Luxe Beat Magazine Special Edition Put a Pin in It! | Page 16

visitor experience, which is housed
in an iconic six-floor building. Its
state-of-the-art nine interpretive
and interactive galleries bring the
history of this famed ship, as well as
the city and people who made her, to
life in an unforgettable way.
Nearby, there’s the SS Nomadic
Belfast & Hamilton Dock where
the SS Nomadic rests. The old
tender ship, originally built in
1911, served the Titanic on her
maiden voyage carrying first and
second class passengers. It’s the
last remaining ship of the White
Star line. To learn even more about
Belfast’s shipbuilding legacy, visit
Titanic’s Dock & Pump-House, and
then make a stop at the Titanic

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Memorial Garden, which is sited in
the grounds of Belfast City Hall.
Inscribed in stone are the names of
the 1,512 people who perished on
the ship 104 years ago.
The Ulster Museum is also of
great interest to visitors for its
collection of art, history and natural
sciences, which tells the story of
the people of the north of Ireland
from earliest times to the present
day. Combine this with a tour of the
many political murals which dot the
city and depict the region’s past
and current political and religious
divisions. They have become
important symbols of Northern
Ireland, and are of great interest to
visitors. Themes range from overtly
political declarations and graphic

depictions of the age-old conflict,
to comments on peace and the peace
process.
In Irish Republican areas, events such
as the 1981 Irish hunger strike, the
Ballymurphy Massacre and McGurk’s
Bar bombing are commemorated. In
working class Unionist communities,
several of the murals promote Ulster
loyalist paramilitary groups, as well
as commemorate their deceased
members.
It’s impossible not to notice the
walls that have been erected over
the years across Belfast as a means
of defusing sectarian tension. There
are nearly 100 of them, dividing
nationalist Catholic neighborhoods

from loyalist Protestant ones. Many
have colorful murals, pictures and
graffiti with varying messages
scrolled on them. Today, ‘peace
gates’ are being opened in some of
the walls in an attempt to foster
greater links between communities,
and the plan is to eventually tear
down all of these structures in the
next decade.
Outside of Belfast, the countryside
reigns with some of Northern
Ireland’s oldest and most beautiful
estates. Glenarm Castle and Walled
Garden ranks up there as one of the
finest. Though the castle is only
occasionally open to the public due
to the fact that it is an occupied
residence, the Walled Garden