This old walled city is known primarily as Derry; from its original Gaelic name Doire, meaning oak grove. It was renamed Londonderry in 1613 when the London Corporation was granted a royal charter by King James I to settle and develop the area. There was a time in the not too distant past when how one referred to the city indicated one's political leanings (Derry for nationalists and Londonderry for unionists); now however most refer to it as Derry. Those wanting to cover all bases use all three names; others refer to it as Stroke City for the punctuation between the three names.
Again, we did a walking tour where we walked on top of the city walls (originally built in 1613-1619 as defenses for the Scottish and English settlers) and learned about both distant and recent history.
It is the only remaining completely walled city in Ireland and one of the finest examples in Europe. It served as one of the main embarkation points for emigration, with direct connections to Quebec,Nova Scotia, NY and Philadelphia.
Derry was a focal point for the civil rights movement begun in the late 1960's. The initial aim was equal voting rights - inspired by the U.S. civil rights movement; at this time gerrymandering had resulted in little electoral representation in spite of a majority Catholic population. "A civil rights demonstration in 1968 led by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association was banned by the Government and blocked using force by the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The events that followed the August 1969 Apprentice Boys parade resulted in the Battle of the Bogside, when Catholic rioters fought the police, leading to widespread civil disorder in Northern Ireland and is often dated as the starting point of The Troubles.
On Sunday, January 30, 1972, 13 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British paratroopers during a civil rights march in the Bogside area, and a fourteenth died later of his wounds. This event came to be known as Bloody Sunday. An initial inquiry by the British government found no fault by the soldiers, saying they had been under attack. A more extensive inquiry concluded in 2010 after 12 years, and resulted in an unprecedented apology from then PM David Cameron, stating the killings were both 'unjustified and unjustifiable'.
Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, things have greatly improved according to those we talked to - although there remains a high degree of segregation between the factions.
The Bogside artists, named for the Catholic area which was the site of Bloody Sunday, commemorated aspects of the conflict through murals. Below is a depiction of British soldiers knocking down a door, symbolic of the destruction of the barricade that had been built by the Catholics who proclaimed the area as 'Free Derry'.
Above, 'Boy with a Petrol Bomb' and below, 'The Death of Innocence’ which memorializes an 11 year old girl who was killed by crossfire between the two sides and commemorates all of the children who have died during The Troubles. She was out gathering stones for an art project when she was shot and killed. Our guide told us that her father used to come to the mural every day until he died several years ago. The mural has changed over time with the change brought about by the 1998 peace agreement - the gun is now pointing downward and is broken, and the butterfly representing hope has been added.
And two images representing peace - the mural above in the Bogside and below, the Peace Bridge built in 2013.
We also went to a great evening of music and dancing held across the street from our B&B at the Gaelic Cultural Centre. They were holding a weekend focused on Irish and Scottish dancing - the evening concert featured several different groups of musicians and dancers. The four from Scotland were staying in our B&B so we also saw them for breakfast, dressed in their pajamas after a night out partying after the performance.
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