Omagh (Northern Ireland) | A Sad Past - Day 12

I arrive in Omagh (Oh-ma) around 2 pm, the sun is out and I'm wearing my long sleeve hooded sun shirt for the first time. The temp today is around 68 F (20 C) but it feels warmer than that. I spend a few moments walking around town, with my orange sun shirt and backpack, I don't fit in at all. That's alright by me. Right away I notice a beautiful Catholic Church rising above the town up on the hill, so I make my way there. I find these buildings to be so magnificent and majestic. I am always drawn to them. I think part of my interest is they remind me of when I was a young child in Montreal. 

I make my way down the hill. I'm looking to get cleaned up before continuing on. I walk into Clippers Barbershop, where Joe, is wrapping up a customer. Do you have time for a walk-in haircut and shave? "If you don't mind waiting, come on in", says Joe. I sit for about 10 minutes. Joe has the TrueCrime channel playing on the TV. I it find odd because the stories are all based on crimes in the United States. A few minutes later, he calls me up. Do what you do best Joe, I say as I give him some general guidelines for a cut and shave. Halfway through my cut, in walks another gentleman. He overhears my conversation with Joe and takes quite an interest in my being from Colorado. That's him in the chair with Joe the barber.

"That's where Ted Buddy is from," the new client says. I chuckle to myself. Well, that explains the TrueCrime channel. After paying Joe a measly 10 pounds, the equivalent of $12 US, I make my way to my pack. I think to myself, damn I used to pay 4 times that much just for a haircut in Colorado. The new client is quite fascinated with American culture and excited to meet a real Yankee. "I'm a huge fan of Clint Eastwood," he says. So am I.  He's one of my heroes, I say. We spend the next 20 minutes covering all sorts of topics from Ted Bundy to Clint Eastwood to geography of the United States, to my hike thru County Donegal, and finally Roger Moore as James Bond. Once it is his turn in Joe's chair, I say goodbye to him, and Joe. Then I head back into the beautiful sunshine. Today reminds me of the blue skies of Colorado. I miss the sun.

Omagh is a town of about 20,000 people and has an interesting British-Irish architectural feel. Notice in the photo below, the contrast between buildings on the left side of the street and the right. The left side is consistent with traditional Irish towns that I saw in County Donegal. The right side, however, has elements you seldom see in Irish towns and feel more Imperial. Downtown is bustling with activity along the undulating Main Street. I notice there are lots of shops and modern-day conveniences, like three different cell phone stores (i.e., EE, O2, Vodaphone, and Talk Shack). Boots, the equivalent of Walgreens pharmacy, and a few restaurants line the street as I pass through. This feels too much like home to be Ireland.

Below is a photo of the Strule River which passes through downtown.

Tonight I have another Airbnb booked. A private room from Pamela. I am interested in staying with her as she informed me she started hosting Airbnbs because of the IAT. I spend the afternoon walking around Omagh, then make my way up to her place. Outside her home is a HUGE Mercedes Sprinter van. It looks like an Amazon delivery van. When I walk up to the front door, I can tell I've overdone the trekking with the pack today. This isn't good. 

Pamela is great! I think she could carry on a conversation just with herself. lol! But I'm enjoying her company and she has so much information to share. Pamela loves to travel in her van with her 3 dogs. She’s converted the van interior herself, a real adventure van! She loves traveling to the western part of Ireland and chasing down ancient sites. "Here's a book for you to review tonight," she says as she hands me In Search of Ancient Ireland a 1,000-page book. "I've got some fossils you need to see," she says as she's pulling out a dozen or so of her best rocks with fossils from her collection. On her shelf is a salt lamp. I feel right at home as we share similar interests. She tells me of ancient sites she's visited that align with different times of the year, such as the summer and winter solstices. Others align at odd times of the year. It's late now, I'm really sore and am overloaded with information. I say goodnight to my host and head upstairs with the book. The book is a phenomenal resource and has given me some ideas about how I can pivot from this injury.

On my way out of town, I pass this beautiful obelisk monument downtown. It was erected at the site of the 1998 car bombing by the Real Irish Republican Army (RIRA). The event occurred on August 15, 1998, and wounded over 300 people and killed 29 men, women, and children. RIRA was a dissenting group that had splintered from the Provisional IRA (PIRA). A few months prior PIRA had successfully negotiated a cease-fire on April 10, 1998 - Known as the Good Friday Agreement Agreement Negotiation This cease-fire resulted in the splintering off of RIRA from PIRA. Other than the obelisk, there's no visible sign of the incident.