The Reality of Life in Victorian Times

I want you to close your eyes, or, better still, open your internal mind’s eye, the one that allows you to see what your imagination paints for you. I want to take you to a time when personal affairs were much simpler, but could be more dangerous. I want to imagine your ancestors of approximately 150 years ago. The year is 1849. The location is Carrickfergus, Ireland. The Great Famine is over, but the effects are still evident. You can walk down the road towards town, and while doing so, you pass a number of houses, some of which the former inhabitants have left to go to either America or Canada. Other empty houses belonged to those who didn’t have the money to buy food to replace the potato crops that failed over the previous few years. Many of these people lost energy and, eventually, the will to live. These are the people who starved to death in their homes on the estates that were supposed to look after the people that lived there. It seems that those that emigrated were the lucky ones.

Now, I want you to imagine a man, one who is shabbily dressed and looking around to see if anyone is looking. This man is in the process of going into a root cellar of a house that looks well kept. He makes it into the cellar and, after about ten minutes, emerges, with his arms full of vegetables. He looks around before coming out of the cellar to make sure that there is no one around. He can’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean that the way is clear. He tries to stay in the shadows and tries to work his way over to the gap in the hedge. He sees no one on the grounds. He makes it to the hedge and starts to crawl through, pushing his load of vegetables ahead of him. He has left a family member on the other side to help him carry the vegetables to his home. As he crawls through, he softly calls his companion. He doesn’t hear any answer, but doesn’t think anything of it, assuming that his companion had moved down the road. As he stands up near the road and picks up his load of vegetables, he thinks that he will have to go looking for his partner. Looking up, he sees his partner, who is being held by the servant of the house. Standing beside the servant is the owner of the house that he had just visited, who is waiting with other servants and a few members of the local police. At this point, both of these men are arrested and taken to the County Gaol in Belfast.

The crime that these men would be charged with is theft. It doesn’t matter that it was food that they stole. It doesn’t matter that, without this food, they would starve to death. It doesn’t matter that they cannot earn the money to feed themselves and their families. They took something that didn’t belong to them. End of story.

Actually, that was not the end of story for many people. These people were lumped in with people who instigated rebellion, stole for other reasons, committed murder, and so forth. The innocent, who were just looking to survive, were children, men, women, and they did not do so lightly. It was against their principles to do so, but it became a choice of life and death.

Carrickfergus was the location of the county gaol prior to 1845. It was also the county seat, looking after the affairs of two counties, County Carrickfergus, which was a county in its own right, and County Antrim. Eventually, County Carrickfergus ended up as part of County Antrim. The gaol was large enough to hold 250 prisoners, of both sexes and all ages. I haven’t been able to find why a new gaol was built in Belfast, but, in 1841, Charles Lanyon designed a new gaol to be built. The actual building was not started until 1843 and was finished in 1845. Prisoners were to be transferred from Carrickfergus to Belfast and the gaol in Carrickfergus was to be closed. One hundred and six prisoners were transferred in 1846. They had to walk the entire way from Carrickfergus to Belfast, a distance of over 40 miles.

Once the prisoners arrived in Belfast, they were taken to the Crumlin Road Gaol and put into individual cells. This prison was built in such a way that prisoners could be isolated when necessary. The cells were mostly used as individual cells, but they occasionally held as many as three prisoners each. The Crumlin Road Gaol was designed with five wings, a hospital building and a small graveyard with additions added later including cottages for prison staff. Four of the five wings housed the prisoners on three levels with Block A being the largest wing. I believe that Block C was the wing that held the female prisoners and maybe also the children. Children were sent to gaol just for stealing a loaf of bread or an article of clothing. History tells us that one such child, Patrick Magee, was sentenced to three months in the Crumlin Road Gaol. He was so desperate that he hung himself in 1858. After this time, children were not allowed to housed in the same facilities as adults.

The Crumlin Road Gaol was across the road from the courthouse. There are passages underground that lead towards the former location of the courthouse. That courthouse had been bombed during the troubled time and was torn down. The passages are now blocked off for public safety.

