The Events of Sunday, May 22, 2011

            I awoke first and headed out on my walk around 6:45. As I headed down the hill to the river, I saw our host Robert walking up the road. He greeted me and told me the river, swollen from recent rains, was too high for fishing. After discussing the weather, I extracted from him the information we needed to plan our day’s events: the Giant’s Causeway is at least ninety minutes from here, and only thirty minutes from Larne (our ferry port for tomorrow). After this conversation, we bid each other ‘good morning’ and I continued on my way. Through occasional rain showers, I prayed and walked around the little village of Ardstraw before returning home.

            Over breakfast, we discussed our options for today. Abby was disappointed to learn that Giant’s Causeway was so far away. We decided to visit the Causeway tomorrow on our way to Larne, and to do the Ulster American Folk Park today. The Folk Park is nearby, and it did not open until 11:00, so we took our time. On the way, we listened to our home church’s pastor Dave Flaig’s sermon called “How to Study the Bible.” I was grateful for the reminder of Scripture’s power and of our human tendency to close our hearts in pride and say, “No, no, I’m OK, I don’t need to hear any more, thank you very much.”

            The Ulster American Folk Park is a living history museum. That is, costumed docents live out the activities that are authentic to the period being presented. This museum focuses on the “Ulster” people of Northern Ireland. The 43-stop tour is organized chronologically, beginning with the Irish in the late 1700s.

            We began with one-room cabins, then continued on to a forge, a weaver’s cottage, a Presbyterian meetinghouse and vestry, the Tullyallen Mass House (where Catholics met to worship), a turf bank, a schoolhouse, post office, and homesteads of people who later achieved some fame. The most important house, and the only one still standing in its original site, is the Mellon Farmhouse. Andrew Mellon built this small but handsome stone house as a tenant farmer. He moved his family to Pennsylvania in 1818, where he started a new farm. When Andrew’s son, Thomas, was about fourteen, he read Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography and decided he would rather be a lawyer than a farmer. While working as an attorney, he started a small, private bank that grew into one of the United States’ largest.

            After viewing these “Old World” sites, we returned to the parking lot to retrieve supplies for our picnic lunch. When it rained on us briefly, we huddled together under our three umbrellas. That would have made a fun photo, but none of us wanted to get our camera wet to get the shot.

            Resuming the tour, we visited the Ulster storefronts that emigrants saw on their way to the docks. These included a printer’s shop, a saddler’s shop, a chemist (pharmacist), a grocer, and a pub – the driest pub in Ireland, bragged the printer. Entering the shipyard, we encountered a docent who suspiciously interrogated us. He expressed surprise when he learned that Caitlin, Lindsey, and Abby were yet unmarried – not even engaged to be married. Apparently our story was quite rare. (Indeed!) In the end, he did allow us on a land bound replica of the ship, the Brig Union, which carried the Mellon family to Baltimore in 1816. Traveling conditions resembled those of the Dunbrody, the “coffin ship” we visited near New Ross on Thursday, May 12. We “disembarked” the Brig Union and walked into the New World, with its set of American storefronts. Pam attempted a conversation with a costumed docent that took a bizarre turn when he began discussing 49er football and the unlikelihood of an NFL strike.

            The rest of the sites represented the American frontier: a Pennsylvania stone house and a log farmhouse with its garden and outbuildings (corn crib, wood storage shed, log barn, smokehouse, and springhouse). The most memorable site was the log cabin, where the docent was our landlady, Rachel. After giving us the spiel about the Mellon family’s log cabin (built by their neighbors as a community service and social event), she asked about our trip and accommodations. She also shared that, although she has been working in this Pennsylvania cabin for 25 years, she has never been to Pennsylvania. We encouraged her to go, and she says she would like to visit someday.

            Back at the Visitors Centre, we perused more exhibits. Some provided more information about the history of the Ulster people and their various responses to life’s challenges. Many left the country, which brought new struggles. Another exhibit highlighted famous Ulster people and famous descendents of Ulster people. The earliest was Francis Makemie, “the Father of American Presbyterianism”. Another Ulster immigrant was John Dunlap, the printer who published the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Also from Ulster, Mary Young (aka Jenny Diver) was a criminal by age ten. She grew into a notorious 18th century London underworld gang leader. Remarkably, after having been extradited twice to America, she returned to London both times. Ulsterman John Joseph Hughes, the first archbishop of New York, ministered diligently to Irish immigrants to America during the Famine flight. He was also a key player in the construction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which we enjoyed visiting in NYC last November. Descendants of Ulster people significant to American history include President Andrew Jackson; Davy Crockett; Sam Houston; Cyrus McCormick, who invented the reaping machine; Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General “Stonewall” Jackson.

            The last hall we went through focused on sewing needles. A needle and thread were some of the few precious possessions the Irish immigrants were able to take to the New World, aiding them in getting work there. In this temporary exhibit, Lindsey enjoyed learning about the different styles through the centuries, especially corsets and the making of hats.

            After a quick drive back to the cold Derg View House, we scattered to find sweatshirts. Ben lit a charcoal fire in the fireplace. After failing in my attempts, I asked our landlord Robert to help us turn on the heat. He worked on something outside the house for about five minutes, which started the heaters, and then he came in and fiddled with our heat controls. We enjoyed a hearty dinner of steak and onion pie, steamed broccoli, and a fresh green salad, followed by a scrumptious cherry pie. Yum!

            Since tomorrow will require an early start, we busied ourselves with cleaning up, packing, and preparing for our brief stay tomorrow night in a bed and breakfast. We packed necessary toiletries and clothing into our backpacks, so we can leave our luggage in the van. It amazes me how little we actually need – and how much we usually have.