We spent the morning in Titanic Belfast, the new museum recently named as the best attraction in Europe. We experienced the best of what technology now brings to museums. You leave feeling you've truly learned about and even lived some of the experiences. The display is more than a description of the building and sinking of the Titanic. It is a lesson in the industrial golden age of Belfast - linen mills, tobacco factories, rope-making, and of course ship-building. We walked and travelled through the life-sized layers of the building of the giant ship, riding in a small vehicle giving us a small hint at how noisy and hot the conditions were as it was riveted and built layer by layer. (Large ships were measured in how many lives would be lost per ton as well as $.)
Continuing our ancestor search, after lunch we walked over to PRONI. Once again I had to work very hard in the charm department to gain entry. Pubic Records of Northern Ireland is another one of those government-secured areas. Because I left my passport in the hotel, I had no picture ID and was denied entry. Bill was allowed in and after a certain amount of sighing, a compromise was made for me - I'd be allowed entry but couldn't actually look at the screens or write anything down (I kid you not!) Again the second fellow we met was less concerned about rules and with a grin slipped me an application form. Twenty fun-filled minutes later, we each emerged with a photo ID card that allows us back in for 10 years!! We were required to put all jackets, backpacks, pens and cameras in a locker. Pencils were available behind the closed doors.
Once inside, all changed and a skilled librarian spent an hour with us searching all possible record available for our Jane Wilson as well as husband and older family members. We worked through microfiche records (our best bet) with no success - found records from Killead Parish in Antrim but none old enough. Looks like the grave sites are still a good source as long as the lichen hasn't cleared off all the details.
Records haven't survived for many reasons - dampness in older churches, fewer records kept, fire, and even an explosion in Dublin (during bombing of Post Office in 1916 Easter Rebellion according to one account). The librarian in fact has had less luck than us in tracing her family back!
We toured the city after that but that story is for another day.
Pictures to follow when cameras are charged.
Ohh, like a spy novel!
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