2018: England & Northern Ireland
This was a trip that we would come to treasure among the best experiences of our lives. A professionally guided journey through the English countryside and landscape of Northern Ireland. We would see and learn about cultural landmarks, grand estates, great cathedrals, remnants of ancient castles and of course, churches, houses, and land specific to the history of the Harlans. Best of all, we formed new friendships that will last a lifetime.
We extend a special thanks to Mary Harlan Murphy as the lead organizer of the trip. She is a wise and knowledgeable companion to have on any journey. We are also grateful for everyone who travelled with us. We were fortunate to have several individuals who went on previous Harlan tours and had extensive knowledge of our family history.
Day 1 - Thursday, April 26, 2018: Manchester
We arrived in Manchester, England by rail from London and checked into the Holiday Inn, Manchester City Center. In the evening we met and had dinner with the other sixteen Harlan acquaintances who would be our travelling companions for the next nine days. We also met our professional tour guide for the trip, Gearoid O'Caoimh, an Irishman with a “gift for gab” and some very interesting stories.
Day 2 - Friday, April 27: Manchester / York
In the morning, we met our bus driver, Simon, for the UK portion of our tour. We would come to appreciate both Simon’s persistent good humor and his ability to navigate a motor coach through some very tight roads and driveways. We departed from Manchester and traveled an hour and a half northeast to Harewood House. Harewood House was built between 1759 and 1771 for the wealthy plantation owner Edwin Lascelles. We toured the house and several of the gardens on the 1,000 acre estate. The entire house was decorated by Thomas Chippendale and boasts one of the finest collections of his furniture in the world. A recent PBS show, Mary Berry’s Country House at Christmas, featured Harewood House.
Harewood House and the Chippendale Diana and Minerva Commode
From Harewood, we continued our drive to York. Upon arrival in York, we had a guided tour of the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, which is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in Europe. After the tour, we took time to explore the shops and restaurants of York city center. We then checked into our hotel and had dinner.
Day 3 - Saturday, April 28: York
After breakfast, our first destination was Sutton Park, the site of the Harland House pictured in Alpheus Harlan's Book {page 968}. After a visit to the house and gardens, we crossed the road to visit All Hallows Church. The site of the church has been a place of worship since 1183. Much of the existing church dates to the 15th century. It contains the remains and memorial plaques of several generations of Harlands from Sutton Hall. The Harland family was prominent in the area known as Sutton-on-the Forest for two hundred and fifty years starting in the early 17th century.
Sutton Park — Harland House and York Minster Cathedral
When we finished our tour of the church, Neil Willetts, proprietor of The Rose Crown & Pub noticed our tour bus and invited us to have lunch at his establishment. He opened an hour earlier than usual just for us! Our group readily accepted his offer and enjoyed some special local fare and good conversation. We returned to York and spent the remainder of the day exploring, shopping and choosing a spot for dinner.
Day 4 - Sunday, April 29: York
Following a quick breakfast, we drove north to the seaside town of Monkwearmouth to visit St. Peter's Church where George Harlan was baptized in 1660. It has been a site of worship since 674 AD and parts of the church building date to the late 7th century. We were provided with a guided tour of the church which is on the National Heritage List for England.
St. Peter's — Monkwearmouth
In the afternoon, we headed to Fountains Abbey, one of the largest and best-preserved ruins of Cistercian monasteries in England and is a World Heritage Cultural Site. The 600-acre site also has expansive and beautiful gardens originally designed in the 18th century. After visiting the Abbey ruins and the gardens we returned to York for our last night there.
Fountains Abbey
Day 5 - Monday, April 30: York / Chester
After breakfast we departed York and drove two hours southeast to Chester via Liverpool. In Liverpool, we stopped to tour the Liverpool Cathedral. Built between 1904 and 1978, the cathedral is the longest in the world, the 5th largest by total volume. We stopped for photos and selfies on “Penny Lane” the road made famous by the Beatles. We then enjoyed shopping and lunch at the Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool’s historic district.
Liverpool Cathedral
We continued the drive to Chester which was founded as a Roman fortress in the 1st century A.D. and is known for its extensive Roman walls made of local red sandstone. Upon arrival we checked-in to the Queen Hotel Chester, allegedly the most haunted hotel in the UK. We spent time in the afternoon walking on top of the ancient defensive walls and exploring the city. We had dinner at our hotel. There were no ghosts, but we did enjoy some liquid spirits.
Day 6 - Tuesday, May 1: Chester / Conwy / Chester
In the morning, we drove along the northern coast of Wales to Conwy, one of the finest remaining examples of a medieval walled city and another World Heritage Site. We explored the walls, towers and many rooms of Conwy Castle, built by Edward I and completed in 1287. A short distance from the castle we toured what is billed as the “smallest house in Britain”. It was a quick tour. A more interesting tour was that of Plas Mawr, the Elizabethan townhouse built by the wealthy merchant Robert Wynn in 1576. It is almost unchanged from the 16th century and considered the finest surviving townhouse of that era.
