‘How long are you home for?’ said my cousin last week when I was over in N. Ireland. In fact several of my cousins asked exactly the same question. It might seem like a strange thing to say someone who has not lived permanently in Northern Ireland since 1980. Not to me. Home is still the village of Ballyronan where I spent the first 18 years of my life. I’ve been in Chester now more more years than that and still don’t feel I fully belong here though the house where we now live feels more like home than any previous dwelling - I don’t think we’ll be moving again.
Because of the pandemic I’ve not been to Northern Ireland for nearly two years. Last week I travelled back there with Kate and her boyfriend to stay with my sister in Dromore. We were joined by my youngest sister and her family, also over from England, so there were 10 of us in total. As this was Calum’s first trip to NI we did a few touristy things. We stayed a couple of nights in Portrush on the North Coast. On the first evening we walked into town along the West Strand. Lots of people were in the water in defiance of grey skies and drizzle though many were wearing wetsuits. Paddle-boarding is very popular over there at present and someone was kite-surfing, performing a series of impressive aerial twists and turns. We didn’t join the brave beach crowd but went to the Harbour Bar instead. I tried not to worry about the crowded restaurant and high coronavirus infection rate in NI. Got totally drenched on the way back to my cousin’s apartment where we were staying as the rain had really set in by then. Typical Portrush weather.
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| Giant portion of fish pie in The Harbour Bar |
The next day the sun shone and we went to the Giant’s Causeway, ignoring signs en route saying it was ‘fully booked’. This simply means that the visitor centre experience is fully booked and you do not have to go there or pay anything apart from the car park charge to visit as the footpath is a public right of way. It was beautiful there and the youngest members of the party, my twin nephews, enjoyed climbing the rocks by the most precarious route. We all climbed the steep Shepherd’s Steps and walked back along the cliff path. Wildflowers - little blue harebells - and butterflies and the glorious view. Nowhere like it.
We then returned to Portrush where NI sister Sylvia got out her paddle-board and went into the chilly Atlantic along with 12 year olds who didn’t have the benefit of a wetsuit. The rest of us watched for a while and then Kate, Calum and I went for a walk up the town. It hasn’t changed that much with slightly grotty amusement arcades and cafes. The White House, a department store selling stuff you’d see in John Lewis, is still open, and there are now a few art galleries and upmarket coffee shops. . Sadly, Barry’s, the funfair which was the highlight of our childhood visits, has now closed.
We also went to the Titantic experience in Belfast later in the week, completing the cruise-ship-tourist-type experience of NI for Calum’s benefit. Very interesting though really it’s just an exhibition with the addition of a kind of ghost train ride which tries to create the sights and sounds of the shipyard.
One of the best parts of the visit was going to Ballyronan and catching up with cousins there. We also had a job to do. We have rented out our family home in Ballyronan to someone who is going to open a cafe - much better than leaving it empty. All the furniture and contents of the house had been moved to the old farm buildings in the yard. We needed to sort it all out, a sad task but one which could longer be put off. Nothing has ever been thrown out - there was the old kitchen furniture repurposed for storage in what my dad called the ‘bench house’. We found the dolls’ cot he’d made my sister and a doll which had once belonged to my aunt, now in her eighties. My wedding dress, a ghastly 80’s creation with frills and flounces, was there too and my mother’s much classier dress, as you can see below modelled by Kate and her cousin Hannah. Then there was a full set of school reports for all five sisters which entertained the kids for some time. In the end I quite enjoyed the day as it brought back good memories.
