Working at the Museum

Hey everyone,

So today we're going to be taking a short break from the actual topic of my project to briefly discuss where I've been interning over the last two weeks.

The Royal Ulster Rifles Museum, located near the City Centre, charts the history of the Royal Ulster Rifle Regiment of the British Army. Starting with the regiments origins in 1783, when the 83rd and 86th Regiments of the Foot were raised in preparation for war with France, to the jungle patrols in Borneo during the mid 1960s; the Regiment has played a crucial role in some of the British Empire's finest moments.

One of the most amazing things about the museum is the sheer amount of artifacts that are stored here. Flags from 1810, rifles from 1898, letters from 1916, the museum has an artifact to correspond with every event in the Regiment's proud history. In addition to the artifacts, the museum has all the written records of the regiment dating back to the late 18th century. Reading these gives you a fascinating contemporary view of some of the most famous battles and campaigns in British Army history.

 Boer Rifles from the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)

 Captured German Pickelhaube from the First World War

 Original Flag of the 86th Regiment Dating to the Early 19th Century 

Some of the Hundreds of the Books on the Regimental History in the Museum

Now one thing that is worth note is that the Regiment has always been totally non-sectarian. Irish Protestants and Irish Catholics both served side by side, and there was practically no animosity between the two groups.

When I got here the museum was closed, they had just repainted all the walls and they had to work on putting all of the displays back in place.This gave me a really exciting opportunity, because I was allowed to hold all of the old rifles and equipment that the regiment used in the 19th and 20th century.

 Muskets and Rifles Dating from the Early to Mid 19th Century

 German Equipment Captured by the Regiment in World War II

Me With a Lee Enfield Model III, Standard Issue of British and Commonwealth Forces in World War I

The museum re-opened on 2 March, and since then we've had a steady stream of visitors, including members of the BBC who have come to do research for an upcoming documentary on the First World War. So far working here has been very exciting, and if any of you ever visit Belfast I'd definitely recommend visiting! The staff are all well-informed and have great senses of humour and admission is free, what more could you ask for?

Now, back to the actual topic of my research. This morning a bomb went off in the car of a prison officer in East Belfast, he survived and is believed to be in stable condition, but this is just one example of many attacks on prison officer that have occurred in the region over the last 20 years. The PSNI have stated that they fear that there will be an increase of dissident republican activity during the lead up to the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in late April, and believe that more attacks like this are a possibility. The attack has been condemned by politicians and people in both the Protestant and Catholic communities, and most people are totally against violence. However, while everybody I've talked to only wants peace in Northern Ireland, attacks like this show that there is still a minority who believe in armed resistance. I'll provide a link to a BBC article about the attack below, and provide you more information when it becomes available. 

BBC Link

Additionally I've already completed three interviews, and will give you the first set of interviews in my next update.

Until next time,

Luke van Reede van Oudtshoorn