Belfast and Beyond: Exploring Castles, Caves and Giants

 Roseana Jolly, Verrazano Class of 2018, is a Social Work major with minors in linguistics and biology. She related her experience on a study abroad in Ireland.

Queens University

Studying abroad in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is perhaps the best decision I’ve ever made. Belfast is well known for the Troubles, a conflict between unionists who supported reunification with the Irish Republic and Loyalists that wished to maintain British sovereignty over Northern Ireland. While the conflict lasted roughly thirty years, today Belfast serves as a global example of successful peacebuilding and co-existence. And it was only fitting that I chose to study Conflict Transformation at Queens University while I was there. 

The city has come a long way since the Troubles and has all sorts of fun things to do! We spent almost every afternoon visiting museums, exploring castles and taking in the stunning scenery. Belfast is also one of the most affordable cities in Europe,making it the perfect travel destination for a student. Did I mention that Scotland is a short 2 hour ferry ride? You can even see the coast of Scotland on a clear day.

The Dark Hedges

The highlight of my four weeks was probably doing the Game of Thrones tour. We spent a day visiting different caves,beaches and iconic sites like the dark hedges.The locals joke that they know what's going to happen before episodes air because they get to meet the actors and even grab a drink with them at local pubs. We kept our eyes peeled for celebrities but met none.

Giant's Causeway

We also visited the Giant’s Causeway which is a formation of over 40,000 interlocking hexagonal blocks.The views are breathtaking and it's no surprise its a UNESCO world heritage site. Legend has it that the Irish giant, Finn McCool challenged the Scottish giant across the sea to a fight. Finn built a bridge to Scotland only to realize the giant was massive in size. He ran back to Ireland with the Scottish Giant following behind. Finn’s wife came up with the clever idea to disguise Finn as baby. When the Scottish giant saw how big the baby was, he feared how big his father would be and ran back to Scotland destroying the bridge and forming the causeway that stands today.

One of the most breathtaking sights we saw was the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. It may not sound like much but check out my photos before you judge! Its a rope bridge connected by cliffs suspended about 100 ft above sea level. The bridge was originally constructed by salmon fisherman over 350 years ago. Crossing the bridge while the wind rocked us back and forth was both terrifying and exhilarating. The bridge offered spectacular views of the crystal clear turquoise water if you were brave enough to look up!

One of the reasons, I chose to go to Belfast in the first place was because I’m such a huge fan of the movie Titanic. Most people don't know this but the iconic Titanic was built in Belfast, Northern Ireland. They have a beautiful museum that contains actual artifacts from the shipwreck. They also narrate touching stories of survivors and passengers who boarded the Titanic in hopes of a better life in America.

All in all, studying abroad in Ireland has inspired me to go explore the rest of this beautiful world. My advice is simple, just study abroad!