Derry is the only remaining completely intact walled city in Ireland and one of the finest examples of a walled city in Europe. The walls constitute the largest monument in State care in Northern Ireland and, as part of the last walled city to be built in Europe, stand as the most complete and spectacular. The Walls were built in 1613–1619 by The Honourable The Irish Society as defenses for early 17th-century settlers from England and Scotland. The Walls, which are approximately one mile (1.5 kilometers) in circumference and vary in height and width between 12 and 35 feet (3.7 and 10.7 meters), are completely intact and form a walkway around the inner city.
It was a beautiful autumn day in late October as we drove into the city of Derry on our tour bus and we soon passed some of the building murals about the Irish Troubles--political and nationalistic conflicts that occurred between 1960 and 1998 in parts of Northern Ireland. More about the murals later in this post.
Our tour bus parked at the historic Guildhall building, in which the elected members of Derry City and Strabane District Council meet.
During the visit, we were able to use the bathrooms inside and browse the exhibits on display. The building's stained glass windows were beautiful!
Please click on the photo to enlarge it to see more detail.
I was particularly impressed with a quilt that was hanging on the wall.
We had a few hours of free time to walk around on our own, so my husband and I headed over to the Bogside neighborhood of Derry to see some of the murals we passed on our way into the city.
Please click twice on the photo collage above to enlarge it to full size to see more detail about the neighborhood where the majority of the murals are located
The Bloody Sunday Memorial.
Please click on the photo above to read the placards in front of the Bloody Sunday Memorial to read more about what happened that sad day.
On a prior visit to Northern Ireland in 2011 I took a "Troubles" bus tour of Belfast --the capital of Northern Ireland --click here-- to read that blog post, and I was even more impressed with the amount of murals about the Troubles in Derry. Belfast and Derry contain arguably the most famous political murals in Europe It is believed that almost 2,000 murals have been documented since the 1970s.
Civil rights leaders around the world were also depicted on some of the murals.
This touching mural, called "The Death of Innocence," is of a 14-year-old student, Annette McGavigan, who was the 100th victim of the Troubles in Derry.
We also passed this colorful mural of a dove of peace.
I'll admit when we were back on the tour bus again and passing bright green fields full of grazing cows I breathed a sigh of relief and felt far removed from the reminders of the sad times Ireland has faced in its history. I wish and pray that the entire world could also solve its continued "Troubles" of war, hatred, and prejudice, and work towards peace for all.
We were now headed for Belfast, Northern Ireland, where we were staying the night and then later the next day taking a ferry to Scotland--see my next post.
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