Cleaning up Belfast’s Forgotten Memorial
The only public memorial to victims of the troubles in Belfast was defaced by graffiti last year. After six months nothing had been done to restore it, so we cleaned it up ourselves.
Steering Us Through The Conflict
Very simply being a civilian bus driver or conductor here was an incredibly dangerous job. And just being a passenger on a bus could be a very dangerous ‘activity’.
Belfast and Branagh
The DC Tours phone rang on Monday, and I answered professionally and courteously as usual. Nadia, a pleasant woman with a posh London accent, quickly explained that BBC Breakfast wanted to interview me as a Belfast tour guide and historian about the Kenneth Branagh film ‘Belfast’.
Violet Gibson – The Woman from Dublin who shot Benito Mussolini
The spectre of assassination was probably not envisaged as being in the form of a mentally ill, 50-year-old Dublin woman clothed in a black shawl and armed with a rock and a revolver. This however was how Violet Gibson appeared as she shot and wounded Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Walter Devereux, The 1st Earl of Essex. Never Shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Sir Walter Devereux 1st Earl of Essex may not be as (in)famous as Sir Arthur Chichester, the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell or King William of Orange amongst those to visit Ireland and leave an indelible historical mark on the land, but he certainly deserves a mention.
Ruby Murray – The Heartbeat Girl from The Donegall Road
Paul Donnelly, DC Tours' lead guide (and old punk), looks back at the life of the most successful singer (from a very different era) to be born in Belfast.
The Belfast Sludge Boats
Tour guide James Ellson takes a deep dive (not literally thankfully) into the Belfast Sludge Boats and their role in keeping the city clean.
The Millisle Kinder Farm
During the Second World war a derelict farm in Millisle, County Down, would become home to hundreds of Jewish refugee children fleeing the war in Europe.
Dr. William Drennan
Dr. William Drennan, a United Irishman centuries ahead of his time in many ways, comes under the microscope of our lead guide Paul Donnelly.
Barry’s Amusements – The Only Thing To Do In Portrush
All empires crumble and fall and so it seems to come to pass in Portrush, County Antrim.
The Belfast Blitz
Donzo looks back at the impact of the Belfast Blitz. How and why it happened and how it is remembered (or not) in the city to this day...
The Forgotten Troubles Memorial
Belfast is famous for its murals, many of which commemorate or memorialise the victims of the Troubles. But why are there so few memorials in the city centre, where so many of the attacks happened?