Crumlin Road Gaol: Day 3 – Ireland 2014

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Morning broke on our third day in Belfast. We went downstairs and had a great breakfast at the hotel (seriously, really good breakfast for a hotel) with our new Australian friends and a few others from the group showing up that morning. We all decided to head down to the Crumlin Road Gaol to get some history in for the day.

The walk from the hotel is only about a mile. It is easy and pleasant but not without an added bonus. You get to take in more of Belfast! One of the buildings you’ll get to see is the old courthouse, sitting directly across from the jail. In 2014, it was in quite a state of disrepair. Many of the windows were broken or boarded up and quite a few plants had taken root in the gutters. Lucky for us, the gaol (pronounced jail) was in much better up-keep and open to the public.

Booked In

We entered the imposing building with our group of friends and purchased tickets for a guided tour. It is well worth it. A few things stand out the most to me when I think back on our tour there. The first is that there were all sorts of people held there, from men and women to even children as young as seven years old. SEVEN! The second thing that I remember is how frigid it was inside. The whole building is stone and the cold radiates out of it from every angle. We all stayed bundled in our heavy coats and scarves for the entire tour.

There were some other interesting parts, like the worn section of floor where a guard was always stationed and the location of the gallows. It was a much-kept secret when the prison was open and I’ll continue to keep it silent. You learn of its location on the tour, and it’s worth the surprise to find out its hiding place in person! We also got to see the tunnel that leads under the street and straight into Courtroom 1 in the old courthouse we saw outside. We were told that they were hoping to renovate that room so that tours could include the full tunnel and courtroom. Unfortunately, from what I’ve read, the courthouse is still sitting in decay. I hope that one day it can return to its former glory.

After the tour, our group went separate ways for the rest of the afternoon. Billy and I had lunch in the café at the gaol and then we took in the courtyard and the souvenir shop.

More Belfast? Yes, please!

We decided to spend our free afternoon wandering around Belfast. Ultimately, we wanted to find some good junk shops, and while we didn’t have much luck, we did find a few shops to dig through. We also walked past Belfast City Hall, which is absolutely gorgeous.

On our walk, we passed some very cool signs. Each one is the name of a ship that Harland and Wolff had built. At the base of each sign, there is a plaque with information about the ship. You can bet I searched out the Titanic one in a flash!

The 2014 TMC Reunion Begins

That evening, everyone who had traveled in for the Titanic Memorial Cruise Reunion gathered in one of the hotel’s conference rooms. It was our first official meet-and-greet. We were each given wonderful goodie bags filled with fun Titanic and Belfast-related items. In total, 55 of us gathered for the reunion. We had a great evening chatting with one another and getting to know each other a little better. When the evening finally wound down, we crawled into bed, tired but eager to start the reunion in full swing in the morning.
Cheers,
Lydia and Billy