This trip has opened my eyes to the complications of conflict and what it does to the communities and its people decades after the violence ends. At first it was portrayed as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, but that is just one layer to the conflict. Throughout the trip I kept asking myself why they were fighting when they both believed in the same God, and both follow sects of Christianity? In other religious based conflicts it is about the fight over different beliefs in God, Israel and Palestine for example. It was not until I got to Northern Ireland that I learned that framing the conflict as a conflict over religion was a media ploy and that the basis of the conflict was the fight against colonization. I am a Religious Studies major and the aspect of religion in this conflict really piqued my interest in this trip, and learning about the religious groups that would be a neutral advocate for both sides of the conflict helping people and making sure they do not get injured. My personal highlight of the trip was visiting Corrymeela, where we talked to people, who during the conflict went into battle zones and got civilians out of the chaos, risking their lives to make sure people were safe. I have been interested in missionary and Christian fellowship work after college and seeing a group doing what I am passionate about overseas makes me want to pursue that career more seriously. An academic highlight about this course was having the chance to hear from all sides of the conflict and being able to understand the motives of all parties and why they are fighting. An essential lesson I learned during this trip is that everyone has their own stories and own side to the conflict. On paper it is easy to come to conclusions on who the good guys are and who is in the wrong. However, once hearing from the Nationalist Catholic side, then the Unionist Protestants, and even the ex-British military, I learned that the conflict is much more complicated than black and white and that each side had reason to fight and defend what they believed in. My personal challenge was definitely the weather. I run hot blooded so I did not pack nor wear a lot of layers on this trip, which resulted in being caught in the rain multiple times and even getting sick for a day due to the weather. However, I adapted to the cold and it was very pleasant and much better than the 90 degree weather I am dealing with now in California. My biggest surprise about this trip is how relevant the material is. With current conflicts going on and the conflict in Northern Ireland still lingering on the island, the lessons about communication and peace resolutions can be applied in the middle east, and in restorative justice in Northern Ireland. Overall, I learned much more in Ireland than I could ever read about the conflict, and it will help me with my future as a lifelong learner.

Today on June 7th, 2025, the peace studies and communication class went into the city center of Derry/ Londonderry to walk around the city wall, one of the oldest city walls in the world that is still erected. Built in the early 1600s by English and Scottish settlers, this wall was constructed in order to separate the settlers from the indigenous Irish population. The settlers, who were Protestant, felt the need for this wall to be built because they felt an impending conflict between them and the Catholic Irish natives, who were not allowed to reside inside the city walls and subjected to living on the lower side of the town, called the Bogside, which by definition is much more susceptible to flooding and wet conditions, which is not a good foundation for building houses. Furthermore the housing of the Native Catholics are much smaller and closer together than the homes within the city wall, which contributes to the disparities and oppression that is everlasting within Derry ever since the colonization of the Island by the British. While at the wall of the city we learned about the importance of the ‘Apprentice Boys’. During 1688, the Catholics went to siege on the inner city of Derry but were stopped for some time when the Apprentice Boys closed the gates of the city walls, saving the town. It is speculated that this actually resulted in more Protestants dying through starvation, however, the Protestant community still celebrates the act of bravery displayed by the Apprentice Boys through parades and yearly celebrations. Both sides of the conflict believed they were fighting for the greater good of their country, which further complicated the futures of the community in coming together after the conflict and restoring their relationships. 

After the tour of the City Wall, the class walked into the center of the city within the wall to a nonprofit organization, called Holywell trust which was created during the Troubles in 1988, to try and bring together the two communities through communication and reconciliation. During and after the conflict the whole town, and country as a whole, are left with trauma and emotions that need to be processed and Holywell offers many courses and programs to allow people from both the Protestant Loyalist side, and the Catholic Nationalist side to come together and work out the trauma they went through and heal together. These programs open up conversation for both sides to be heard by one another and through communication trust is built and healing can be formed. Instead of looking for punishment against one another for the crimes of the past, these courses allow people to come together and learn the reasons for their conflict and how it has affected their respective communities. Through restorative justice, people can meet with the perpetrators from the other side and have an open dialogue on why the conflict happened and form relationships to ensure it will not happen again. It is essential for groups like Holywell to exist, so they can mediate these conversations and courses and allow people to heal together, rather than holding in personal trauma and not being able to heal. Communication is what brings people together, and is essential for healing and growth within the town, without communication the violence of the conflict would have not ended and people would still carry deep intergenerational trauma which would subconsciously divide the community of Derry even more than it has been. 

Through reconciliation people are able to come together as a community and grow together, which is vastly important for the sustainability of that community to stay peaceful and become united. There are many forms of nonviolent peace building, however, reconciliation can be the most effective in keeping the peace within a state and making sure conflict does not start again. When people talk out their differences and understand the other side, they will not feel the need to resort to violence again since they have already had these resolution conversations. By encouraging conversation and having these open dialogues, people see more eye to eye and instead of finding ways to hate each other, they find ways to relate to each other, building upon their community and creating connections between people that were previously not there.

Here is a link to the Junction website, the company that runs Holywell, if interested in learning more about them and their services:

https://thejunction-ni.org/ 

https://thejunction-ni.org/page/ 

Sources: 

17th century city walls – derry~Londonderry. Discover Northern Ireland. (n.d.). https://discovernorthernireland.com/things-to-do/17th-century-city-walls-p685431  

Boslaugh, S. E., PhD. (2024). Restorative justice. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Hello my name is Devin Goodwin, I am a senior religious studies major. I have not had a lot of experience with the Peace or Communications Studies departments, I have taken Introduction to Peace Studies with Professor Lederach and I really enjoyed the class and the aspect of peace studies. I have taken multiple classes with the focus on nonviolence conflict resolutions. What I hope to gain from this travel course is how a nation of oppressed people overcame oppression to be able and live within their nation. For the United States, the oppressed minorities had to fight for their rights to be seen as equal and being a black man myself I would like to learn how the oppressed Irish population fought for their rights. Something I anticipate being a challenge for me will be the time change, luckily I can run off of just a couple of hours of sleep. However, being tired during the day could hurt my chance of taking notes. So I plan on being fully caffeinated and present during each tour and talk we get during the trip.