Protestants on top: 'Titanic' was a microcosm of Ulster society

NEWTON'S OPTIC:Vessel's biggest mystery remains largely untold

IT OFTEN feels like everything that can be said about the Titanichas been said a hundred times over, especially when you have a whole week of features to write on the centenary of its launch.

So you can imagine our relief here at the Irish Timesto discover that Titanic's greatest mystery remains largely untold.

Designed and built by unionist Freemasons at exactly the moment they were plotting partition, the ship contained many coded references to their secret political goal. The most obvious of these were the watertight compartments, any four of which could flood without sinking the vessel. Likewise, Northern Ireland was designed to stay afloat even if four counties filled up with Catholics.

The decision to include lifeboats for only two-thirds of the people on board reflected the idea of Northern Ireland itself as a lifeboat for only two-thirds of the people on board. But there were life-vests for everyone, which frankly was more than some of them deserved.

Another obvious clue was the dummy fourth funnel, representing a fourth part of the United Kingdom that looked nice but served no practical purpose. In the end it was used to store deck-chairs, creating a symbol within a symbol whose meaning became obvious later.

The whole lot was powered by two reciprocating steam engines turning screws in opposite directions, suggesting that even in 1911, unionists realised something like the Good Friday Agreement was inevitable.

It is a cliche to describe the Titanicas a microcosm of Edwardian society. Less well understood is that it was also a microcosm of Ulster society. First class represented Church of Ireland, and second class the cheaper Protestant denominations such as Methodists and towards the stern, Presbyterians. These decks were connected by an electric lift, offering the futuristic possibility of moving between them.

Hidden away below was third class, where Catholics could sleep 12 to a room and enjoy the traditional music, dancing and drinking associated with their carefree backward culture, as portrayed with such poignant accuracy in James Cameron’s 1997 romantic comedy. During the 1960s, many Catholics in Northern Ireland complained of being “second-class citizens”, showing how much social progress they had made.

A diagram of Catholics sneaking into the lift-shaft was included on the wall-chart with yesterday's paper. Numerology is important to Freemasons, and many of the Titanic's dimensions revealed their unionist intent. The ship was the same width in feet as Northern Ireland would be in miles, give or take the usual wild inaccuracy in this subject. It contained one million rivets, representing the sturdy fastness of Ulster's one million Protestants, and 29 boilers, representing the age when Ulster's women turn into boilers.

However, the best-known Titanic numerology story is untrue. The ship’s hull did not bear the serial number 60604, spelling out “No Pope” when viewed in a mirror. Its actual serial number was 104, chosen after chief designer Sir Carson Craig said: “One feels there is zero chance of four counties filling up with Catholics.”

When this metaphor for all their hopes and dreams was finally complete, the unionists of Belfast lined the docks to cheer as it was launched backwards towards England, little suspecting that just 100 years later it would collide so horrifically with my deadline.