Before setting off on our Irish adventure, we had identified a few towns and sites that we really wanted to see. Rick Steves had a show on Northern Ireland and let us know about this little town known as Londonderry. It had these great murals from an uprising incident sometime in the past and would be an interesting town to visit. Oh yeah, and the guidebook we picked up mentioned endearingly that it was the only town in Ireland to remain fully-walled with its original safeguards.
Before arriving in Londonderry, we spent a few nights in the town of Portrush and when asked by locals where we were going next, we’d get some interesting responses to “Londonderry”. One younger woman told me to be careful of going out at night because there are sections of the town that are not safe – and even areas where the police aren’t allowed to enter. She went further to tell me about the roving gangs of young men playing a game of 7-up in which they select the 7th person they encounter on the street and beat them bloody – two of her friends had this happen to them and lost teeth over it. But she assured me “it really is a nice city”. Ummm… Ok….. Then, when we told our B&B host in Portrush where we were going next, she told us – “it’s a horrible city” and convinced us to stay in Portrush for one more night. So, we approached the city a bit wary but still interested in learning more about it.
We knew that it was an unsettled city – that it still showed signs of The Troubles – that it was the scene of a clash between London police and civilians in what is known as Bloody Sunday. We knew that we needed to learn more about all of it to understand the forces that have shaped the city over the years. Lucky for us, the tourist information center where we booked our B&B placed us right in the center of it all in a neighborhood known as the Bogside and about one street over from where the Bloody Sunday massacre took place in 1972. We knew we had to check out the area and the Museum of Free Derry. After visiting and seeing the neighborhood, we’ve never called it Londonderry again. It is Derry and deserves to be free – free from British rule and a part of the Irish Republic. Our visit to Derry left an indelible impression on us – we hope that you’re interested enough to learn a little more about it and that you find the images we captured a portal to that understanding.
I know, a bit heavier than our normal post but what can I say? When you meet the brother of one of the assassinated, it is heavy.
