Trip Home Details

Hey everyone!
I am working on getting my posts up-to-date and finishing my papers.
I just wanted to give you all the 411 on my trip home.
So here it is. My itinerary :)

I will be leaving Edge Hill University at 1:30PM Friday, April 27th.
I will be taking a bus from Liverpool Coach Station at 3:00PM on the same day to London Victoria Coach Station. I should Arrive at 8:50PM on the same day.

I will then take a bus from London Victoria Coach Station to London Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 around 11:00PM on Friday, April 27th.

I will stay the night in the airport for a multiplitude of reasons, but the main one is that I do not see the point of wasting money on a hotel room that I would only be able to sleep in for less than 8 hours. It would be better and cheaper for me to just stay in the airport. Besides, if I could do a 13 hour layover in Washington DC I can handle a night in London Heathrow lol.

I will then do my check in at 9:00AM on Saturday April 28th.
My plane (Delta 57) will leave for Detroit Michigan at Noon.
I will land in Detroit at 4:10PM on Saturday April 28th.
I will then have 3 hours to kill, but lets not forget about customs and immigration that I will have to go through to get home.

The last part of my journey will be relaxing.
I leave Detroit (Delta 5880) at 7:31PM on Saturday April 28th.
I will arrive at Indianapolis International Airport at 8:51PM

I will be flying on Delta, so my family should know exactly where to pick me up since my Aunt ALWAYS flys on them when she travels out of the country (Which is practically every summer lol)

I cannot believe that my time in the United Kingdom is almost up. I won't lie, I have truly loved it here, but as Dorothy said "There is no place like home." *click...click...click*

It's that time of the Term.. ESSAYS!!!

Oh goodness.
Someone, help me!
It is the end of my life!!
Life as I know it is about to stop!!!
Okay... Maybe I am being over dramatic, you can't blame is gay queen.. Can you? lol.
Life has been going on much as it has for the term.
I have six essays and one powerpoint due before I leave for the States.

Over what, and in which class you ask?
Let me tell you.

Contemporary Britain: Educational Attainment and Social Class (1,500 words), Social Mobility (1,500 words), Reflection (1,000 words).

Sociology of Conflict: Media Representation of Northern Ireland, with specific view on rioting and plastic bullets (3,000 - 4,000 words)

Social Work with Youth: Social Work with LGBT Youth, with a specific focus on Counseling (2,500 words)

Social Work in Mental Health: Provisions of Mental Health for LGBT People (4,000 words)

Now. We ARE allowed to go 10% below or above the word limits, and lets be honest. I will TRY to have them the word limit, but I do not think it will happen. I have finished 3 essays. I am still working on my LAST Contemporary Britain essay (Educational Attainment and Social Class), but I am COMPLETELY lost on my Mental Health essay. There is only TWO mentions of sexuality in the Mental  Health Act of 2007.. Which is a good thing, but still bad... I have absolutely NO idea how to write about it, especially not for 4,000 words, or even 3,600 words.
My professor told me to just do my best and I will do fine.. But I just can't seem to figure this stuff out.
I WILL get it done, but I do not think it will be my best work. I will be surprised if I even pass the class by the skin off my teeth.

Oh well. That rant is over.

Essays will mentally drain me, but that just means I will be too worn out to stress about the plane ride and what not.
I am excited to get home and see everyone. I miss my family, and friends desperately.

Well, I should get off here and get back to work.. There is one good thing about this.
I am learning my limits and I am really starting to LOVE the library.

I will be back online soon.

OHHH updates are coming SOON ( whenever I get done with my papers) so be prepaired to check out my posts in other months, and the photos I will be putting up on here.

Cheers!
~Nick

Coming Home ROUGH idea

So.

