The Shankhill Road

Americans hear a lot about the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants in Ireland, but I did not truly understand what the conflict was about until we toured Shankhill Road and Falls Road, the heart of the conflict between the two groups. From the names, one would assume it was a religious conflict. In reality, however, it was much more about politics than any religious differences between Catholics and Protestants. As Great Britain was expanding, they took over Ireland. When the Irish were finally able to secure independence, what is now Northern Ireland wanted to remain with the United Kingdom, because many people from the UK were living there. They associated more with the rest of Britain, and therefore were Protestant. The rest of Ireland, however, still retained it's Catholic heritage.

Our tour was lead by Billy Stevenson, who grew up on the Shankhill Road, or actually right off of it. His father was involved in one of the Protestant groups resisting the Catholic IRA. Hearing his story, his father's story, and being able to see the very site were much of the violence occurred was an amazing way to understand what really happened. It is one thing to read about an event in a book, but it is so much more meaningful when you see the actual place where it happened. It is far more meaningful when you see how the community is still being affected by something that ended over a decade ago.

One of the main things we looked at were murals. They are very important in telling each side of the story. We saw several on Shankhill Road, the protestant area, and then also saw several along the Falls Road, catholic area. Also on the Falls Road was a memorial site dedicated to men who had been killed. It was much more elaborate than anything on the protestant side.

For me, the tour was very sobering. One of the most powerful images I saw was not one of the many murals, but the youth we encountered. There was an abandoned church, and three teenaged youth were throwing rocks at the building. The empty look on their faces will not escape me for some time. There are many beautiful things we have been able to see so far here in Northern Ireland, but the Shankhill Road reminds me that there is a dark past to this beautiful green country.

James Cooke