Friday, Belfast

We started off the day by visiting the Greer homestead. Brian’s great great grandfather lived in this house and his great grandfather was born there. The homestead is on Hungry House Lane in Lisburn, which is 15 min. drive from our hotel. The farmhouse was remodelled in 1990 after sitting empty for over 20 years. The house is over 200 years old and could be older but there are no records of when it was built. Brian’s first cousin, twice removed lives with his wife in the homestead, while his two children and their famies live close by. We had tea in the parlor, which was the room that Brian’s 80 year old cousin was born in. Amazing! We had tea and made our way to the church down the hill where the Greer family is buried. There were no names on the headstone but we were told that 6 Greers are buried there. Brian is now eager to research his family tree!

The afternoon was spent with the next generation of Greers, Brian’s second cousin once removed and his wife, in the fantastic ‘Titanic Belfast’ museum. Wow! This is a must see!!! The history of Belfast is very interesting and this museum covers the life of the people basically from the 15th century on.

We sat in a booth and had a pint of cider in the only National Trust owned pub in Ireland ‘The Crown Bar’ where we had some good ‘craic’, a local term for having an enjoyable time! This pub is beautiful with its hammered metal ceiling and wooden socializing booths to its large counter and stained glass windows. So, walk in, squeeze into a booth and enjoy some good craic!

We ended our evening with a tour around the wealthy district of Belfast and dinner at The Apartment, where the university students go to eat and enjoy old disco music! Fun!!!

It was a late night but a very important one for the Greer family!