We left Ballintoy Tuesday morning and reached Derry (aka Londonderry) before noon - that included lots of stops for photos along the way as the weather, again, was cooperating. The following are photos of the ruins of Dunluce Castle and the Antrim coastline.
In Derry, our lesson in Irish history continued. I had been to Derry before and had been captivated by its history. As much as Belfast, and perhaps even more, this town epitomizes the ongoing conflict in Ireland. On a personal note, I have discovered that I have no ability to retain the details of this Protestant/Loyalist and Catholic/Unionist divide. Some of what I posted about Belfast's history was wrong, as my sister pointed out to me, and I've tried to correct that blog. Quite frankly, I keep getting my Protestants and Catholics confused! My apologies. Good thing I wasn't a history major! I'd still be in school. Anyway, we did a walking tour which went over the history and how Derry is finally starting to heal.
I'm going to skip the historical details (I'd probably get them wrong anyway) about the Protestants being held under siege by the Catholics in Derry around 1698 where the Protestant slogan was "No Surrender". This siege was the genesis for the marches that used to take place twice a year with the "orange" Protestants marching through Catholic neighbourhoods reinforcing their "no surrender" motto adopted nearly 400 years before. These marches were often the source of much violence although, in more recent years, they've become more bi-partisan. Our guide also gave us the details of Bloody Sunday (January, 1972) when British soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians during a protest march in the Bogside area of Derry. The IRA campaign had begun two years prior to Bloody Sunday but the events of that day boosted the status of, and recruitment into, the organization enormously. Bloody Sunday remains among the most significant events in "the Troubles". For years, the British government refused to accept responsibility for the 14 deaths saying the shootings were justified. There were two official inquiries: the first was considered a whitewash of the events but the last one, chaired by Lord Seville (a Canadian) concluded that the British government was culpable for the civilian deaths. The result was an official apology by David Cameron on behalf of the United Kingdom in 2010. That was the start of the easing of the tensions.
We stayed in Bogside, a place that would have been considered extremely dangerous just 20 or so years ago. Bombs were a regular occurrence there. In that neighbourhood, a group of artists have painted some murals depicting some of the conflict as well as other human rights issues. They are extremely powerful to see. You can check them out on the Internet by Googling "Bogside Artists". What is also telling is that a nearby Protestant enclave has curbs and poles painted red, white and blue and a "No Surrender" sign displayed near to another "peace wall". So, while some progress has been made, there is still, it appears, quite a way to go.
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| The Peace Dove mural - designed by Protestant and Catholic school children |
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| The Death of Innocence - a mural honouring a 14 year old school girl killed in the crossfire |
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| The "No Surrender" sign in the Protestant enclave in the Catholic neighbourhood |
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| In The Fountain neighbourhood (Protestant) with the curbs and poles painted |
So, that is it for Irish politics and history, I promise! Next we are on to the wild west coast driving along the "Wild Atlantic Way" to Doolin and Dingle for a change of pace and topic.
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