Atop Conway Castle overlooking Conway, Wales
In the afternoon we returned to Chester for more exploring and Evensong at Chester Cathedral. An interesting highlight for some of us was a falconry demonstration at Cheshire Falconry Birds of Prey. It was fascinating to learn the history of the sport and amazing to watch the trained birds in action.
Day 7 - Wednesday, May 2: Chester / Liverpool / Belfast
Rising early we drove to Liverpool airport, bid good-bye to our bus driver, Simon and boarded our flight to Belfast. Belfast is essentially a Victorian city and no matter where you go you can see Edwardian and Victorian buildings with elaborate sculptures over the windows and doors. In Belfast , we met our new driver Liam, who was of gentle humor but also adept at managing narrow roads and alleys. Our first stop was Belfast Cathedral. Built in the Romanesque style, the foundation stone was laid in 1899 and the south transept was not finished until 1974 and the north in 1981. It was considered completed with the addition of the Spire of Hope in 2007.
After a brief stop to see The Queens University of Belfast, we made our way to the historic Belfast Port and Harbour which was once the UK's largest shipyard. It is where the Titanic was built by Harland & Wolff shipbuilders and is now the location of the Titanic Center. It is one of the most popular museum experiences in the world and for good reason. It tells the story of the Titanic, from its construction through its fateful maiden voyage in a dramatic, engaging way, using actual artifacts and amazing audio-visual media. It has earned many well-deserved travel awards.
The Titanic, Museum, Harland & Wolff "Samson & Goliath" crane and an image of Titanic's Grand Staircase
After the Titanic center, we checked into the world-famous Europa Hotel in downtown Belfast.
Day 8 - Thursday, May3: Belfast/ Lurgan/ Armagh/Belfast
After breakfast, we were joined by Arthur Chapman who wrote a short history of the Lurgan Society of Friends. He was very engaging, extremely knowledgeable on the history of the Quakers in Ireland and the Harlan family connections with the Society of Friends in Lurgan. We were fortunate that he spent the entire day with us sharing his knowledge of Quakers and local history.
At our first stop of the day, Arthur gave us a tour of The Society of Friends Lynastown Burial Ground. Established in 1658. A number of Thomas Harland descendants are buried there.
We continued on to Lurgan to visit the Society of Friends Meeting House, the subject of Mr. Chapman’s book. First established in 1654 it was the meeting house to which Thomas, George & Michael belonged before emigrating to America. Mr. Chapman provided us with an historical perspective of the mid to late 18th century in general and the Lurgan Society of Friends in particular when Thomas, George and Michael would have been there.
He then took us to the Craigavon Civic Center, where the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is located. We were welcomed as special guests by the serving Lord Mayor of the council, Gareth Wilson. He gave us an overview on why three separate councils decided to become one in 2015 and how the council operates to serve their constituents. It was a pleasure and honor to be hosted by the Lord Mayor.
Our tour group reception & meeting with the Lord Mayor of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
Front row: Janice White, Linda Williams, Debby Harlan, Lord Mayor Gareth Wilson, Mary Harlan Murphy, John Kohl, Denise Walters, Judy Cabrera
We stopped for an afternoon snack at the Tea Room of Brownlow House, a large estate house built in 1833 that now serves as a venue for weddings, conferences and hosting events. During WW II, it served as the HQ for the first American troops deployed to Europe. A portion of the house is a museum dedicated to the story of American troops stationed in Lurgan and other parts of Ireland during the war.
We ended the afternoon with a tour of both St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland and St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral. We Returned to Belfast and enjoyed dinner as a group, including Mr. Chapman.
Day 9 - Friday, May 4: Belfast/ Giant's Causeway/ Belfast
After breakfast we travelled north and passed through the “Dark Hedges”, a road lined with mysterious interlocking beach trees. This site was used in an episode of the “Game of Thrones”. By late morning we arrived at the coast to see Northern Ireland’s most famous landmark, the Giant's Causeway. This remarkable natural wonder, where over 37,000 basalt columns extend from the cliffs and into the sea, was once believed to be the work of the giants, hence its name. No matter how many times visitors have seen this, the sheer wonder and magic of the columns never fail to impress! It is also listed as a World Heritage site. We then drove along the Antrim Coast as we returned to Belfast and our last night before departure home.
"The Dark Hedges" and Giant's Causeway
We celebrated our last night of the tour by having a very special dinner at “The Great Room” restaurant in the Belfast Merchant Hotel. It is a spectacular venue with an original Victorian interior and food that has won Great Britain’s most prestigious honors for culinary excellence. We spent a wonderful evening enjoying the food and recounting our favorite sites and memories from the trip.
Dinner at the Great Room — Merchant Hotel, Belfast
Upon our return to the Europa Hotel, with sadness, we said farewell to our traveling companions in case we did not get to see them before heading to the airport the following morning.
Day 10 - Saturday, May 5: Depart Belfast
After breakfast we travelled to the Belfast airport with others that had a mid-morning departure time. Our plane lifted off 8:45 AM local time we arrived at our home in the suburbs of Philadelphia about 14 hours later. In 1687, when George and Michael traveled to Pennsylvania, it would have taken 2 or 3 months!
