spots to fish for migrating salmon as the
waters were too rough to reach by boat.
According to legend this geological phenonmenon was the result of the giant Finn McCool's attempts to provide a means for his beloved lady giant in the Hebrides, to get to Ulster. In actual fact it is a collection of basalt columns packed close together. The tops of these mostly hexagonal columns look like stepping stones leading from the bottom of the cliff. There are estimated to be around 40,000 of, with the tallest standing about 40 feet tall. The attraction has been accorded World Heritage status by the UN.
The
Glens of Antrim
The Glens of Antrim are an area of un-spoilt and outstanding beauty with
a heady mix of rivers, waterfalls, gentle valleys, wild flaura and fauna.
The way in which the central high plateau is lacerated by deep glens rushing
eastward towards the sea traditionally made this area very remote. It
was therefore one of the last places to speak Gaelic and remains a repository
of enchanting Irish myth and legend.
A must-see are the subterranean Marble Arch Caves, located beneath the Mountains of Cuilcagh. They contain bewitching stalactites emerging magestically among huge caverns, waterfalls and underground rivers. These can be reached by walkways with information points along the way. It is also possibble to take an enchanting boat trip through the caves along a subterranean river.
Lakes
of Fermanagh
Situated
in the south-west of Northern Ireland Lough Erne comprises about 100 km
of fresh waterland including the Lower and Upper lakes. The Lakelandcovers
roughly a third of the surface area of County Fermanagh. Now that the
lakes are linked via the Shannon-Erne Waterway Canal to the Irish Republic
the waterway is the longest navigable inland one in Europe. As well as
the sprinkling of tranquil lakes, the area is renowned for its plethora
of forest parks and historical monuments.
This centre dramatically tells the story of emigration to North America, beginning in the 1720s and continuing throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, taking i crucial hisotrical periods such as the Great Famine (1845-9). The final total may have been as many of 1/5 million. The Folk Park recounts the everyday lives of these people by presenting replicas and sometimes the original living environments with accompanying information to provide fascinating background.
