Derry, officially called Londonderry, is the second city of Northern Ireland and the only city in Ireland whose entire circuit of walls is still intact. It stands on the River Foyle, a few kilometres from the border with the Republic of Ireland and from Donegal, and has about 85,000 inhabitants, 150,000 in the Derry and Strabane district. It is a young city full of music, with an intense and sometimes painful history: the siege of 1689, the civil rights movement, Bloody Sunday in 1972 and finally peace. Today Derry welcomes visitors with its murals, the peace bridge, a huge Halloween festival and the humour made famous all over the world by the series Derry Girls.
Trains from Belfast take about two hours, on one of the most scenic lines in Europe. City of Derry Airport is about twenty minutes from the centre.
The name and the history
The name Derry comes from the Irish Doire, "oak grove": here, according to tradition, Saint Columba (Colum Cille) founded a monastery in 546. In the 17th century, during the Plantation of Ulster promoted by the English crown, the livery companies of the City of London funded the building of a new fortified city, which took the name Londonderry. The name still divides people today: nationalists generally say Derry and unionists Londonderry, and many jokingly call it "Stroke City", after the slash in "Derry/Londonderry".
In 1689 the city, loyal to William of Orange, held out for 105 days against the siege by the army of James II: the hunger was terrible, but the walls were never breached. In the 20th century Derry became one of the centres of the civil rights movement for Catholics, and on 30 January 1972, during a peaceful march in the Bogside district, British paratroopers killed thirteen unarmed civilians, and a fourteenth died later: Bloody Sunday. Only in 2010, after a long inquiry, did the British prime minister make a formal apology. For more, see the history of Northern Ireland and the Irish question.
- 546Saint Columba founds a monastery in the oak grove
- 1613Work begins on the walls of the new city
- 1633St Columb's Cathedral is completed
- 1689The city withstands a 105-day siege
- 1890The Guildhall is opened
- 1972Bloody Sunday in the Bogside
- 1998John Hume, born in Derry, receives the Nobel Peace Prize
- 2011The Peace Bridge over the Foyle opens
- 2013Derry becomes the first UK City of Culture
What to see in Derry
The walls
The Derry Walls, built between 1613 and 1619, form a ring of about a mile around the historic centre, with seven gates and many period cannons. You can walk the whole circuit in under an hour, with views over the city, the river and the Bogside murals. They are the best-preserved city walls in Ireland and among the most complete in Europe.
The Guildhall and the Peace Bridge
The Guildhall, a red sandstone Gothic Revival building of 1890, stands just outside the walls, near the river. Inside you can admire the large stained-glass windows that tell the story of the city and the concert hall with a monumental organ. In front of the Guildhall starts the Peace Bridge, the S-shaped pedestrian and cycle bridge opened in 2011, which symbolically links the two banks of the Foyle, one mainly Catholic and the other mainly Protestant.
St Columb's Cathedral and the Tower Museum
St Columb's Cathedral, completed in 1633, was the first cathedral built in the British Isles after the Reformation. It holds relics of the siege, including the hollow cannonball in which the besiegers sent their terms of surrender. The Tower Museum, in a reconstructed medieval tower, tells the story of the city and displays the remains of a Spanish Armada ship wrecked off Donegal in 1588.
The Bogside and the murals
Outside the walls, the Bogside district is famous for the murals of the People's Gallery, painted by local artists on the fronts of houses to tell the story of Bloody Sunday, the struggle for civil rights and the hope of peace. Here you will also find Free Derry Corner, with the words "You are now entering Free Derry", and the Museum of Free Derry, which reconstructs the events of 1972 with testimonies and objects.
Music, literature and culture
Derry has a lively music scene: the Undertones, authors of the punk anthem Teenage Kicks, came from here, as did the composer Phil Coulter. The poet Seamus Heaney, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, studied at the city's St Columb's College, as did the political leader John Hume, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. In 2013 Derry was the first city in the United Kingdom to hold the title of City of Culture. Today the Halloween festival at the end of October, with parades, fireworks and costumes, is one of the largest in Europe, and a mural in the centre celebrates the heroines of Derry Girls.
A day in Derry
A possible itinerary: start with the full circuit of the walls in the morning, stopping at St Columb's Cathedral and the Tower Museum. At midday cross the Peace Bridge and have lunch on the other bank, in the Ebrington area, a former barracks turned into a square with restaurants and cultural spaces. In the afternoon go down to the Bogside for the murals and the Museum of Free Derry, ideally with a local guide. In the evening return inside the walls, where the pubs of Waterloo Street offer live traditional Irish music almost every night.
Around Derry
- The Causeway Coast, with the Giant's Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, about an hour's drive away.
- Downhill beach with the little Mussenden temple perched above the sea, and the Inishowen peninsula and Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland, a few minutes across the border.
- The ring fort of Grianan of Aileach, on a hill with views over three counties.
Getting there
- By train: from Belfast in about two hours, along the coast between Coleraine and Derry.
- By air: City of Derry Airport is about 20 minutes away; for more flights there are Belfast International Airport and Dublin, both reachable by bus.
- By bus: frequent services to Belfast and Dublin.
For travel see trains and transport, and for other cities British cities.
Tips for your visit
- How long: one day for the walls, the Guildhall and the Bogside; two or three days with the Causeway Coast and Donegal.
- When to go: May to September for the coast; at the end of October for Halloween, booking well in advance.
- A tip: take a tour with a local guide in the Bogside: the stories of those who lived through those years are worth more than any book. Remember that across the border you pay in euros.