It looks like I will be coming home on April 28th :)

I am so excited to be making it back to the states.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the United Kingdom, but I miss my family, friends and country (even with all its problems lol)

I will be taking a bus to London, and then navigate the Tube to London Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 with all my luggage because I can't afford the coach that goes straight to the airport ( That would be 50 - 60 GBP, compared to the 8 GBP, ).. And I mean, I have done it to get here, so I can do it go back :)

I put overdraft protection and overdraft forgiveness on my card so I can pay for my ticket... I know I shouldn't do that, it will add 300 dollars I will have to pay back later, but what choice do I have?

I mean, I messaged family and they can't really afford to help because of some craziness back at home.... i.e. sister is prego , and then there are bills that everyone has to pay, and there are other things that happened that needed money to solve (cars not working and what not), which is perfectly understandable, I should have planned and saved some emergency funds incase something happend, really this IS my fault that I do not have any funds, and I don't want my family to feel like they have to help me.I am an adult, and I accept that this is really beyond anyones control or foresight. I don't even feel like I need to blame someone, because really.. No one is at blame, no one could have said that this would have happened... I am so happy for the aid I have received from friends and family, and I really dont want this blog to seem like I am asking for money because I am NOT, I am just making things known :) I think that the biggest lesson I have learned is how I never realized how hard it can be to be on my own which also includes taking responsibility for my financial situation, I think studying abroad made me grow up, although I had to make the mistake of not being prepared and thinking that I knew it all (Yes, I just admitted I was wrong, Kerry, YOU were right [as always] :-P ). I guess I will come home a bit more wiser.

But it really doesn't matter, I AM getting home, I will just have to work twice as hard this summer to pay it all back.

I think I am going to stay the night in the Airport, since I will not have any money for a hotel or hostel.

I am getting a little nervous because I don't like to fly, but I am more excited to get home.

Staying in the airport isn't really going to bother me because I doubt I will be able to sleep with all my excitement and nerves, but I will be craving coffee and a smoke but again.. I can do it, besides I won't even have any funds for that anyway (I guess that is a hint that I should stop smoking huh? DO NOT ANSWER THAT! I plan on quitting when I get home, since the apartment I am getting in the fall will be smoke free)

I know everything will work out, so I am not worried. I just wish I had more funds so I wouldn't be a stretched for cash and anxty about the trip, and would be able to at least have a bit of a safety net incase something happens that I can't forse, like a delay on my bus, causing me to miss my train, or to get food while I wait at the airport lol.

Plus I need to print papers, and I don't have enough cash on my student account to pay for them :(

But I am going to go and see if the international office will be able to pay for my papers, since they clearly didn't give us enough money for printing ( I mean 2 GBP only? Come on, that isn't even enough for the amounts of papers they have us do, not even enough for one class.)

I guess I am just so excited to get home that I am not really worried.

Oh well.. everything will work out, and I am just so excited :)

I will post more information as I get it, including flight times, air lines, and my ETA to Indianapolis International Airport :)

Trip to Northern Ireland Outline

This way all of you will know where I am going, I have attached the awesomeness of my trip. Read it, and all that jazz. There were amazing photos, but I couldn't add them on here, so you just get the text. Feel free to comment :)

SPY2014: Sociology of Conflict

Field Trip Handbook 2012

Field Trip Tutors: Mark McGovern, Robbee Witterick,

Duration of Trip: Wednesday 21^st – Monday 26^th March 2012

Destination: Belfast and Derry

ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES

Flying from JOHN LENNON AIRPORT, LIVERPOOL on the morning Easyjet flight departing at09:30am on WEDNESDAY 21st March, (please remember that you should arrive at the airport at least ONE AND A HALF HOURS before the departure time) we will arrive at BELFAST INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT at approximately 10.20am.

Throughout OUR TIME IN BELFAST trip we will be staying at the PREMIER INN, BELFAST CITY CENTRE, ALFRED STREET, BELFAST: See:

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/BELFAS/belfast-city-centre-alfred-street

The cost of the accommodation will have been paid for in advance (please note this does NOTinclude breakfast or any other meals). This is a very safe and lively part of the city.

