(London)Derry

Historic city (London) Derry:

The walled city was designed as a Roman military camp with four large wide roads in the middle and four corner towers. In the middle is the impressive war museum that honors all the fallen from the WWI and WWII. The walls built in the year 1619 around the historic city are 8 meters high and 9 meters thick and are one of the few well-preserved city walls in Ireland.

In total you can walk about 1.5 km on the walls and enjoy the different views over the city and river. The four city gates have been rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries. The oldest building within the walls is the Columb cathedral dating from the 17th century. Another beautiful architectural masterpiece is the "Guildhall" building just outside the walls.

Originally it was built in the year 1890 and although this is a replica from 1908 because of a large fire this building has lost nothing on his value. There used to be the Londonderry corporation - reason for the IRA (the Irish Republican army) to destroy this to two times after the massacre in 1972.

Bogside and Fountain:

Despite the fact that there is nothing left of the old Bogside from the sixties, you can imagine when you close you’re eyes how the the old quarter look and smelled like. From the (Protestant) city walls you have an impressive panorama of the city district that would become world famous. In 1969 the district with 33,000 mostly poor unemployed Catholics had become a hotbed of Irish nationalism.

A three day campaign resulted in a Free Derry where the IRA held sway. After the neighborhood was bulldozered away in the early 70s, one building was erected that was turned into Free Derry Corner. Especially in Rossville street you can see more than a dozen murals that all tell their story about the battle here.

There is a Free Derry monument, a famine strike monument, a commemorative plaque for Bloody Sunday, a museum (in 2015 under construction) and numerous information panels about the history of the neighborhood. You can also go to the St. Mary cathedral, where the victims were taken in 1972 when shot down.  

The only Protestant (city) district on the west side of the city (River Foyle) is Fountain. A neighborhood surrounded by high fences with English flags, barbed wire, painted curbs and lampposts as well as photographs of how it once was. Striking are the houses with painted windows and doors and the mural on which the 17th century slogan No Surrender stands. 

Other sights:

• The Tower museum.

In the 19th century, the city was an important port city where thousands of Irish left for a better life in the United States and Canada. The city also became an important industrial city for linen; it seems that the city produced uniforms for both the north and south troops in the American Civil War.

Londonderry still sends about 12 free T-shirts to the American president each year. A century later, the encirclement of (London) Derry from 1688 became a symbol of the Ulster Protestants in their struggle against the Catholics of Ireland. Also the cry no surrender is to this day a much heard (and seen) one with the Protestants. In 1968, the poor Irish working class district was renamed Free Derry by the extreme IRA, a no-go area for English policemen and army.

A three-day battle resulted in sending thousands of soldiers from England. Four years later, the city would become world news when degenerated into a true battle - result during a non-violent Catholic demonstration; 14 Irish protesters killed by English bullets and an equal number of wounded. Operation "Motorman" in the summer of 1972 resulted in the occupying of the neighborhood, the bulldozering of houses and the reconstruction of a new district with better homes and facilities.