The Belle of Belfast City

If I knew what sort of day this Ash Wednesday would turn out to be..I don't know how I would have prepared.

After finally digesting all of the pancakes I consumed from Pancake Tuesday, I woke up early this morning to make my way to south campus for my theology lecture at 9. From there my friends and I raced to the local church to attend mass, which had I known was also the school mass, I would have chosen a different time. No matter, I crammed in the back of the church with the rest of the patrons as it was beyond standing room only. There really wasn't room to stand, but more like be squashed by those around you. Eventually I made my way through the chaos and disorderly function of lines to receive my ashes. Then on the way back to my apartment from mass, I was met by a friend who asked if I wanted to go to Belfast for free to see the Maynooth gaelic football team play. Are you joking?! I was dying to go to Belfast and it being free, there was no way to say no. My Lenten promise was to do all I could to enhance my time here and certainly such an event would kick Lent off with a rousing start. So with the bus leaving within 10 minutes, my other friend Audrey and I raced to our apartments to get food and whatever else we needed and then ran back down. We boarded the bus soon after and were off to..another country.



Since I began studying up on Northern Ireland, I have always been fascinated with all that has occurred there and have wanted to see Belfast and Derry firsthand. The most interesting thing I found while taking this adventure was how the idea of anti-Britain had surged with my generation in Ireland. As we took a stop just over the border, all of the Irish were making comments of how you knew you were in the North and on British soil because they kept their cities so dirty and unattractive. I must agree because of what I saw of Belfast and another small city, Newry, they were not the most attractive places compared to Dublin or even Maynooth. They were also appalled when we were driving through Belfast that someone had hung a Union Jack outside their window. It was interesting to see that even though they had not lived during the significant years of the Troubles, the feelings were still fresh and greatly alive. From the little I saw of Belfast, the Troubles seemed to have left great imprints as there was a large sign on top of building which read, "Free Sean Kelly Now" who had been involved with the IRA. I hope to go back to Belfast and see even more of what remains..



However, I was not there to learn about Irish history, I was there to see a proper Gaelic Football match. Not really knowing what to expect, all 14 supporters who came on the journey got off the bus at the University of Ulster and went to the pitch were a surprising number of people were watching the match. Gaelic Football seems to be a combination of all sports..a bit of soccer, football, basketball, and rubgy all in one. One can dribble the ball down the field but you have to kick it up to yourself every few steps and then to score there is a field goal like structure which if you kick or throw the ball through, you get one point. However, beneath the field goal is also a soccer goal with a goalie and if the ball goes is scored in there, it is worth three points. Without a scoreboard, it was difficult to know where NUIM was winning or not, but eventually with a few minutes left we figured out that we were ahead and NUIM ended up winning the game! They had not been predicted to win by anyone in the country, but I guess a little American luck was all they needed. Apparently they were playing in a tournament and were in the quarterfinals so now they move on to the semifinals. It ended up being a lot of fun and was great to root on a team again, I think I might like watching Gaelic Football better than, Notre Dame Football..



After the game, all 14 of us loaded onto the bus and since everyone else on the bus knew someone on the team and there were so few of us, we were invited to have dinner with the team. So unsure of exactly where we were going, our "legend" bus driver, DJ on the side, Nole, sped through Belfast trying to follow the team's bus. Eventually we found where they had gone and there was a pub they had rented out for the team and was ready for us with soup and a nice filling meal. It was great to get a free meal and to meet some new people from the bus and the team. We then headed back to Maynooth and I was ready for a nap, when I woke up a giant sing-a-long session had broken out among the Irish of traditional songs, mainly that were about supporting the Irish army against the British, as well as others, and then they moved on to Disney classics and current popular songs. Then our bus driver blared the radio..I am pretty sure I lost my hearing after this trip with Nole, but it was great craic as we had a great dance party. If one could bottle the euphoria I felt, it would be the cure-all of the world. I cannot imagine leaving anytime soon.




It was a great day and one I will certainly not forget for years to come.