{"id":145,"date":"2026-06-22T22:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T22:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/?p=145"},"modified":"2026-06-23T16:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T16:35:17","slug":"june-4th-and-5th-border-region-giants-causeway-and-traditional-music-walk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/2026\/06\/22\/june-4th-and-5th-border-region-giants-causeway-and-traditional-music-walk\/","title":{"rendered":"June 4th and 5th- Border Region, Giants Causeway, and Traditional Music Walk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hello, My name is Faith Dunscombe and I did June 4th and 5th of our Ireland trip! On June 4th<\/sup> of our trip in Northern Ireland, we stopped on the Border Region getting to Derry\/London Derry. When talking to a British Soldier about this area, in which he emphasized it as the \u201cGate Way to Hell.\u201d This was because this area was heavily militarized to reduce paramilitary attacks or the smuggling in of arms. This was the only main road because most other roads were blocked off, causing everyone to have to go through this checkpoint. This area was used mainly up until 2007. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

                  Photo Taken by Faith Dunscombe (6\/4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British Soldier, Lee Lavis, talked about how there would be a helicopter pad in that grass area, and most helicopters would be coming in and out of this area, stopping at this checkpoint. Behind this grass area was the building that housed all the British soldiers in it. Food, clothing, and beds were all at the military base, and how the British soldiers ensured safety was by having 2 helicopters to a patrol at a time, or people by foot as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This area was mainly the IRA army against the Royal Ulster Constabulary according to the Lee Lavis. The British army helped the Royal Ulster Constabulary establish bases since they could not do it on their own. Which led to the British controlling the watchtowers, helicopter pads, and heavily fortified military bases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relating this back to what we have been learning in our class, I would like to talk about the reading, Working Together in a Divided Society: A Study of Intergroup Communication in the Northern Ireland Workplace”, authored by researchers Owen Hargie, David Dickson, and Seanenne Nelson. This reading taught me many things about the inter communication between different sides, but also the deeply rooted, not talked about, rules that the people of Northern Ireland started taking on. In these heavily militarized areas, there was lots of fear, anxiety, and hyperawareness of what was going on. People in nearby areas were then starting to avoid a couple subjects when conversing with people they are not familiar with. They avoided talking about politics, religion, their historical background, or what schools their family or children are attending. All these subjects would be dead give aways for what side of the conflict they were on, and it could have led to more violence and anxiety, so people avoided the conversation overall. Instead of asking these questions, there were plenty of other ways one could go about finding which side someone was on. Pronunciation, for example, was a big give away, in which if you were on the Catholic side, you usually pronounced your H\u2019s like \u201cHaitch,\u201d but if you were on the Protestants side, it was usually pronounced \u201cAitch.\u201d (Hargie et al., 2003)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is just one example of the many things people looked out for in Northern Ireland during their jobs, which had people from both sides within it.  These people would work their 9-5 jobs, working together, then go home to their segregated lives. Their jobs were like a neutral zone, that should have acted to bridge the way to more integration and acceptance of differences, but it just led to more silence, and ways around being segregated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on the Border region: https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/crrkzkrqed2o<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo Taken by Faith Dunscombe (6\/4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After we were done talking about the deep history within the border region, Declan Murphy, a politician, then took us to the Wee Garden. This Garden was made in 2016, and it commemorates all the people who fought, or were lost during the conflict. Declan Murphy talks about how a lot of people just wanted to forget about the war, but there was so many good people lost during it, so it was important that they had a landmark to look back on and remember the people who could not be there with them today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo Taken by Faith Dunscombe (6\/4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, we were then taken to the cemetery. In this cemetery, Declan and Lee talked about the many more lives lost during this hard time. They talked about how the British army were under so much pressure, and they thought that if they could criminalize the people, it would lessen the war, which did not work. It led to hunger strikes, which Declan talked about one of his colleagues Raymond McCreesh, who he went to school with. Declan and Raymond were both criminalized by the British, but Raymond ultimately died due to the hunger strikes. It just goes to show how personal this war was getting, and how so many people lost good friends and family members during this conflict. Declan was only released after the Good Friday Agreement was curated, and has been out since, being able to tell us his story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Parasocial Contact Hypothesis, which states that if there is personal contact between two different groups, prejudice can be reduced (Schiappa et al., 2005). This Theory is not very prevalent within these times that Declan and Lee are illustrating. There is so much war, and segregating, making this theory very hard to take place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 5th<\/sup>, Giants Causeway <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo taken by Faith Dunscombe (6\/5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo taken by Daniel Wehrenfennig (6\/5)<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During our travels to Derry\/London Derry, we stopped at Giants Causeway. This place was so beautiful and filled with greenery and water on the horizon. It allowed for us, the students, to get a break from the constant everyday learning, but also still do something fun and filled with tourist pictures! