Thomas Andrews’ Historical Locations and the Ulster Folk Museum: Day 4 – Ireland 2014

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Bright and early, our group was up and on the bus for our first full reunion day! We left our hotel at 9 AM and headed over to the house where Thomas Andrews lived with his wife and daughter. Thomas Andrews was the head architect designing Titanic. In 1907, after many years of apprenticeship, he was appointed managing director and head of the drafting department at Harland and Wolff. That same year, he began overseeing work on a new ship, the Olympic, sister ship to Titanic. Sadly, he went down with Titanic when she sank in 1912, leaving behind his wife and 2-year-old daughter.

Their home was beautiful and we were given a wonderful tour by an actor portraying Andrews himself. We learned much of Andrews’ history and quite a bit about his life. After poking around for a bit and getting some great photos, we hopped back on the bus and headed to Comber.

Comber – The Home Town of Thomas Andrews

Our drive out to Comber was beautiful. We took in some lovely views and eventually made our next stop at Thomas Andrews Jr. Memorial Hall. Work began on the hall in October 1913. His daughter symbolically broke ground, and his mother laid the foundation stone in January of the following year. It served as a community hall for many years before becoming part of the primary school.

As we drove up, we could see children dressed in period outfits playing outside. These were the students of the primary school that is now housed in the memorial hall. They put on a wonderful exhibition for us! Each child was in costume and at a little station that talked about the hall throughout the years. They even gave us all goodie bags with cookies when we left and cheered for us as we walked out the door.

Comber Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church

We walked from the memorial hall to the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church, where the Andrews family worshipped. The church is in a lovely spot and has some breathtaking views. We milled about outside, taking in the cemetery and countryside until the ladies of the church were ready for us.

We entered the chapel area and took a seat. Our welcome began with a short talk about the Andrews family and their history with the church. After the talk, we got the chance to admire the details of the church itself, including the stained glass windows and the nod to Titanic in a small display case. We even got the chance to take a picture sitting in the Andrews family pew. Funnily enough, we all found out a few years later that the Andrews sat in a different pew than the one we thought. To this day, we don’t know whose pew we were sitting in, so reverently admiring it!

A Special Speaker

With utmost kindness, the ladies of the church had prepared for us a luncheon. They presented us with a delicious spread and we enjoyed it very much. After eating, we were treated to a special talk with John, Thomas Andrews’ great-nephew. He was a wealth of information and an absolute sweetheart. I wanted to stay and chat with him all afternoon! But, I decided to be nice and not steal all of his time away from everyone else. After meeting him and enjoying his presentation, we pored over the many photos and documents he brought to share with us. Meeting him was one of the highlights of our trip. Sadly, John passed away in October 2014. It was such an honor to have met him.

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum

Our final stop of the day was at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum. We didn’t have but a few hours, so we stuck to the transport area of the museum. Along with busses, trolleys, fire trucks, and motorcycles, this part of the museum also held the Titanic exhibit.

There are tons of things to see here, including a ‘street’ inside the museum, complete with shop windows full of goodies to look at. Being car lovers, we thoroughly enjoyed the vehicles on display. One of my favorite parts is that you can actually get into the bigger vehicles. The trains and busses were open to explore! We could have easily spent an entire day exploring the museum and grounds, and that’s what I’d recommend if you intend to check it out. Seriously, there is so much to see!

The Titanic Exhibit

While the rest of the museum was great, the Titanic exhibit was the real reason we were there. We’d come for the history and we were not disappointed. There are tons of original blueprints and deck plans to pore over. There are clothes on display that survivors wore on the night of the sinking. Many things touched my heart, but there was one display that hit me harder than the rest.

I’ve always known the numbers of people lost versus people saved, but this exhibit showed it in such a different light. There was a large model of the Titanic, shown as it was sinking. On the four corners of the ‘ocean,’ there were groups of model people. Standing on the edge of the sea were those that survived. Those standing on the lip below the waterline represented those that were lost.

When our visit to the museum was over, we boarded the bus and started back to Belfast. We got to see some of the iconic murals around the city, but unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of them.

We spent an easy night at the hotel instead of going out on the town with most everyone else in the group. After talking about our day, I wrote in our journal, and then we turned in for the night. The next day was a big one. We were going to spend the majority of the day exploring Titanic Belfast. We were also slated to have tea in the banqueting suite (the room with the replica Grand Staircase), an absolute dream come true!
Cheers,
Lydia and Billy