Whilst in Belfast we will meet with a range of local community groups, political ex-prisoner groups, and human rights and victims organisations involved in post-conflict transition and truth and justice issues.

We will be in Belfast for meetings on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and this will include a tour of the city.

On Saturday morning we will travel up the Derry. Throughout OUR TIME IN DERRY we will stay at the TOWER HOTEL, BUTCHER STREET, DERRY: See

http://www.towerhotelderry.com/

This accommodation DOES INCLUDE Breakfast but no other meals. While IN Derry we will hold meetings, visit the Free Derry Museum and also take a trip into Donegal.

On MONDAY 26^th MARCH we will return to JOHN LENNON AIRPORT, LIVERPOOLdeparting at 14:20 and arriving in Liverpool at 15:10.

THE PROGRAMME

Wednesday 21^st March

08:00 Check-in Liverpool John Lennon Airport

09:30 Depart Liverpool John Lennon Airport on Easyjet flight

10:20 Arrive Belfast International Airport and pick up transport

12:00 Meeting with Representative of Healing Through Remembering, at HRT Offices. HRT is a Non-Government Organisation that brings people together to develop ways of dealing with the past in Northern Ireland.

14:00 Visit to the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont. This will include an introductory talk about and tour of the Northern Ireland Assembly, which is the devolved parliament in Northern Ireland. There may also be an opportunity for a brief meeting with various representatives of the various political parties. This visit will last about two and a half hours.

17:00 Arrive and check in at Premier Inn Hotel, Alfred Street.

Evening Free

Thursday 22^nd March

10.00 Meeting with Paddy Kelly who is the Director of the Children’s Law Centre. The Children’s Law Centre is a campaign and support organisation that works to promote the rights of children and young people. Paddy Kelly has worked for many years in on behalf of children and young people through this and other organisations, such as the United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets.

12:00 Meeting with Representative of the Committee on the Administration of Justice. CAJ is a human rights organisation which has campaigned throughout the conflict and since on human rights issues, particularly on those in relation to state abuses of civil liberties.

14.00 Meeting with Robert Campbell of EPIC (Ex-Prisoners Interpretive Centre) on the Shankill Road. EPIC is an organisation run by and for Loyalist Ex-Prisoners (i.e. formerly members of loyalist groups such as the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Freedom Fighters). EPIC is involved in community work for ex-prisoners and others. Robert will be joined by two other members of EPIC who work specifically with young people in loyalist areas and Alternatives: a restorative justice programme.

15.30 Walking Tour of Loyalist West Belfast with EPIC. Coiste/Irish Political Tours. The walking tour will last for about 2 hours and will take a route along the Shankill Road.

Evening Free

Friday 23^rd March

09:30 Meeting with Mark Thompson, Director of Relatives for Justice, Falls Road. RFJ works with victims and survivors of the conflict based in nationalist/republican west Belfast and campaigns in particular on issues of state violence.

11.00 Meeting with Claire Hackett of the Falls Community Council and the Belfast Conflict Resolution Consortium (BCRC). The Falls Community Council is a key community organisation in West Belfast and Claire has worked for many years as a community activist. The Belfast Conflict Resolution Consortium is a cross-community initiative aimed at aiding in dealing with interface tensions and violence.

13:30 Walking Tour of West Belfast with Coiste/Irish Political Tours. The Falls road is the main republican/nationalist area of West Belfast and Coiste is an organisation of republican ex-political prisoners. The walking tour will last for about 2 hours.

16.00 Meeting and tour of Ardoyne with Joe Marley of the BCRC. Joe is from Ardoyne and will talk about life in the interface area. There may also be an opportunity to meet some young people from Ardoyne.

Evening Free

Saturday 24^th March

09:30 Depart Belfast to Derry

12:00 Visit the Museum of Free Derry. The Free Derry Museum is a community-based museum that commemorates the years of the campaign for civil rights and the conflict in Derry. It is run by members of the Bloody Sunday Trust.