The gaol also carried out death sentences. Originally, the hangings were done in public where all could see that the sentence was carried out. In 1901, there was a modification done in Block C. One cell was enlarged to more than twice the size of a normal cell. This cell was used for the last days of a condemned prisoner. When the appropriate time approached, the prisoner would be taken through to the execution chamber through a passage that no other prisoner could see. The prisoner was hung and, when dead, was buried. There were a total of seventeen executions held at the Crumlin Road Gaol with the last one being in 1961.

One of the things that prisoners look forward to is to be free. The prison had a number of prison breaks, but it still was still known as Europe’s Alcatraz.

It was decided that the Crumlin Road Gaol would be closed. This happened in 1996. It stood empty until 2010 when it was announced that it would be renovated. In 2012, it opened as a tourist attraction and conference center.

On our tour of Ireland, one of the places that we visited was the Crumlin Road Gaol. We arrived after dark fell, and it has an imposing feeling when you can’t see the facility in daylight. We were taken into the facility through the same door that prisoners would have been taken in. We had a tour of the facility, visiting the administration wing and only one wing of the prison cells, Block C. We had the opportunity of viewing the execution chamber, going in the same way that a condemned prisoner went in. In all, the visit to Crumlin Road Gaol was an eye opener to some of the things that were experienced by some of our ancestors.

Our ancestors had hard lives. Even the poorest in Canada have a better life than most of our ancestors. We need to celebrate their lives, that they had the stamina and determination to live and to improve life for their children and painted the dream of a good life for their children for inspiration to continue down the same road.

Public Records Office of Northern Ireland

While in Belfast, it is a must to visit the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, (or PRONI for short), if you are going any sort of research that involves records from Northern Ireland. PRONI is the official archive for Northern Ireland.

When you first walk into PRONI, you will find that it has an open concept that allows you to see some of the second floor. The stairs are about the middle of the room with security at the front, and a place to get your reader’s card, or fill out the application for it if there is a problem with the computer system.

Before heading upstairs to the Reading Room, you need to realize that there are certain restrictions that must be observed. On the first floor, there are lockers provided for all those things that you brought but cannot take into the Reading Room. There is also a cafeteria available for something to eat at lunchtime.

On your first visit to PRONI, you will go through an orientation. They will show you how to determine what you need, which includes going through databases, using computers to access the internet, and more. You can also ask to talk with a professional genealogist who will not be doing the work for you, but will guide you about what direction you should take.

There are actually two rooms on the second floor that you will be working in. The first room will be the room that you go through the looking at the databases, going through the books, and accessing the internet. This room also holds a number of microfilm readers for use by patrons.

The second room on the second floor is the Reading Room. It is in this room that you will order any book or document or box that you want to look through for the information that you are looking floor. Once the order is placed, it usually take only a couple of hours or less for it to be delivered to the Reading Room. There are plenty of tables for use in there.

PRONI also has a website: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni

If you are planning a visit to PRONI, you really should go to their website. It will give you all the information that you need to know before going, such as the address, the hours that it is open, what type of preparation that you can do before going, and so on. Another thing to be aware of is that you can use your digital camera, but you must ask permission at least three weeks in advance. The documents are not online, but the pamphlets are there to let you know how to access the records in the archives during your visit.

I was disappointed to find that there are no records that are on the website. There may be some available through Find My Past or Ancestry. I don’t know for sure. Maybe some day, PRONI will follow the example of Library and Archives Canada, The National Archives of Ireland, and The National Archives at Kew and have access to at least some of the more popular records or even just the databases through its website.

The Ulster Historic Foundation

There is an organization that is devoted to the preservation of the documents for the Province of Ulster in Ireland. Many people outside of Ireland have a misconception of Ulster. The Province of Ulster has nine counties, six of which are in Northern Ireland. The other three are part of the Republic of Ireland. The six counties that are part of Northern Ireland are: County Antrim, County Armagh, County Cavan, County Down, County Fermanagh, County Londonderry, and County Tyrone. Counties Cavan, Donegal, and Monaghan are in the Republic. Even though the headquarters for the Ulster Historic Foundation is in Belfast, they do search out the records for the three counties that are in the south.

When an appointment for a tour group is booked, it usually begins with a slide presentation explaining the history of some of the history of Ulster. The presentation that I was at included information on the Ulster Plantations. This was information that I had never heard before. I do have an understanding of European history but I do admit that I have never really taken the opportunity to study Irish history. This would be an interesting topic to study.

