Northern Ireland Day 3 - London Derry

Robin by the wall

So I've been really lagging on this whole blog thing due to school starting but I'm going to try and catch up before I get loaded up with too much. Anyway, I really wanted to get the pictures and the information up about LondonDerry because it was an incredible place.

This Cannon was named "Roaring Meg" 

We got into LondonDerry (as referred to by loyalists (individuals loyal to the British crown)) / Derry (as referred to by the Unionist (individuals loyal to the Republic.) after a day of sightseeing having no idea what to expect. Robin informed me there is a wall built around the whole city and we were staying in the 1 hotel which was situated inside the wall. We grabbed some dinner and headed to bed and figured we'd explore the next day.

Sorry for the next few bits about the history but this helps set up the whole situation. So LondonDerry is set on the Foyle River (or River Folye as they say here). The River separates Northern Ireland from the Republic. LondonDerry is the only area on the west bank of the River Foyle that is part of Northern Ireland.
So as you can guess the tensions in this area are pretty high.

One of 5 entrances into the city

The city is still very split between loyalist's and unionists. As late as 2007 British Troops still occupied the city. Also, the song "Bloody Sunday" by U2 is based on LondonDerry. During the 70's unionists were open fired upon by British troops killing 14 people. (Much like our Boston massacre). Robin and I both noticed a tense vibe to the city and after reading the history it made more sense.

Get your soap box

The Wall: So the wall was built in the 1600 originally to keep out foreign invaders. It is still the only completely walled city in Ireland still intact and the only one that never saw it's walls breached. After that era the wall was used (from what I understand) to keep the Catholics out of the city. Again there where monstrous cannon's at several points along the wall. (Just to clarify I would not condone firing one of these off, as this was right in the middle of the city and would result in all likelihood casualties; both property and human. Plus Britain has enough on its hands with the financial crisis and doesn't need to rile up LondonDerry these days.)

One of the Murals

Last stop on the tour was a series of murals painted on the walls of several homes and apartments that symbolized the turmoil as well as the desired peace between the different factions. Along this route we saw the memorial for Bloody Sunday and a sign which states "You are now entering free Derry" where people use to come and put out their soap boxes and voice opinions.

I probably didn't do the city justice but one of the most incredibly historic places I've been. Just being in a place where tensions are still heightened was different from anything I've experienced. Belfast also seems to get the media attention but I can tell you LondonDerry is where things still aren't healed.

 We headed back to Dublin where I 1. Scrapped the side of the car on the curb and 2. broke the key to our car in the gas station 2 miles from where we were to return it. Our trip lasted a little longer while Enterprise tried to figure out to do with us but eventually we made it home in time for opening night of football.

Next posting Galway....