14:30 Meeting with Goretti Horgan. Goretti is a senior lecturer at the University of Ulster and a long time campaigner on issue of youth, young people, class, poverty and social exclusion.

Evening Free

Sunday 25^h March

12:00 Tour of the Derry Walls. This will include a talk given my Mark McGovern on the history of Derry and of the conflict and division within the city.

13:30 Depart Derry for Trip to Donegal. This will include a visit to the ancient Gaelic site of Grainan of Aileach in Donegal and to the beach at Portsalon on Lough Swilly.

19:00 Group Evening Meal. In order to celebrate the final night of the field trip we will have an evening meal together as a group. Please note the cost of the meal is NOT included in the cost of the field trip.

Monday 26^h March

09:30 Meeting with Paul O’Connor, director of the Pat Finucane Centre. The PFC is a human rights organisation that works with families of victims of the conflict and the Historical Enquiries Team to deal with legacy issues.

11:00 Depart Derry for Belfast International Airport

14:20 Depart Airport on Easyjet flight

15:10 Arrive Liverpool John Lennon Airport

Some Background information about the places we will be going :)

Northern Ireland Assembly, Stormont

The Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature for Northern Ireland. It was established as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, signed in April 1998, which signalled an end of three decades of conflict. The Assembly sits in parliament buildings at Stormont, the seat of government of Northern Ireland since the foundation of the state. The building was opened in 1932 and was a symbol of the new partitioned state and of Unionist power that continued uninterrupted from 1921 until 1971, when Northern Ireland was subject to ‘Direct Rule’ from Westminster.

The 108 Members of the Assembly (MLAs) are responsible for a wide range of governmental and legislative functions similar to the devolved parliaments in Scotland and Wales. However, the way in which elections work in Northern Ireland and how a Government is put in place is quite different and reflects the particular nature of Northern Ireland as a ‘divided society’. Elections are on the basis of ‘proportional representation’. Within the Assembly political parties declare whether they are of one political tradition or another (Unionist or Nationalist) or of neither.

The selection of the Government is then formed on the basis of ‘power-sharing’, whereby it has to contain representatives of parties from the two main political traditions. This is why parties who essentially represent different communities, and may have very different politics (and certainly were on very different sides during the conflict) share power in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Executive, or Government of Northern Ireland today, includes members of the two parties who during the conflict were most at odds with one another; Sinn Fein (the Irish Republican party) and the Democratic Unionist Party (a unionist/ loyalist party).

Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)

www.caj.org.uk

The Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) was established in 1981 and is an independent non-governmental organisation affiliated to the International Federation of Human Rights.

The Committee seeks to secure the highest standards in the administration of justice in Northern Ireland by ensuring that the government complies with its responsibilities in international human rights law. CAJ works closely with other domestic and international human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights First (formerly the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights) and Human Rights Watch, and makes regular submissions to a number of United Nations and European bodies established to protect human rights.

CAJ takes no position on the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and is firmly opposed to the use of political violence and its membership is drawn from across the whole community. CAJ's activities include publishing reports, conducting research, holding conferences, monitoring, campaigning locally and internationally, individual casework and providing legal advice. Its areas of work are extensive and include prisons, policing, emergency laws, the criminal justice system, the use of lethal force, children's rights, gender equality, racism, religious discrimination, and advocacy for a Bill of Rights.

The Children’s Law Centre, Belfast (Director: Paddy Kelly)

The Children’s Law Centre was established in 1997 and works with and for children and young people to promote a rights-based approach. The organisation takes as its basic platform international standards of children’s rights, as exemplified in the United Nations Charter on Children’s Rights. This involves the Centre in a wide range of work particular in relation to the way in which a range of state agencies, including the legal system, police etc. deal with children and young people.

