The visit to Derry was difficult in the heart - though not physically. Derry was the place where my GGGrandfather left Ireland to come to America. The ship was small, he rode in steerage, and he was just 18. He spoke no English, and yet he left Ireland and came to New York.
Donegal is one of the most beautiful places I've seen: Green, rocky, clear blue water, gorgeous white beaches with few people - even waves suitable for surfing. I can't imagine leaving such a place of beauty, given the possibility of having a decent life there.
We took a bus around Derry to see the layout of the place. Most notable was the wall around the center city, built for the English, not the locals. A surprise was the presence of several old, beautiful Protestant churches within the walls - I had seen only a few Protestant churches on this trip, prior to seeing Derry. The single Catholic church inside the walls was built at a later time.
We saw two places, no, three places of great difficulty. T313 has two of them pictured above. When Derry was built, the Catholics, as undesirables, were put out of the city, to live in the Bogside. This is literally public housing built on a marshy area likely prone to flooding, biting insects, and disease. Good enough for the Irish.
I'll let T313 tell about the housing on the opposite side of the river, also see above.
Several large murals are painted on the side of Bogside apartments, mostly commemorating things such as the hunger strike and death of IRA prisoner and martyr Bobby Sands, and Annette McGavrin, 14 year old shot by a British soldier as she stood near her home, in 1971.
Not noted in our tour, but recognized by us, was the Derry Guildhall. Just before our vist to Ireland, the investigation of Bloody Sunday was announced in Parliament in London. Bloody Sunday was a terrible event in 1972 at which 13 Irish demonstrators were killed by British Soldiers. An early inquiry was a whitewash, but this investigation, so long awaited, focused on the truth, rather than covering up British mistakes.
The families of the Bloody Sunday victims were assembled in the Derry Guildhall, where they heard the inquiry findings just before the release of those findings in London. The Irish demonstrators were found innocent. Seeing the Guildhall up close felt strange: sad, dangerous, and hopeful, all at once.
Near the end of our Derry trip, we saw a bit of what we came to see. This being the place where the famine ships departed carrying people from Donegal. The few old boards remaining from those docks that served the famine ships have been assembled into a memorial for 9/11. We saw them, twice. It was extremely hard not to be carried away with sadness and anger.
The visit to Derry was difficult in the heart - though not physically. Derry was the place where my GGGrandfather left Ireland to come to America. The ship was small, he rode in steerage, and he was just 18. He spoke no English, and yet he left Ireland and came to New York.
ReplyDeleteDonegal is one of the most beautiful places I've seen: Green, rocky, clear blue water, gorgeous white beaches with few people - even waves suitable for surfing. I can't imagine leaving such a place of beauty, given the possibility of having a decent life there.
We took a bus around Derry to see the layout of the place. Most notable was the wall around the center city, built for the English, not the locals. A surprise was the presence of several old, beautiful Protestant churches within the walls - I had seen only a few Protestant churches on this trip, prior to seeing Derry. The single Catholic church inside the walls was built at a later time.
We saw two places, no, three places of great difficulty. T313 has two of them pictured above. When Derry was built, the Catholics, as undesirables, were put out of the city, to live in the Bogside. This is literally public housing built on a marshy area likely prone to flooding, biting insects, and disease. Good enough for the Irish.
I'll let T313 tell about the housing on the opposite side of the river, also see above.
Several large murals are painted on the side of Bogside apartments, mostly commemorating things such as the hunger strike and death of IRA prisoner and martyr Bobby Sands, and Annette McGavrin, 14 year old shot by a British soldier as she stood near her home, in 1971.
Not noted in our tour, but recognized by us, was the Derry Guildhall. Just before our vist to Ireland, the investigation of Bloody Sunday was announced in Parliament in London. Bloody Sunday was a terrible event in 1972 at which 13 Irish demonstrators were killed by British Soldiers. An early inquiry was a whitewash, but this investigation, so long awaited, focused on the truth, rather than covering up British mistakes.
The families of the Bloody Sunday victims were assembled in the Derry Guildhall, where they heard the inquiry findings just before the release of those findings in London. The Irish demonstrators were found innocent. Seeing the Guildhall up close felt strange: sad, dangerous, and hopeful, all at once.
Near the end of our Derry trip, we saw a bit of what we came to see. This being the place where the famine ships departed carrying people from Donegal. The few old boards remaining from those docks that served the famine ships have been assembled into a memorial for 9/11. We saw them, twice. It was extremely hard not to be carried away with sadness and anger.
The above comment is from KS.
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