Titanic Exhibitions in Ireland - a one hundred year commemoration

As it is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic there is much interest in the ship and the travellers who sailed on her. In Belfast where the ship was built, a new state of the art exhibition centre (nicknamed “The Iceburg’ by the Befast residents) was erected and opened in March 2012 and by Queen Elizabeth’s visit to Belfast in late June had already received over 250,000 visitors. Everything is ‘Titanic’- the height of the magnificent building is the same height of the bow, an inside wall replicates the cladding on the ship, while outside the exact size of the ship is outlined on the ground. The high technological displays engages all the senses - sights, sounds, vibrations. A strong focus of the exhibition was of the building of the vessel, the people, who and why they were on the Titanic for that partcular trip, and the times. There is also a very touching movie featuring the team led by Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and what they initially saw on the sea floor in 1985. The only item that is not on public display is the Grand Staircase. This is s huge bone of contention amongst locals and visitors. Apparantly one has to attend a VIP function in order to view this famous Titanic artefact. Down in Cobh, fromerly known as Queenstown, Cork, another Titanic exihibition was available to visit. Ths town is the headquarters of the White Star Line company, which looked after the embarkation of passengers and mail before Titanic set sail. This exhibition had a different focus on the tradegy of the Titanic, focussing on the footsteps of the passengers and the times in Cobh. While there was some discussion about the high cost ot visit this exhibition, those of our fellow tourists who did visit felt that the exhibition was well worthwhile. In Cobh itself the town has preserved the buildings of the times in respectful memory of the people on Titanic and the subsequent disaster that befell them, three and a half days from setting sail from this pictuesque town, overseas to see the world. We have visited several Titanic exhibitions around the world, and the development of technology has enabled us to understand more about the boat, the times, why the disaster occurred. Many people have become quite emotional at Titanic exhibitions particularly in Ireland as they are descendents of the builders as well as the staff and passengers who had embarked on that fateful voyage. It also makes one humble and most grateful for the maritime safety rules and regulations in place today as a direct result of the inquiry into the Titanic disaster.

Impressions of Belfast, Ireland

It was most valuable to have a tour guide introduce us to Belfast, Ireland - she quickly gave us a feel of the city and its history. As we travelled around in our bus,admiring and hearing history of the buildings, visiting landmarks such as the Falls Road area, the International wall - spotlessly kept, and the Peace wall - with murals covered in grafitti of quotes and supports of sympathy, it was interestng to note that the tour qiuide referred to the citizens as ‘them’ and ‘us.’ Belfast, as well as being famous for the ‘Troubles,' and the scene of much 'spilled blood,' is also the birthplace of Mother Theresa, Milk of Magnesia and Dunlop Tyres and portable defribulators. The defribulators were invented at the local Hospital which was named after the highly regarded Queen Victoria. Today was the day that Queen Elizabeth was visiting Belfast, and the dubious summer weather kept the rain away for her garden party of 20,000 guests. We always seemed to be about half a mile away from her, and when we visted the new Belfast Titanic exhibition centre she had already been and gone. The iconic Belfast Titanic Centre building (nicknamed 'The Iceberg' by Belfast residents), erected on Titanic's original construction site the Harland and Wolff yards, was opened in March 2012 and by July had received over 250,000 visitors. Everything about the building is relative to Titanic and the sea, for example the height of the building is the same as the bow, and an inside wall is constructed of similar materials to that of Titanic. In Belfast City a memorial has been erected to recognise the people who died in the Titanic disaster. Everyone is named on the memorial. The memorial receives many viistors, including descendents who become quite emotional during their visit. Our Shopping Adventure in Belfast. The English Food Market is an interesting place for travellers to visit - such a variety of beautifully presented fresh seafood, meats, vegetables, oh and chcolate, which we all gorged on! Then it was off to explore the nooks and crannies of the shopping centre. Then we espied a shop selling leather goods owned by an Irishman who immediately had us in fits of laugher with his stories. And yes, we bought....