The dozens of Peace Walls in Belfast, Northern Ireland, make up a series of barriers that separate predominantly Catholic neighborhoods from the Protestant neighborhoods. They are not for the most part what they once were – attempts to prevent violence between the neighbors – but they stand as reminders of the Troubles, a 30-year period beginning in the late 1960s during which few were physically safe when crossing to the other side.

Another reminder: The gates are still locked at night.

These communities fought a deadly fight over a mix of religion and politics until the so-called Good Friday Agreement of 1998 led to a calming of the violence and new government policies.

Hockey players from Dorchester, Hyde Park, Charlestown, West Roxbury, and downtown joined forces with teens from the Belfast Jr. Giants program during the trip for a tournament at the Dundonald Ice Bowl. Hockey is seen as a neutral sport in Northern Ireland and is gaining popularity among young people.

As I stood in front of a Peace Wall in Belfast last November seeing it in person, I began to realize how neighbors can be separated even without walls because of their views on how life should be and on the faiths that give them strength.

I was there because I had the privilege of being chosen for The Boston to Belfast hockey cultural exchange program run by a non-profit headed up by Steve Burke. It’s an initiative that takes youth from all over Boston to historic Belfast, teaches them leadership skills, and exposes them to a different culture as they form bonds with Belfast teens via the game of hockey.

We had a personal meeting with the Lord Mayor of Belfast, and we visited many landmarks in the city, including The Peace Walls, the US Consulate, the Titanic Museum, the Belfast Soccer Stadium, and Giant’s Causeway. We attended some of the college hockey games played in the Friendship Four Tournament between Boston University, Harvard, Notre Dame, and Merrimack. We even got to skate between periods of the Harvard-Notre Dame game.

We also competed in a hockey tournament with Belfast kids and teens. The way we were split into many different teams meant we got to meet many different Belfast kids and to take the role of leading our own teams.

From what we learned before going to Northern Ireland, hurling and Gaelic football were only played in the Catholic communities, and rugby was played only in Protestant communities. Even their games were divided. But hockey was considered a neutral sport by both Catholics and Protestants. The sports brought all of us kids and teens together no matter who anyone was, what they looked like, or how well they played.

Set up that way, the hockey was great. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the Peace Walls, some of which are 45 feet tall.

Being in front of such a barrier, I felt small, and I felt what it meant for people to be separated. Our tour guide, a Catholic who fought during the Troubles, said he couldn’t go to the Protestant memorial because it still hurts too much. 

Many times, we can travel and look at things like the Peace Walls and make harsh judgments, not seeing how we do the same things in different ways. For me, I find there are invisible walls in Boston separating the different people here. I feel that they separate me from the suburban kids I know who have been privileged their whole life.

There are different experiences and exposures that I have, and they don’t. Sometimes they see this as a threat, and many of them aren’t even allowed to travel into my community and go through the “invisible walls” here.

I also see walls dividing our city of Boston into different parts instead of all of us being a part of one city. Belfast is the same. But their walls are out in the open, and they seem to be trying to break them down in ways that maybe we aren’t.

My trip to Belfast taught me how to see things from other perspectives better. I saw that it was not only about what people believe, but for some it was all they knew. I’m not sure how to go about doing anything about these new feelings yet, but I am resolved to do something good and get involved in something good to break down barriers so that real walls or invisible walls don’t separate people anymore.

Taryn Daniel is 15 years-old. A Dorchester resident, she attends Archbishop Williams High School and plays hockey in Dorchester and West Roxbury.