After the presentation, a break for refreshments will take place. During this time, you will have a chance to look at some of their literature that will give you an idea whether or not you will need to look at their holdings, browse through their bookstore, and just chat, asking questions about their organization.

Some of the members of our group were able to have some time to discuss their brick walls and how to solve them with members of the Foundation. At this time, the only thing that I could do any research on was the origins of the surnames that I am researching. I found that three out of my major four Irish surnames that I am researching have roots in England.

We spent about three to four hours at their facilities and, I believe that each one of us walked out of there with a bit more information than before we went in.

The Foundation has a website at:

http://www.ancestryireland.com/

They have a number of categories that you can look at, and under each category there are a number of pages that have different topics. Most of these pages you can see without being a member, but if you want to look at any of their databases, you need to be a member. Membership costs in the neighbourhood of £38 a year, £99 for five years, or £230 for a lifetime membership. They also have a Family Research Starter Kit for £47.99 which includes a year’s membership, 24 credits, Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors, and more. There is also a pay-as-you-go option but it won’t get you into their databases.

If you are planning a trip to Ireland and you have research to do in Northern Ireland, you might be best to take out a membership and have a good look at their databases. I have looked at the list of databases and have seen that there is at least one of them that I would like to look at. By looking at their databases, you should be able to find something to help you along your way.

Currently, I am not a member of the Guild but I am not ruling out the possibility that, in the future, I may find that their holdings may help my search.

The Foundation does send some of their members on tour in North America, and, (now this is according to me), Europe or other places where Irish ancestors migrated to when they had to leave the Emerald Isle. Part of the reason why the Foundation does this is to make people aware that they exist and that they do have these holdings. Another reason why this is done is for fundraising. This organization does not receive any money from government sources and depends on sales, research fees, memberships, and donations.

Mourne’s Seafood Restaurant

On our first night in Belfast, we were taken to Mourne’s Seafood Restaurant for dinner. Later in the trip, we began to realize that on the first night in a new town or city, we would be taken out to dinner by the tour company. Some of the members of the group discussed it for a bit and came to the conclusion that, because it was the first night in town, we didn’t know where the pubs were as we hadn’t really had a chance to look around. If we had more than one night in a city, the remainder of the nights were our responsibility to find a place to eat. Usually, there were some choices of restaurants and pubs in the area of the hotels that we stayed in.

When we arrived at Mourne’s, we were taken upstairs to a private room where we had a dedicated staff of waiters and waitresses and cooks to look after us. The cooks also did some of the meals for the room downstairs but we were their priority.

The menu gave us an excellent range of choices of food, both seafood and non-seafood. I can’t remember exactly what I had, but I think that I tried their chowder. I wasn’t feeling the best at that time and needed to have something to eat that I knew wouldn’t upset my stomach. It was served with bread and gave me exactly what I needed.

For my main course, I had the ribeye steak as I didn’t want to take the chance of having deep-fried fish. I had it earlier in the week and I can only tolerate it in small amounts. I was questioned about it, but that is what I felt that do me the best good. It was done almost to perfection and I enjoyed every bite of it.

I finished the meal with apple and rhubarb crumble with ice cream. It was very filling, almost too much so. But it was good. I think that everyone enjoyed their meal.

As we headed back to the hotel, plans were made for the evening. My plan every night was to complete the blog entry, and most nights, relax and try to go to bed by 10 p.m. It doesn’t always work, though.

All in all, I can say that Mourne’s Seafood Restaurant has excellent food and is worth the trip to have some when you are in Ireland. I think that almost everyone on our tour enjoyed the food as well.

By the way, I didn't take my camera with me that evening, so I had to download pictures from the advertisement for the restaurant.

The Titanic Quarter

One of the first places that our tour visited in Belfast was the Titanic Quarter. In particular, we visited the museum that focuses totally on the Titanic. We arrived after having a bus tour with a tour guide from the city on our first day in Belfast.

