Things to do on a rainy day

We had drizzly rain all day so packed up a few kilos of clothing to try and get under 40kg for our next flight, so that we don't have to pay over 20 pounds excess baggage charges on two or three flights. 6 Kg has headed for NZ by surface mail.

We walked through Coleraine town centre, a pedestrian mall, and noticed all the people are our height!. We visited Coleraine Library again. Although I found nothing, Doug found more on his grandmother Isabella Grattan's links to Henry Grattan, the Irish statesman.



Here is Henry in Parliament in 1780. There is a statue of him in Dublin and he is buried in Westminster Abbey. The Alexanders didn't feature in the Gentry books!

Seeking Alexanders

They're an elusive lot.

It was a pretty murky morning - a good day to catch up on washing as it has to go in the dryer. (No such thing as a tub, clothes line or even an airing rack. I'm developing very lazy habits!)

Our plan was to explore the remaining graveyards, then spend some time in the Coleraine library looking at Parish records.



Our first stop was at the very old Templastragh burial ground. We spotted the ruined church across a ploughed filed. The farmer was still ploughing so we asked about access.We found a complete ruin - a few tombstones were still readable from early 1800's but most were broken and worn smooth by the elements. The elements were still in fine form so I was glad of my hoodie.



The next ruin-of-call was further down the coast near Dunluce Castle. This particular church was abandoned about 1860 and the congregation 'moved' to Bushmills. There were lots of graves there too. It is neglected which is a shame. Once again we were unable to find any family graves. I'm pretty sure that this was probably the actual church that my ancestors attended. The one I went to on Sunday was too new. It was a few miles away though........

Coleraine library was very helpful - we intend to go back.We were able to search a microfilm of the Bushmills and Billy parish records.

Bushmills Presbyterian Church and Portballintrae

I really enjoyed the service at Bushmills Presbyterian Church. It was a lovely service, the sermon was excellent, and the people friendly. It was good to see every age group represented - here were lots of young family. Although the church was founded in 1646, the building was more like 2006! I was unable to find out about any old building. The graves in the graveyard only date from the 1940's so we still haven't found where the majority of Alexanders were buried. We stll have a couple more places to check out this week.While I was at church Doug took a few snaps around Portballintrae harbour.



This steam train on 3 foot gauge tracks runs tourists to and from the Giant's Causeway.



Some of the birdlife on the beach. The shag is called a cormorant here.




And some random snaps.

Derry or Londonderry

The town is set on the River Foyle, from where many ships took emigrants to USA around 1900. The 1933 Craigavon bridge has two levels, originally taking trains on one level, but cars use both levels now since 1965 when the railways were pruned back.



Derry is the best preserved fully-walled city in Ireland. The city dates from 546 AD, in the time of St Columb, and had a large cathedral, the Teample Mor, but by 1600 it was in ruins. In 1566 Elizabeth I sent an English garrison to fortify the town and in 1610 King James I founded a colony for plantation of English and Scottish settlers.

There have been several sieges of the town, particularly in 1688 when the 13 apprentice boys shut the gates and walled in thousands of Protestants, defending themselves against the Catholic forces of King James II. An estimated quarter of the 30,000 inhabitants died but the siege was broken whan a ship arrived with support.



This is St Columb Cathedral and the mound and monument to the 13 apprentices. The church has a small musuem, including a large 274 pound cannonball that was fired into the city with a message inside in 1688. 'Read this!'



The repercussions of that siege still ring around this divided city, where the controlling Protestants live uneasily with the Catholics. Even the town name is disputed, with the Protestants and the road signs showing Londonderry and the Catholics using the name Derry. We walked around the city wall, about 1.5 kilometres and took these pictures.





The Catholics tend to live on 'Bogside', which has been the scene of many riots and 'Bloody Sunday' in 1972 when the English forces opened fire on unarmed Catholic civil rights marchers, killing 13.



