Bigchiefally

NI is probably like anywhere else in that it has some less safe areas and regular crime but on the whole it is fine. Dont come during the marching season. The last couple of years have been pretty peaceful but like someone else said on the board you would probably be fine but why take the chance, plus a lot of locals take their holidays then so a few things will be shut. As for what it is all about, now that is a question! NI is something like 55-45 protestant/catholic, with almost all protestants wanting to stay in the UK and most catholics wanting a union with the rest of the Ireland. An offshoot of this paradox is the orange order. It is a protestant organisation that every year has a number of marches, where members dress up in uniforms, march and play in bands, all to commemorate the victory of a protestant over a catholic way back when America was still mainly run by the indians. Most of these marches are harmless fun and a lot of families go along and despite it being a religious organisation a lot of people get very drunk. The problem comes in that over the last 50 or so years the demographics of a number of towns and cities have changed so that the areas the marchers go through on their way to the city centre that were protestant are now catholic. Due to a combination of reasons: some instances of gross misbehaviour by the bandsmen and marchers, stirring up of the residents by politicians keen to cause trouble and gain political capital and involvement of paramilitaries some of these marches have become very contentious. The police are often caught somewhere in the middle either trying to stop a march happening or pushing one through. All a bit of a mess. Thankfully though the last couple of years have been a lot more peaceful and with less incident.

Anyway there are better times to come.

Belfast (my city) has a few things to look at but I wouldnt stay there overly long. Belfast castle, the city hall, the black cab tour (for an entertaining if entirely one sided view of the whole thing!) would be the only touristy things that pop into my mind. I see quite a few open top bus tours leaving from the city centre and they seem to be pretty busy so might be worth. There are a good number of bars and restaurants that are worth visiting and outside of Dublin and maybe Cork it is the only city of decent size in Ireland so the shopping and facitilies there are pretty good.

Outside of Belfast is where you really want to go. My favourate is up the North Antrim coast. Bushmills distillery, Carrick-a-rede rope bridge, giants causeway are all very touristy but for good reason - they are well worth a visit and compared to many places in the world a busy NI tourist attraction isnt that busy at all. They can be reached easily on a day trip from Belfast.

Closer to Belfast you have a few nice little towns and parks (Hillsborough is one). The Ulster folk park is an "authentic" old village that is actually very interesting and well worth a visit.

The Fermananagh lakes are very scenic and if the weather is good fantastic.

Donegal is another beautiful northern County (it is in the republic of ireland but is right a the NW end of Ireland) that you could easily spend a couple of days in.

I've heard the tours around Derry's walls are good but to be honest I always thought the rest of the city was a dump!

Overall Ulster has a lot to offer and it is a lot less touristy than some parts. Indeed if I was picking 5 places to visit in Ireland 3 of them would be here: North Antrim, Lough Erne in Fermanagh and Donegal (the others being the ring of Kerry - sensational and Dublin - love it or hate it you have to visit it there is so much to see and do).

All the best and enjoy your trip!

lupo6197

My husband's family still lives in County Armagh and it's a beautiful place. I would definitely suggest B&B's. When we travel we don't make reservations anywhere. There are enough places to stay where you can find a place no matter where you're staying. When you find out where your family is from, let us know.

Maureen

alanRow

OP, even at the height of "The Troubles", it was infinitely safer to be in Northern Ireland than it was in - say - Washington DC.

fernandez2743

Angela
I know you live in Armagh, but is there any chance you know a place called White Cross(just south of Armagh)? I will be in NI in a few weeks and am trying to locate a family farm. The only info I have is that my Grandfather's brother(Joseph Mccluskey) was the postmaster there and the family farm is now owned by the Boyles. If you have any insight it would be great! Thanks

cambe

fernandez2743

I am not familiar with the area but I looked up the telephone directory and there are 5 Boyles listed. If you care to email me at helen@edenderrybelfast,wanadoo.co.uk I will send you the address and telephone numbers (as they are listed they are public numbers and addresses but I would not like to list aomeones's address on a public forum).

Hopefully Angela will be able to give you more information.

Helen

Angela

Hi fernandez2743

I am aware of where Whitecross is, but it is not an area I am familiar with. It's not a place that I ever have to go to, or through. I did a search on yell.com (this is a website that searches for all businesses in Northern Ireland based on name and town where they live) and came up with a Farmer there by the name of Boyle. Like Helen, although this is available to the public, I still do not feel comfortable posting these details here, as they include name, address and telephone number. Please email me at [email protected] and I shall give you these details.

Hope this helps!

Angela

fernandez2743

Angela and Helen,
Thank you for all of your help. By using this information I think my family will be able to fill in the blanks. I have never been to Ireland before but I can already tell that people are wonderful!
Thanks again,
Susan