April 6, 2009: Just what DO you call this place?

This morning was another day of potential liquid sunshine all over the green fields of Ulster. No worries, time for another road trip!

Now, in the US, if you say road trip, it could mean anything from 1 to 5 states away and beyond, depending on the time of day, your disposition, and the amount of gas in your tank. Here, our destination was the relatively more nearby Londonderry (or is it Derry? Stroke City? Maiden City?? What DO you call this place?)

I can't think of anywhere in Northern Ireland that is more steeped in violent history than Derry. Derry is the anglicised version of the gaelic name, Doire. Londonderry is the name given after the establishment of the city by the London guilds in the early 1600's, and with that, the issue of what to call it was presumably argued since then. Protestant unionists favor Londonderry, unless of course they are referring to it in conversation, when it is "Derry". Go figure. Nationalists will refer to it as Derry, and will in some extreme cases score the "London" part off of street signs etc. Who knew a name could be so inciteful.

It was a very blustery day as we walked along the city walls, overlooking the Foyle river on one side and the old city and the Diamond on the other. The walls of Derry have seen a lot of violence in their time.

Interspersed along the walls are big black cannons, all facing outward as they would have done when they were in full use. I was caught up in reading the different plaques for the cannons, how heavy they are (3000 pounds plus each) and most were cast in the late 1500's. At one point I pointed this obviously impressive piece of history to Lauren. "That's nice," she said, and went went back to photographing a plant or a streetlamp or whatever was holding her focus.

Further along, from the ramparts of the wall, the whole of the "bogside" (named because it lay on the boggy side of the city, hundreds of years ago) was plainly visible. I counted a dozen political murals which chronicled a particulary painful period in Derry's history, the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972. I told my mother in law that even though it reflects a dark period of Ulster's history, I was glad in a way to see that they remained. You can't cherrypick your history, you have to live with it, for good and for ill. The murals represent a bleak period in the History of the troubles, and hopefully a lesson is there that can be learned from.

I also spotted some more sinister graffiti, one one or two rooftops was painted "R IRA" (Real IRA). Don't even try to get your head around Real IRA vs Continuity IRA vs Provisional IRA vs IRA, I'm still confused by it myself.

I had never been to Derry before, and as I think back on the day, I'm glad I went. I remember learning about the likes of Wolfe Tone, the Apprentice Boys, and others during dry history lessons in school, but it was almost like an afterthought to the british governmental history that was drummed into our young (and totally disinterested) minds. It's a pity that the history of the land we lived in proved too contraversial for its young inhabitants to learn about. Perhaps by embracing it in schools sooner, younger generations can learn the lessons that history has to teach sooner, rather than later.

Perhaps, in America, you're wondering what the big deal is about all this history stuff. Put yourself in the position where you are taught the history of North America (Canada) without learning the history of the United States, and you only find out about US history later.

Derry was a long drive, but for me, totally worth it. Another long drive tomorrow, this time to the Mourne Mountains and Newcastle. Time for bed now!