Once we went into the museum, one of the first things that is usually done is the watching of a video regarding the building of the Titanic. There were displays that were interesting, but the one that I enjoyed the most was the ride through the “dockyard”. It was like a roller coaster ride that takes you through various parts of the “dockyard” in which there were displays that described the building of the Titanic and the conditions that the dockyard workers functioned in.

On the ground floor of the museum is a gift shop. I was interested in seeing what they had. I was looking for souvenir spoons in particular, but I found that the prices in the gift shop were steep. I did find souvenir spoons, but it was going to cost me in the neighbourhood of £25. I was not that impressed with them that I was going to pay that much. After all, I don’t have a lot of money and I look for things that are not that expensive. I left the gift shop after that.

The Titanic Quarter actually consists of more than just the museum. The museum is only one venue that resides there. Just up the street from the museum is the Public Records Office for Northern Ireland, otherwise known as PRONI. If you need to do any sort of research involving Northern Ireland, that is the place to start with. After that, there are other places that I will talk about in the future.

Across the street from PRONI is the hotel that we would have preferred to stay in. It is the other Premier Inn that is in Belfast and has much more room for buses and groups. However, there was a concert that week and the hotel was booked when the error had been pointed out to the tour company. There aren’t many trees in the area, so shade is at a premium.

There are other businesses within walking distance of the hotel. Many North American companies are locating the European headquarters of their companies in Ireland, both in Dublin and in Belfast. We drove down one of the streets and there is still a lot of development that has to happen before it will look like the plans that they have made for the area.

There are also plans to have some residential areas as well. Hopefully, Belfast can continue with the development of this area as it does have potential. Some of the pictures included with this blog were downloaded using Google to find them.

Carrickfergus Castle

Carrickfergus Castle is a twelfth century castle built about 11 miles north of Belfast on Belfast Lough in Antrim, Northern Ireland. It has a colourful and violent history as it was built in a strategic place.

The original castle consisted of a bailey, a great hall and an inner wall, along with some outbuildings surrounded by a curtain wall to protect it from the sea. This was originally built by John de Courcy in 1177 and used as his headquarters until 1204 when he was ousted by Hugh de Lacy.

Hugh de Lacy made some improvements to the castle by building a higher curtain wall for better protection from the sea. He also added a portcullis and a vault, completing these by 1250. Hugh de Lacy had been attacked by soldiers of King John in 1210, and was expelled while the castle came under royal authority. Hugh de Lacy received back the earldom of Ulster and the castle in 1227.

In 1315, Edward the Bruce, brother to Robert the Bruce, laid siege to the castle which lasted for three years. When Edward was defeated in Meath, three years later, the retreating Scots laid waste to the land in and around Carrickfergus. The area was razed twice more, in 1386 and 1402 with much of the original town being destroyed.

The sixteenth century saw some more battles involving Carrickfergus for supremacy, 1575, 1577, and 1597 when the governor, John Chichester, was killed. Two years after this, Chichester’s brother, Arthur, became governor of the castle and was successful in bringing in English and Lowland Scots to live and work in the area.

In 1641, Carrickfergus became a refuge for Protestants running from the rebellion. This lead to the area becoming the staging ground for a counter attack and massacre of Catholics. The castle changed hands three times over the course of two years until, in 1649, Parliamentary forces held it until the restoration of the monarch in 1660.

In 1690, after the town had been taken by his forces, William of Orange came to Carrickfergus to consolidate his troops until facing and defeating his father-in-law and claiming the English throne.

In 1760, the French attacked the castle which was surrendered. The French left after stealing the silver from the castle and were attacked by a British ship near the Isle of Man. In 1768, John Paul Jones, on his ship Ranger, attacked HMS Drake near Carrickfergus.

In 1797, the castle was used as a prison for the Rebellion. This would not be the last time that it would be used as a prison. It was also used as prison in the Napoleonic wars as well as an amoury. During World War I and World War II, it was used as a garrison and an air raid shelter.

Carrickfergus Castle is now open to the public throughout the year and, I believe that the castle is well maintained. It is one of the jewels of Northern Ireland, having survived countless attacks. It would be a great opportunity to be able to visit the castle and get to know all of its charms.

