Clogh River

We drove up to Derry today. It was about an hour of slender roads through the green countryside. To my friend Louise, it’s just farm land but to us, it was a beautiful drive. In some areas, the trees have grown over the roads, making it feel other worldly. It felt like entering a darkened tunnel; the road held in place by the moss-covered stone walls on one side and the perfectly trimmed hedges on the other. Bridges, too narrow for more than one vehicle, begged the car to slow down and yield to oncoming travelers. Although the tiny roads stress me out, they simultaneously force me to slow down and just enjoy the moment. No rushing.

Derry was at the center of the Troubles and is the site of Bloody Sunday. The city has a defiant feel, with IRA signs still displayed and murals commemorating the struggle tastefully painted on residential buildings. We started our day about four centuries earlier, by taking a walking tour of the old city walls. In the early 1600’s, the walls were erected, and the buildings inside today remain the only walled city still fully intact in Europe. We entered at the “Magazine Gate” in the northeast corner. From here, the wall ascends up the hill and over “Butchers Gate.” Inside the walls is a bustling town center, and it’s easy to imagine life here centuries ago. It must have felt safe with walls wider than a current Irish road. From the top of the hill, you can see the Bogside, the Catholic neighbor, where peaceful protestors were shot and killed on Bloody Sunday. Sitting prominently to the right is St Eugene’s Cathedral, which served as a landmark for everywhere we walk in the city. There is an small Anglican Church at the top, surrounded by old tombstones. Many of the sandstone monuments have eroded, hiding the names and dates of those lying below the soil. It’s not the only church in the walls, but it was the most charming to me; small, unassuming, and standing like a sentry over the dead. Trees and blooming flowers lined the walk, and the grounds felt warm and welcoming. We left the church and strolled along the other half of the wall. Along the way, there were points where the British army had set up posts to keep an eye on Bogside, having been dismantled less than 20 years ago.

Our second self-led tour was just north and below the walls. Here, with my tour book in hand, we walked among the series of murals that were painted to memorialize the Troubles. Scattered along the walk are monuments to those who resisted the British and paid with their lives. There is a simple obelisk, displaying the names of those killed as a result of the events on Sunday, January 30, 1972. Sadly, several of the dead were teenagers. The somber, gray monument sits quietly in a residential area, where it’s hard to imagine the violence that took place in these streets that day. There is also a large, granite H, several yards away, honoring the 10 men who died, as a result of their hunger strike while jailed. Some of the murals honor these men specifically, while others are depictions of conflicts in Derry. There are murals that also emphasize the need for peace, which is still less than 25 years old. It was a bit heavy, and I wondered how different life would be here, if the Crown had not purposely planted Protestants here centuries ago.

And speaking of the Crown, we flipped on the BBC when we got home. King Charles III was making his first appearance, speaking for about 10 minutes about the love and service of his Queen and mother, Elizabeth. It was a touching tribute, but I couldn’t stop wondering what might be ahead in the near future for Great Britain with a new Prime Minster and a new King in the mixed up, muddled up, shook up world that we’re living in today. I guess we’ll all wait and see.Read more