Allied to this the Director of the Children’s Law Centre has been a prominent figure in an organisation called the ‘United Campaign Against Plastic Bullets’. Plastic bullets have for many years been used in public order disturbances in Northern Ireland, involving many thousands of rounds having been fired. These plastic bullets have caused injury and death and has been a particular issue in their use against children and young people. Overall the particular circumstances in Northern Ireland have meant that children and young people have often been prominent and victims of conflict and political violence.

EPIC (Ex-Prisoners Interpretive Centre) (Robert Campbell)

EPIC was established in the early 1990s to provide support and advice for former loyalist prisoners and is run by and for loyalist former prisoners. The principle objectives of are: to identify the needs of political prisoners and prisoners families' during the post release period; to provide resources and facilities that will help ex-prisoners and their families in the process of reintegration into family and community; to provide reference points for prisoners during the pre-release period and after release; to link ex-prisoners and their families with other existing agencies, where appropriate, and support them in making use of their services; and to provide opportunities, both formal and informal, to share experiences and encourage the development of mutual support. EPIC is also part of the Belfast Conflict Resolution Consortium and acts as a focal point for a range of community initiatives on such issues as restorative justice, interface projects and youth work in loyalist areas.

Relatives for Justice (Director: Mark Thompson)

www.relativesforjustice.com

Relatives for Justice (RFJ) was founded in April 1991 when a number of bereaved families affected by the conflict came together to support one another. RFJ is a Belfast based NGO support group working with and providing support to relatives of people bereaved, and injured, by the conflict across the North of Ireland including border regions in the 26 counties.

RFJ identifies and attempts to address the needs of those who have suffered loss and injury; this is achieved through one to one contacts, self-help, group support, outreach and befriending, counselling support and therapy work, welfare and legal advocacy. RFJ believes that all relatives and survivors need to have their experiences heard and valued. In terms of conflict resolution, this is designed to allow those most marginalised to realise the pivotal role and vital contribution that they bring to the creation of a new society based upon equality, respect and above all where human rights are secured.

The work of RFJ highlights and attempts to address outstanding human rights abuses. Their primary objective in this area of work is to assist in the bringing about of a more human rights-based culture in order to safeguard and protect human rights for all.

Belfast Conflict Resolution Consortium

http://www.bcrc.eu/

The Belfast Conflict Resolution Consortium (BCRC) was set up in April 2007 to provide a strategic citywide approach to conflict transformation. The project aims to assist and complement existing grassroots organisations, provide practical assistance and training opportunities and enable the sharing of best practice. BCRC has developed a citywide practitioner network to provide an integrated response to tension at interfaces and to develop best practice for conflict intervention. One of the project’s overarching aims is to build cross community strategic alliances to address disadvantage and social problems in interface communities.

Coiste/Irish Political Tours

www.coiste.ie

Coiste na n-Iarchimí is an NGO run by, and dedicated to, the support of republican former prisoners. It sees its aims as; to secure the full integration of the republican former prisoner community through recognition of the contribution they have made to the community in the past and can make in the future; to facilitate republican former prisoners in deepening and developing their contribution to justice and peace in Ireland and to deepen the mutually beneficial links with community organisations, employers and other groups

Coiste has been organised political tours of West Belfast since 2002 as part of a community-based political tourism initiative. The walking tour provides an opportunity for people to encounter areas and sites that were marked by the conflict and to meet with republican ex-prisoners.

Museum of Free Derry/Bloody Sunday Trust (Jean Hegarty)

www.museumoffreederry.org

The Museum of Free Derry is the creation of the Bloody Sunday Trust, an organisation lead primarily by relatives of the victims of Bloody Sunday who campaigned for justice. The museum was opened in 2005 and displays the history of the conflict in Derry focussing on one of the most important periods in the history of this city – the civil rights era of the 1960s and the Free Derry/early troubles era of the 1970s.