Day Ten – Field Trip, April 2016

Saying good bye to Belfast, we travelled across Northern Ireland. Because we had a late night last night, I fell asleep on the bus. I do know that we had a quick stop at our hotel and then travelled to Lagcurry in County Donegal to visit the Doagh Famine Village and Visitors Center.

While there, I received some education about the area. It is a very remote area and the people did not have much access to education until approximately the 1980s. I may be out a few years (a decade or two). The people there did not have much money at all. They did with what they had which wasn’t very much at all.

The famine from 1845 to 1848 hit the area very hard. We learned that six years previously, there was a very bad storm go through the area. It was so bad that it destroyed the boats that the local people had for fishing. They had not been able to replace the boats prior to 1845 and, hence, were not able to provide food for themselves in the way of fish.

The guide went on to tell us that the date of the storm was very important in another respect. The government brought in old age pension with the required age for enrolment being 70 years old. There was no civil registration prior to 1864 and it took the government officials to figure out how to determine who qualified for the pension. They realized that if someone was alive and could remember the storm, they qualified.

We then wandered around the displays that they had which included more than information regarding the famine. There was also a display about the making of peace between the Republicans and the Loyalists. I enjoyed the haunted house that they had put together. There were a few things that would scare someone, but I don’t think that it is as good as Nightmares Fear Factory in Niagara Falls. I will have to go back to Nightmares soon to determine this.

A tea was provided for us consisting of bread, butter, jam, biscuits, with tea or coffee (or, in my case, milk). This was just a light snack for us at lunch time. We could have done with more. I know that I would have liked more.

Back to Derry we went. We met our guide for our tour and the bus dropped us off at the part way up one of the hills. We were close to the entrance for the top of the old city wall. This wall was built in the 17^th century and was quite wide. To me, it felt like a street, but no vehicles are allowed on it. We passed a couple of the gates and then descended from the wall. We walked through a shopping area which was closed because it is Sunday. Then we headed towards the Guild Hall where we ended our tour and met up with our driver.

Tonight, we will be having dinner in our hotel and I am sure that all of us are looking forward to it. It may be another late evening as we don’t go to dinner until 7:00 pm.

Day Six – Field Trip, April 2016

Bright and early this morning (8:15), everyone had checked out of the hotel and boarded the bus and we started our day of travel. It was a long day. We left Dublin and travelled to the Boyne Valley Visitor Center. While there, it was planned that we would spend a bit of time in the Visitor Center and then visit the tomb of New Grange which dates back between 6,000 and 8,000 years. I was all set to visit the tomb but my body decided that it was not going to cooperate with me. One of my symptoms of fibromyalgia flared up and it was really not a good time for me to visit New Grange. I was disappointed about that but there was nothing that I could do about it. I sat and relaxed until the other members of the group came back for lunch. By that time, I was also able to eat some lunch with them. Later in the day, my brother showed me some of the pictures that he had taken.

We boarded back on the bus and continued on our way to Belfast. Once we were in Belfast, the driver took us to meet our tour guide for a bus tour of the city. We had the opportunity to see some of the Victorian and Edwardian architecture and some of the monuments that were erected in the past. We were given a brief history of Belfast and were given a good tour. We visited both the Protestant and Catholic sides of the area where all the trouble in the 60s to the 90s took place. We saw that wall where there were paintings portraying the conflict. We were taken to the Peace Wall separating the Catholics from the Protestants. I haven’t full digested all that I saw today with regards to this.

As our tour continued, we were take to the Titanic Quarter and the guide left us at Titanic Belfast to go through the display. I have never seen some of the elements that were used in any other display of history. There was a chance to “take a ride through the dockyard” where the Titanic was built. There were interactive displays describing how the ship was built and the furnishings of the various quarters of the different classes of passengers. Towards the end of the display was a video of a couple of mini submarines doing a “tour” of the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. I don’t consider that the time we spent at Titanic Belfast was a waste of time. It gave me something to think about because my great-grandmother’s brother was a Master Mariner for the Cunard Lines at that time. He could have just as easily been working for White Star Shipping Lines and been on the Titanic.