Here are the Protestant messages to those walking on the wall. Look at the red-white-blue kerbs that we also see where we are staying in Country Antrim generally beside an Orange Hall. It's all very in-your-face.



The words in the first picture refer to the hunger strike of civil rights protesters imprisoned without trial in 1981 including the death of MP Bobby Sands.





There are 11 murals on Bogside which can't help arousing emotions. We didn't have the courage to walk in Bogside, with our wrong accents and wrong surname.

It was probably the most interesting town we have visited.

Visiting the McCurdys

It was so neat to visit the McCurdy's this morning. They are truly lovely people, and they made us most welcome. Apparently I don't have 'the look' of Tully (Tilly?) who used to live in the house. Alison did - Willie had known her as one of the family before she had even told them who she was on a previous visit some years back.



It was great to be in the house that the last Alexanders had lived in. (Built about 1936) The old farmhouse fell down long ago - there was just this small part of a building where Tully had kept a few chickens.
Sadie and Willie are not related to us but they know the area and the people. Willie remembers Joseph Alexander well. I'm assuming that he and Tully (Matilda) were my great-grandfather's brother and sister. Neither of them married.



Willie is still recovering from open heart surgery - he looks well. Their youngest son was married 6th September. Alison may remember a younger version!



We spent a couple of hours with them, then set off to Coleraine to do our grocery shopping.We parked through the fence from this garden.



We drove home along the coast road, through Dunseverick. This is the remains of Dunseverick castle. The Vikings destroyed it before 1000AD. St Patrick himself, is reputed to have visited in 430AD. Pretty old huh! This sheep is the current owner.

Donegal's Inch Island and Downhill

The lady managing our cottage suggested taking the trip to Magilligan Point and the ferry to Greencastle, County Donegal in the Irish republic. The weather forecast had been good but low cloud and showers arrived which didn't help the photography.



After the 15 minute (and 15 pound return) ferry ride, we drove to Inch Island and took a couple of photos.



It was odd to see Gaelic on the road signs and speeds in kmh now that we are used to mph, and pay Euros for our coffee.



Look at this Hydrangea bush, such strong colours that we don't see in NZ.

The ferry left from Greencastle for our return trip across Lough Foyle (a sea inlet), then driving past the Magilligan prison and army firing range.



We then visited a National Trust property, Mussenden Temple and Downhill Demesne. Downhill is the name of the local town. This remarkable property was built from 1772 by Earl Bishop Fredick Hervey. Unfortunately it burnt out about 1880 and is now just a stone shell of what must have been a superb house.



Here is a view of the Mussenden Temple, built on the cliff top and intended as a library, and the view from the windows.



This is the view from the dining room of the house, looking up the Irish coast.

Billy and Giant's Causeway

The weather seemed reasonable, although cool and a bit windy, so we thought Giant's Causeway should be on the list for today.



On the way way we saw the sign to the village of Billy in which we found an old church, several Steel and Steele gravestones and this one erected by Catherine Steel, my gt-gt-grandmother (Alexander/Robertson), in memory of her husband William, and sons Hugh and Robert.



Then off to Bushmills for a walk around the shops, spotting this picture next to a heavily defended police station that seemed to sum up Northern Ireland. They have the Queen, but no Celtic Tiger.





Lunch at Portballintrae was in a freezing wind, looking over their small harbour where some people had probably paid money for a ride on a sausage towed behind a semi-rigid tender. We could hear the screams of terror/delight as they pounded over the waves, then it was upside down and they were all swimming. They seemed to get rescued without too much fuss.





Further down the coast road was the Giant's Causeway, a popular tourist spot. The 37,000 hexagonal basalt columns solidified into these shapes when the rock coastline solidified from underground lava. Local Irish legends have their hero Finn McCool make the causeway in a battle with a giant from Scotland.

Visiting the tourist shop at the Causeway, Doug was very puzzled to have the girl behind the counter say something like 'Dere'sawaspaanuraat'. After two repeats it was 'There's a wasp on your hat!'.