A Drive to Belfast

Left Bruckless this morning, heading for Belfast.  Before we left Bruckless House,  we shared breakfast with an American couple from Long Island, New York.  Joan (another Joan - I think we could start a club) has lots of relatives in Ardara.  Her husband was telling us about his sheep-shearing skills.  It reminded us of the confidence of the American people...

We headed east from Donegal to Pettigoe - Banjo Patterson's grandfather came from Pettigoe (according to our tour guide in the boat).  This was an adventurous journey across the top of the mountains, once again moor-like terrain although there were pine plantations growing beside the lakes that dotted the way.  The road just follows the contour of the land, with fresh bog diggings  ready to be bagged, for sale.  The mist was hanging low and we thought that you would go weary of this 'summer' weather.

Pettigoe is where we crossed the border into Northern Ireland - no boom gates and police checks, just keep driving. Now driving through forest, sometimes through dark tunnels, created by trees overhanging the road.

The Irish are an optimistic people.  Just saw a house with its roof covered with solar panels! We   passed through Lack, and asked for God's help....

We are in British territory - flags are now red, white and blue..  No more green and white.  

This is Mum's territory too. She often talked about Fivemiletown, Ballinamallard and Clougher.

And these country roads continue to follow the contours of the land, we can feel every bump, twist   and turn.  Allan's rally driving skills are coming into their own, bringing us  into Augher.

The M1 brought us to Moygashel, on the outskirts of Dungannon - Joan's birthplace.

Went to the shop Mum and Dad used to own and found that the family who bought it from them are still running the business.

Philip Busby and Joan in front of the shop. Philip is the son of the couple who bought the shop, who now runs the business with his wife.

The shop doesn't ever seem to change on the outside

The inside has changed  totally.  Right down the back is where we used to live and where I was born.   The Busbys  now live in a separate house behind the shop.

While talking to Philip, we discovered that  many of the locals who knew our family are still living in the same houses.  Change happens slowly in Ireland..

Coming into Moygashel was a bit of a shock, there were flags flying everywhere, not just the bunting across the roads that usually flaps in the breeze but big, confronting images of mask covered faces, British flags and army insignias and lots of them.

This arch  was standing over the road as we entered Moygashel.  It will remain until the end of the month.  It is supposed to be a celebration of the battle of the Somme.   We saw many of these banners in different towns, particularly Protestant strongholds.

As we were taking a photo of the shop, a man stopped and asked Allan, "Are you taking a photo of the poster because we don't want that in the newspaper".  Allan explained to him that this was my birthplace and his demeanour changed totally.  He was most disappointed for us that we had missed the 11th July bonfires  and the 12th July marches.    He showed us a photo of one of the stacks before it was burned.  It was BIG!  We heard the news that another bonfire in Belfast caused three houses to be destroyed by fire,  sparks  from it blew across to the houses and  began the fire. This is big in Northern Ireland and sometimes can be the cause of trouble.   Apparently this year was a good year...

This explained why there were such crowds at Glenveagh on 12 July - lots of Northerners like to get out for the day.

Our drive through/around Belfast was easy and we arrived in Newtownabbey.  My cousin Joan, yes another one, and Charles live here and we are visiting for a couple of days.