Once we were finished at Titanic Belfast, we were taken to our hotel so that we could look after a couple of quick things and get ready to go out to dinner. We then had a group dinner (which was part of the package) at Mourne Seafood Restaurant, not far from our hotel. This time, the bus driver joined us for dinner. Because of my problems earlier in the day, I decided to take it easy and tried to go for more of the light choices. As an appetizer, I had goat cheese that had been made into balls, dipped in a thin batter, deep-fried, and served with greens, beets, and a couple of crackers similar to Melba Toast. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was followed by baked chicken, mashed potatoes, and spinach. Again, it was an excellent choice. For dessert, I had ice cream. I could have had a larger dessert, but I was thinking that I had pushed enough for today.

We had such a full day that once we were back to the hotel after dinner, I sorted out a couple of questions that I had, and then sat down to let you know how our day was. It’s time for me to say “Good Night”.

Day Four – Field Trip, April 2016

It was nice to get to bed early last night. I think that I was asleep within 30 minutes. It could have been a bit longer than that. However, I did wake up a couple of times during the night and the second time I couldn’t get back to sleep. When this happens, I either work on my computer or I read until I can sleep. Last night I read.

The alarm went off early this morning. We both wanted to know how things were going to go and this morning was a good trial. Tomorrow, we will be sleeping in a bit more.

Breakfast was excellent. Our trip includes all of our breakfasts and about half of our dinners. We are to look after the remaining dinners and all of our lunches. It gives us a chance to be able to look for the local pubs and try the food there. There is one across the street from our hotel and the food there is good and is not expensive.

Shirley shared the breakfast table with us. I’m not sure what Shirley or my brother had but I had eggs over easy with back bacon, mushrooms, dark pudding, white pudding, fruit with yogurt, and a slice of toast.

Shirley has been working on her family history for quite a while and kind of took me under her wing today. She has been to Dublin before. We decided that we would go to the National Archives of Ireland today. I had printed off the family group sheets for only the families that immigrated to Canada from Ireland. I had finally come up with a good format that gives enough information to help the expert be able to guide me in the right direction.

We were on our way by 9:00 am. We used the Hop On, Hop Off bus pass to get the most of the way there and then walked the last 15 minutes. I still had to get my reader’s ticket and then we could get started. Shirley talked with her first and then I had my chance.

A friend of mine in the Pembroke area had asked me to find out where she could get the information for a marriage that she was looking for. That was sorted out first and I now have the information to pass onto her.

I then asked about how to find records for John Robert and Margaret. According to the information that I have, they were married in 1822 but the catch is that they were Methodist. I was given a set of documents to order and examine while the expert helped others. I was able to use my camera and have a copy to be able to refer to when I get back home. We also made the decision that I would wait until we’re in Belfast before trying to get more information on that line.

Once I finished with those records, I was able to speak with the specialist again. We discussed another branch of the family which had a very popular name. His wife, however, had a name that was not so popular. After some discussion, we decided to leave that branch alone for a while until I was able to check out a couple of things.

We then discussed John. John had left Ireland in 1820 and, about 1825, was able to purchase some land. He married a French Canadian girl a year or two later. His surname is not very popular here as well as his mother’s maiden name. The expert tried a couple of websites but couldn’t find very much and then steered me in the direction of the Tithe Applotment books and Griffiths’ Evaluation. I was then put to work, but I was able to photograph all the records that pertained to this particular search. I now have to make some digital adjustments to the records so that they can be read. With this, I may be able to find information more readily. By the time I finished pulling together this information, it was almost 5:00 pm. Shirley was finished what she was doing sometime between 3:00 and 4:00. She kept herself busy until I was ready to go and we made it out the door by two minutes to 5 o’clock. They close at 5:00 p.m.

We decided to take the Hop On, Hop Off as far as we could, preferably as close to the hotel that we could get. At about the nineteenth stop, the driver announced that we would be leaving the bus at the twenty-second stop. We were to find our own way back, either walking or using the city bus system. He told us what bus we would have to take. Because it was rush hour, we opted to take a taxi so that we would not have to deal with a crowded bus and be able to travel faster. We made a good choice. We were back to the hotel by 6:00 p.m.

My brother had done other things during the day and was not back from his adventures yet. Shirley and I both needed to eat so we went to the pub across the street from the hotel. We had an enjoyable time in each other’s company and eat some good food which was followed by an evening of getting ready for the next day and relaxing.