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daniel Wehrenfennig, one of our Professors and CIEL guides told us a story first before we took our excursion to the rocks. This story is said that Finn McCool, a giant, built pathway to Scotland, but found out that there was another way bigger giant on the other island (Scotland.) Finn\u2019s Wife thinks quickly, and dresses up Finn as a baby. When the other giant comes over to Ireland, he sees Finn and thinks if this baby is already this big, then the father must be much bigger than him, so the giant flees back to Scotland. Now, there is just these steppingstones left over from his pathway to Scotland, known today as Giants Causeway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about this; https:\/\/citytoursbelfast.com\/giants-causeway-story<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To finish up our more relaxing days, we learned all about traditional music and dancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo Taken by Faith Dunscombe (6\/5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo Taken by Faith Dunscombe (6\/5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three lovely musicians taught us about the organization called the Comhaltas Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed \u00c9ireann. This organization is used to preserve traditional Irish music and commemorate how much music has brought together people during many hard times, especially during the conflict. The most common places you will find traditional music (or more well known as trad) is in a bar. Traditional music is played most every day to carry out its traditions and allow the future generations to also learn about it and enjoy its rhythm. Traditional musicians tend to be super close together since a bar is packed full of people, and just to feel the music and dance it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The musicians played a couple of pieces for us in the first two bars, in which they were super high beat, and fun to listen to. One thing they told us to do is when you get super into the music, you can say \u201chip\u201d which is a traditional thing to do when listening or playing Irish music. While it is something fun to do, it could also be a way that the musicians are going to change key, and the word \u201chip\u201d signifies that they are going to change key soon, so the others should be more cautious to ensure they are staying within rhythm and key. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the second bar, the harp and Ellen pipes were played briefly. Both were so unique, and the musicians played them very beautifully. The harp was very elegant, while the Ellen pipes had such a unique sound to them, I had never heard in person before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information: https:\/\/comhaltas.ie<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Last bar, we learned about traditional dancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Photo Taken by Faith Dunscombe (6\/5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional Dancing has more than one category to it, in which most people outside of Ireland think it is the stiff arms and leg dancing that is traditional. While this is one of the categories to dancing, there is another one called Set dancing, which we learned and tried. It consisted of lots of hopping, cuffing, and turning around. This dancing could be carried out alone, or with a dance partner. We learned with a dance partner, which made it fun with a lot of mistakes on the learning curve. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These two days first focused on the segregated societies that took place during the troubles, then how they used music and dancing to be able to bring people together and live out happy lives.  Stereotyping is extremely prevalent and ingrained into the people of Irelands brains due to so many years of war. In one of the readings defining stereotyping, it entails more. \u201c\u2026defined stereotypes as \u2018pictures in our heads\u2019 when we think about a particular social group.\u201d (Shibboleth Authentication Request<\/em>, 2026) We put these initial thoughts of how people are in our heads, but like the Northern Ireland people, they are all the same. They go to a 9-5 job and can keep conversations non-controversial by avoiding certain subjects. These people are much more similar than they realize, and it was hard for them to overcome it when they had these deeply rooted political beliefs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional Music and Dancing is one of the ways they can bring people together and just be one group enjoying each other. This can cause the Parasocial Contact Hypothesis to really become integrated within the people of Ireland and help them realize their differences are not as big as they seem. Us being hand in hand while learning Set dancing is the perfect example for how to break those walls down and learn about something that they both have heritage within. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comhaltas Globally Promotes Traditional Irish Music Dance Culture for Students, Educators, Visitors, Musicians & Journalists<\/em>. (n.d.). Comhaltas.ie. https:\/\/comhaltas.ie<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hargie, O., Dickson, D., & Nelson, S. (2003). Working Together in a Divided Society. Journal of Business and Technical Communication<\/em>, 17<\/em>(3), 285\u2013318. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/1050651903017003002<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schiappa, E., Gregg, P. B., & Hewes, D. E. (2005). The Parasocial Contact Hypothesis. Communication Monographs<\/em>, 72<\/em>(1), 92\u2013115. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/0363775052000342544<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shibboleth Authentication Request<\/em>. (2026). Oclc.org. https:\/\/research-ebsco-coJunem.chapman.idm.oclc.org\/c\/wnnu3f\/ebook-viewer\/epub\/bx556y7xx5\/section\/nav34?route=details<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200cSimpson, M. (2025, December 3). Irish border: A century since it was confirmed – what happened?<\/em>https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/crrkzkrqed2o<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story, G. C. (n.d.). The Giant\u2019s Causeway Story | Myths & Legends<\/em>. City Tours Belfast. https:\/\/citytoursbelfast.com\/giants-causeway-story<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello, My name is Faith Dunscombe and I did June 4th and 5th of our Ireland trip! On June 4th of our trip in Northern Ireland, we stopped on the Border Region getting to Derry\/London Derry. When talking to a British Soldier about this area, in which he emphasized it as the \u201cGate Way to Hell.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/258"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.chapman.edu\/peacecomm2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}