Frankie’s Third Blog Post – Reflection

This trip was very wonderful and informative. In my first blog post, I discuss being interested in learning about the overall history of the Troubles, as well as a potential reunification process. Now that the course is over, I feel like I have a much better understanding of the timeline of the Troubles. There weren’t a lot of discussions surrounding reunification, but there was a lot of discussion around peace building, which I still found interesting and necessary.

A personal highlight for me would be meeting people in the different cities we went to. My friends and I had a long conversation with two people around our age from Derry about politics, life in Northern/North of Ireland versus life in America, music, and more, and it was an eye opening experience. I felt like I got to know the soul of Derry through them. An academic highlight would be the panel we had with an ex IRA prisoner, an ex loyalist prisoner, and an ex British soldier. This panel was a great one to start with because we got three main perspectives of the conflict right off the bat. All of the panelists were informative, respectful and open with each other, and were graciously willing to answer any questions we had. I felt like I learned a lot just from this one meeting because I was getting so much insight into different aspects of the Troubles.

A challenge of mine was our meeting with the RUC. Due to my own personal beliefs, I knew that this meeting would be difficult for me because I knew I would disagree with what was being said. It was hard sitting through something that was upsetting to me, and I was actually surprised by how difficult it was. That being said, I’m very glad that I got to hear from them because although my opinion hasn’t shifted, my understanding of the conflict would not be complete without hearing from them.

From the standpoint of my career goals, which are centered around writing for feature length films, historical lessons are valuable and an immersive lesson into the Troubles is an excellent look into history and the human condition. Writing stories that feel real isn’t possible without these things. We must know why people operate the way they do in order to write them well. So although my career goals may not be directly related to this course, they are still closely intertwined. Overall, this travel course was eye opening, fun, uncomfortable, and incredibly lovely and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to go on it.

Dublin Blog Post

Today, our study abroad group ventured into Dublin, which is in the Republic of Ireland. This was our first time heading outside of Northern Ireland (also known as North of Ireland) and it was interesting to technically be in a different country for the day. We went to see the General Post Office, which is a post office – turned museum in the heart of Dublin. It commemorates the Easter Rising of 1916, a turning point in Irish history. 

As we approached the museum we got our first look into what took place during the Easter Rising: bullet holes, still scarring the outside of the building. Once inside, we went on a solo auditory tour to look at the timeline of the Easter Rising. During the early 1900s, the area around the General Post Office was suffering from intense poverty and was classified as one of the worst places to live in the United Kingdom. The infant mortality rate was incredibly high – 147 out of 1,000 infants did not survive past one year old – and British occupation was suffocating. This led to the forming of nationalist groups, which were made up of Irish people who wanted Ireland to have home rule or to be completely free of British rule. As we walked through the museum, we learned about the planning, execution, and results of the Easter Rising. The headquarters of the nationalists leaders was in the General Post Office, which is where they planned out their revolt against British rule. 

This was a fascinating era to focus on, as it is a good demonstration of the longevity of liberation movements. The Easter Rising was not actually successful right away; the British army beat the nationalists after many casualties. That being said, we learned that this was just the beginning of the modern Irish movement for independence. A timeline in the museum laid out events from the end of the Easter Rising to 2016. This is also a good example of the theory of transgenerational trauma. Transgenerational trauma is trauma – the response to something awful happening – that is passed down through generations. This can be through genetics, experiences, or both. In any violent revolt, trauma is inevitable, but when the fight for independence is ongoing, transgenerational trauma is likely to occur. The fight for Irish independence has spanned generations, from the Easter Rising in 1916 to The Troubles starting in 1968 and ending in 1998. The constant violence and threat of violence combined with many different sides experiencing loss and looming British rule would result in biological effects on the families involved. This is passed down through generations and as generations keep experiencing trauma, the cycle will continue. 

While this is an upsetting reality, visiting the General Post Office (and other lessons we’ve learned throughout our time here) has taught us something else: that peace and justice is possible and the process has already started. After this educational visit to the museum, our group got to explore the surrounding areas and see Dublin city life.

Introduction Post

Hi, my name is Frankie and I am an incoming senior majoring in Writing for Film and Television and minoring in Sociology. My background in peace studies is not very extensive, I took a peace studies class first semester of junior year and really enjoyed it. I also have an extensive background in activism and am very interested in the intersection between that and peace studies. I am particularly interested in this course because of my Irish heritage, as well as my interest in Irish history and what decolonization looks like in the context of Ireland. I hope to gain a better understanding of the history of The Troubles and what reunification could look like. I think it will be difficult to learn about the trauma inflicted on Ireland, but I believe it’s important to learn about these difficult things so we can ensure they don’t happen again, as well as figure out what is best for Ireland now. I’m excited to get started!