The Museum itself is housed in the only building remaining from Glenfada park, where many of the killings on Bloody Sunday took place. It also houses the National Civil Rights Archive. The aim of the Museum is to tell this part of the city’s history from the point of view of the people who lived through, and were most affected by, these events: it is designed to be the community’s story told from the community’s perspective.

The museum currently has an archive of over 25,000 individual items relating to this part of the city’s history. Virtually all of these items have been donated to the museum by local residents, and include some items of immense historical importance. The Museum is managed as a social economy initiative. All income generated by the museum goes towards sustaining and developing the museum and securing long term jobs for its employees. The museum is designed to be more that a collection of artefacts and documents, but as an active part of the local community.

Pat Finucane Centre (Paul O’Connor)

www.patfinucanecentre.org/

The PFC is a non-party political, anti-sectarian human rights group advocating a non-violent resolution of the conflict on the island of Ireland. We believe that all participants to the conflict have violated human rights. The PFC asserts that the failure by the State to uphold Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “all are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law”, is the single most important explanation for the initiation and perpetuation of violent conflict. It is therefore implicit to conflict resolution that Article 7 be implemented in full. The PFC campaigns towards that goal.

Below is an outline of some of our activities

1. Networking with human rights NGOs and parliamentarians in Ireland and abroad. We participate in the USE of FORCE NGO roundtable which is tracking developments around plastic bullets, CS spray and Tasers.

1. Long-term involvement on a wide range of issues surrounding policing and the criminal justice system. Facilitating dialogue between the two communities in the North through private contacts, workshops and public meetings on potential truth processes etc.

1. Individual casework with families who have lost loved ones and creating support structures for families who attend our monthly family meetings.

1. Co-ordinating a long-term research project with over 60 families in Counties Armagh, Tyrone, Louth and Monaghan. This project has included documenting experiences, providing support structures, contact with official bodies including the NIO, the PSNI, former members of the security forces and the former Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin, Monaghan and Dundalk Bombings.

1. The PFC is involved in a ‘critical engagement’ with the newly formed Historical Enquires Team and the Police Ombudsman. The former, an initiative of the PSNI Chief Constable, is an attempt to address the legacy of the conflict from a policing perspective. The remit of the ‘HET’ is to review all police files, look for any possible evidential leads, follow these to their conclusion and then meet with families with a view to giving them as much information about the incident affecting that family. We strongly believe that the families who do decide to engage should not do so on their own and without support. The PFC has been involved for many years in researching cases that involved contact with various state agencies.

1. As well as preparing families, we have been involved in ensuring that any meetings with the HET and/or the Police Ombudsman take place in a safe environment/location. We have accompanied families to meetings and supported witnesses at meetings.

1. The PFC has been involved in regular round table meetings with other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to discuss models for truth recovery and to explore the potential for a truth commission.

Grianan of Aileach (Ancient Irish fort, Co. Dongeal)

Situated 7km west of Derry, Grianan of Aileach (or Ailigh) is a impressive stone ringfort with surrounding earthworks perched on the summit of Greenan Mountain. The name Grianan of Aileach has been variously translated as "Stone Palace of the Sun", "Fortress of the Sun" and "Stone Temple of the Sun". Although heavily restored, there are no doubts as to the antiquity of the site as it is one of only five Irish locations marked on Ptolemy of Alexandria's 2nd century map of the world.

The earthworks are the remains of a large hillfort that once enclosed the hill top, this is thought to have been built in the Late Bronze Age or Iron Age. The ramparts of the hillfort have been eroded by time and only hints of their former stature remain, but recent accurate surveys show that there were two sets of ramparts, an inner and outer. Both of the ramparts were comprised of a pair of banks and the total area enclosed by the outer boundary is about 5 acres. A hillfort with more than one enclosing wall is termed as multivallate and of the 50 or so known Irish hillforts, Grianan of Aileach is the only multivallate example to be found in the north of country. About a third of Irish hillforts have burial mounds or cairns within them that predate the fort itself, Grianan of Aileach is no exception with the site of a destroyed "tumulus" only 40m SE of the cashel itself.

