Derry

After all the running around we did at Portrush and the Giants Causeway, we drove 20 minutes west to Derry. Being a big history enthusiast, I was more excited for this portion of the trip than the Giants Causeway (which was quite spectacular).

We arrived around dinner time, and while my parents took a nap Alisa and I headed out for a walk. We decided to walk around the old walls of Derry, which still form a complete wall today. The walls were built in just six years in the early 1600s. When they were built they were up to 50 feet high. The walls also have over twenty of the original cannons on them.

Free Derry Corner

The next morning we were up early and we went out for a walking tour of the city. Although it rained non-stop during the tour, I enjoyed it because the tour was so informative. Being too young to really remember the troubles first-hand, I only had a faint idea of the magnitude of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

While most people see the conflict as a religious one, that is not really the case. It is true that it is Catholics fighting Protestants and vice versa.

Several hundred years ago, as England was dominating the less advanced civilization of the time, the King made the decision to conquer Ireland. Because Ireland was mostly a clan-based society, this was not difficult. English settlers then moved to Ireland. As it so happens, the only successful English settlements were in Ulster County, which became Northern Ireland after the partition. The English settlers were all Protestant, and the native Irish were Catholic. What this conflict boils down to is not whether you are Protestant or Catholic, but whether you are a Nationalist (prefer Ireland as one nation) or a Unionist (prefer union with England).

Although national identity is the root of the conflict, there has been too much killing, too many families torn apart and too much discrimination to be solved quickly. Undoubtedly there is blame on both sides, and because the hatred is so deep-seated it will take several generations before any real progress is made.

The west bank is 97% Nationalist and 3% Unionist. The siege mentality still exists, despite the cease-fire being adopted in 1998.

Having given a (relatively) brief overview of the conflict, I'd like to give a little background on Derry. The walled portion of the city sits on top of a hill that was formerly an island. The River Foyle eventually shifted it's path, connecting the city with the mainland. The area where the river used to run became a boggy mess, known as the bogside. These undesirable mud flats was given to the Catholics, who built their houses below the city in the bog.

The view of the bogside from the city walls. If you enlarge the picture you can see some murals in the foreground.

Approximately 100,000 people call Derry home, with about 75% of the residents considering themselves Catholics. While they may make up the majority of the population, for a long time the Nationalists controlled the political, economic and social arenas. For a long time the police force was strictly Protestant.
With the minority holding the power and oppressing the poorer majority, it was only a matter of time until chaos broke out. The event that would bring this conflict to the eyes of the world and be immortalized by one of the biggest rock bands of all time happened in January of 1972.

Spurred on by the American Civil Rights Movement, approximately 20,000 Catholics gathered in Derry to march in protest against internment (imprisonment of Catholics without trial or charges being levied) and job/housing discrimination against Catholics. The Protestant government deemed this march to be illegal, and the British paratroopers were brought in. This was the most elite, best-trained fighting force in the British military.

As the protesters were marching in the bogside, the British soldiers panicked. Later claiming they were sniped at by a single shooter, the soldiers opened fire. By the end of the firing 14 people lay dead and 14 were maimed for life. Of the 14 who were killed, seven were teenagers. Worse yet, all of them were unarmed and at least five of them were shot from behind. One person, shot in the back of the head, was waving a white hankerchief. Forensic tests after the incident proved that nobody who was killed was armed.

A inquiry was quickly set up by the British government after the incident. This inquiry was deemed to be a whitewash by most everybody who was not British. Not until 1998 did the case get reopened. In June of this year, the last inquiry was finalized. It proved that the soldiers were not fired upon and that none of the deceased had weapons.

In 1998 a leap in the quest for peace was made when the two sides signed the Good Friday Agreement. While technically only a ceasefire, it is still a step in the right direction.

Throughout Northern Ireland one of the most popular forms of expression are large murals. The murals in Derry, all located in the bogside, are quite famous. Below are three of what we think are the most powerful ones.

The Petrol Bomber: Depicting the Battle of the Bogside in 1969, three day riots that pitted bogside residents against Protestant police.

The Saturday Matinee: Named this because riots were commonplace, it shows a young man about to take on an armored vehicle with a shield and a stone.

Bloody Sunday: Originally a photograph, depicts Father Daly waving a bloodstained hankerchief while a mortally wounded man is carried from the scene. The Civil Rights banner at the soldiers feet became bloodstained when it was used to cover the body of one of those killed.