| History of 'London'Derry |
Derry monastic era medieval period colonial times cultural general 20th Century Bloody Sunday
| I have from the outset placed the
name London in inverted commas as I find it offensive that the name was
ever created and it carries with it all the baggage of Empire, Colonialism
and "British" control. However it is is not helpful either to
refer to "Derry", since that implies a Republican statement. It
is my hope that one day the city may be renamed completely - perhaps as "Doire
Colmcille" (see below). Most of the
following is copied from elsewhere and I have therefore left the names as
they originally appeared. Any coloured highlighting and underlining is
mine. Malc Peirce April 2005
Introduction The city of "Londonderry" lies in the deep valley of the River Foyle, some one hundred and fifty miles northwest of Dublin. The city centre rises on a hill on the western side of the river and is encircled by its splendidly preserved seventeenth-century city walls. Derry is the second city of Northern Ireland and its history is a long and tumultuous one. What's in a Name? The English name Derry comes from the Irish Doire, meaning " a place of oaks ". The original settlements at Derry nestled on an island-hill in the river Foyle, which was at that time thickly forested. The monastic settlement founded in the sixth century took the name Doire Colmcille, after its founder St Colmcille (Columba, the founder of Iona). In time, the title Doire was anglicised to Derry. With the plantation of the new colonial settlement at the beginning of the seventeenth century, Derry became Londonderry, in honour of the London merchants who underwrote the expense of this risky enterprise. Londonderry remains the official name of the city, but the official title of the city council is Derry; and Derry is the more commonly used name. Throughout the Northern Ireland Troubles, the issue became a political one and the people of the city have become accustomed to (and amused by) the fine line over this issue walked by many newspaper and broadcasting organizations: the local BBC radio station, for example, now routinely refers to the city as " Derry-stroke-Londonderry " - and wcities.com has followed the BBC's example! The issue, however, is no longer as fraught as it once was. The tourist authorities now speak of the Maiden City, a coy reference to the fact that the city has never fallen to siege; you may justifiably think that any name is preferable to that. The Walled City English and Scottish settlers constructed the walled city of Londonderry at the beginning of the seventeenth century on the instructions of James I. The intention was to place the new city at the heart of the Plantation of Ulster, at that time the only one of Ireland's four provinces not yet fully under English control. The City Walls in the year 2000 are punctuated by seven gates and remain marvellously preserved, while the land they encircle is still the heart of the modern city. A stroll around the open circuit of the walls takes about an hour and affords wide views of the city and its hinterland. The city was laid out in a grid pattern, subsequently much copied in the colonies of British North America. The passing centuries have witnessed many changes, but this basic grid remains fundamentally unaltered. Four main streets converge on the city's main square, the Diamond, which contains the city Cenotaph and the distinctive facade and copper cupola of Austin's Department Store. Two of these four streets, Shipquay Street and Ferryquay Street, remain the busy shopping streets they have always been; and in a city of hills and sudden views, Shipquay Street is the steepest main street in Ireland. On Bishop Street lies the handsome neo-classical city Courthouse. The fourth street, Butcher Street, is home to a new interpretive centre and (shortly) a new hotel. Behind these four converging streets lie many
beautiful buildings. Most look old and well preserved, but in truth the
city centre lay largely in ruins at the end of the 1970s - the result of
the euphemistically named " Troubles " - and most of the
buildings we now see have been carefully and painstakingly restored. The
finest examples of restoration are the facades of Pump Street, Magazine
Street and London Street - all names that evoke the city's past. The most
unusual and charming example of this careful restoration, however, is
probably the Craft Village behind Shipquay Street: this reconstruction of
a town street and square is home to small shops and cafes, constructed
using the original brick and stone from damaged buildings that once stood
on this site. Some very old buildings, thankfully, remain, notably the
splendid Cathedral of St Columb (1613) and the small, beautiful Anglican The Bogside The Bogside lies below the northern stretch of the city walls and is one of the city's more densely populated districts. Its name is distinctive and comes from the period when the hill of Derry was an island in the river Foyle. Through the middle ages, the western arm of the river gradually silted up, leaving marshy land behind; this land became known as the Bogside. This low-lying land was gradually drained and, after the foundation of the colonial city and building of the city walls, it became Derry's first suburb. Catholics were barred from living within the city walls, and so the Bogside has always been a predominantly Catholic district. In modern times, it became a crucible of Catholic discontent: in the period from 1921-1972, when Northern Ireland was governed by successive Unionist administrations, the Bogside had some of the worst housing slums in Europe, and the area witnessed the beginning of the Civil Rights marches, in which Catholics demanded equal rights for their community. The area was also the scene of the shocking events of Bloody Sunday in 1972, when 14 civil rights marchers were killed by British soldiers. Today, the area has been extensively rebuilt, but remains the most politically aware district of the city: the enormous and artistically distinctive murals which adorn the walls of the area, signify this sensitivity. The most eye-catching monument in the Bogside, however, is Free Derry Corner, a gable wall proclaiming You Are Now Entering Free Derry: a testament to the period in the early 1970s when this district of the city was wholly under the control of the IRA. St Eugene's Cathedral, constructed at the end of
the nineteenth century in Gothic revival style, lies on the western edge
of the Bogside. At the eastern side, and close to the city walls, is the |