The stone ringfort also known as a caher or cashel, is thought to have been built in the early years AD and from the 5th to the 12th centuries it was the seat of the northern Ui Neill, the rulers of the Fifth of Ulster. For centuries the Northern Ui Neill alternated with the Southern Ui Neill, the rulers of the Fifth of Meath, for the Kingship of Teamhra (Tara), as an indicator of rule over all of Ireland. In later centuries the term Ard Ri, or High King superceded the Kingship of Tara as a term for the overall ruler of Ireland and this term is often applied to the Ui Neill.

According to the Irish Annals, Grianan of Aileach was destroyed in 1101 by Murtagh O'Brien, the ruler of the Fifth of Munster, as a reprisal for the Ui Neill's destruction of his royal seat at Kincora some thirteen years before. The account tells that O'Brien would settle for nothing less than complete destruction of the Ui Neill stronghold and ordered each of his soldiers to carry away a stone from the fort as they departed.

Although the cashel looks very intact today, this is largely the result of restoration carried out between 1874 and 1879 by Dr. Walter Bernard (1), a Derry antiquarian. The restored sections seem to include just about anything more than 1m above ground, so the fidelity of the upper walkways to the original layout can only be speculated upon.

The cashel is of well-fitted dry-stone construction and the the outer surface of the 5m high walls has a graceful curved, or battered, form. There are excellent views from the fort across Lough Swilly, Lough Foyle and the Inishowen Penninsular, it is claimed that on a clear day five of the nine counties of Ulster can be seen from this viewpoint.

The interior of the structure today has a diameter of 23.6m N-S and is reached through a lintel-covered entrance passage 4.65m long and 1.86m high. The entrance passage originally had recesses let into each sidewall, although these have been filled in, their locations can still be traced. The interior of the walls has three terraces, or walkways, which are reached by several inset stairways. Although the light was very poor during our visit it seemed to us that the outer passage lintel had what looked like the legend "A.Watson" carved into it in large letters - not original rock art we suspect.

Within the walls are two passages which extend almost to the entrance passage itself, they are accessed by two small doorways, one at the south and one at the NE. The southern passage is 0.5m wide and 0.85m high, it runs for about 20m, unfortunately the southern passage was just too tight for us to squeeze our panoramic cameras in, so there is no VR coverage of this section, sorry. The northern passage is 0.6m wide and 1.4m high, a short section to the north is about 2.5m long and the main section runs south for about 8.6m where it ends at a full-width seat-stone. The floors of both passages are liberally strewn with modern litter including, as you will see from our VR panoramas, a complete deck of playing cards! In addition to the wall passages a small drain opens at the NW and runs radially through the entire thickness of the wall. A survey by Petrie (2) in 1835 mentions traces of a rectangular stone structure at the centre of the cashel and also of stone settings running from the cashel entrance to a gap in the inner earthwork banks where an "ancient road" approached the summit of the hill. We could see no traces of either of these structures on our visit.

Grianan of Aileach, as with any ancient place in Ireland, has many folktales and legends associated with it. One legend tells of how the cashel was actually a place of sun-worship, the palace of hibernation of Graine, the Celtic Sun-Goddess. Another tells of how the fort was built by Dagda, the God- King of the Tuatha de Dannan to protect the grave of his son Aedh and that Nuada of the Silver Hand also has a royal burial place there. Finally, the sleeping warriors of the Ui Neill are said lie beneath the cashel, awaiting only for the call to arms to awake and spring into battle.

1. Bernard, W. PRIA Ser.2 Vol.1, 415-23 1870-9

2. Colby Col. Ord Surv Ireland, Co. Londonderry Vol.1, Dublin 1837

Portsalon, Co Donegal

END