Derry: the historic city that won't be defined by its past

But it’s fair to say that Derry wasn’t always synonymous with laughter.

This is, after all, the place where many consider The Troubles to have started with the Battle of the Bogside in 1969. Three years later, it was the scene of Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers killed more than a dozen civilian protestors. Several of those who died in the 1981 hunger strike were from either Derry itself or the county surrounding it.

This is the city famous for a white-washed gable end that still declares, with unrepentant defiance: YOU ARE NOW ENTERING FREE DERRY.

Even the name suggests conflict: is it Derry, or Londonderry, or both?

But while many of the signs of its recent, troubled history are still visible, this doesn’t feel like a city that is willing to be defined by its past.

I’d never been to Derry, or anywhere else on the island of Ireland, and didn’t really know what to expect from a place that, for so long, was not so much famous as infamous. What I can now tell you is that this is definitely somewhere worth visiting.

The Peace Bridge and River Foyle from Ebrington Square (Image: James McEnaney)

The River Foyle runs through the heart of city, with the largely Catholic ‘cityside’ on the west bank and the traditionally Protestant, but now more mixed, ‘waterside’ on the east. There are few bridges linking the two, but in 2011 the Peace Bridge was officially opened to connect the city centre with an area now known as Ebrington Square, but which used to be Ebrington Barracks.

The bridge is certainly striking, especially at night, and popular, but it is also, very obviously, incredibly symbolic. For those who have lived here for decades, it links the largely republican side of the city to the site that, for so many, represented conflict at best and occupation at worst. As one resident told me, Ebrington had always just been the place that the helicopters and the soldiers came from.

Today it feels like the sort of modern public space you find in many European cities – one that has managed to retain a clear sense of its history while taking a conscious step into a very different present and future, with military buildings now repurposed for the benefit of the people of Derry.

The Stitch and Weave, for example, is a new bar and restaurant offering excellent food, a welcoming ambiance and fantastic views over the Peace Bridge, the Foyle and the cityside. A few metres away, at the multi-award-winning Walled City Brewery, visitors can enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere while sampling a range of unique beers and an eclectic, modern menu.

The square is also to become the site of the Derry North Atlantic museum and archive, which will explore the maritime heritage of the city in a new, purpose-built facility.

The fireworks display and light show during the Foyle Maritime Festival. (Image: James McEnaney)

That history has also driven the establishment of the Foyle Maritime Festival, which was taking place during the weekend of my visit. There is, of course, always a risk that the climate in this part of the world won’t respect plans for major public gatherings, and that was, unfortunately, the case in this instance – but that didn’t stop thousands of people from enjoying the stalls, rides, street-food vendors and, on Saturday night, fireworks and riverside light displays.

And I can’t say I was surprised by that, because aside from the fact that the people here, like those at home, are well used to a bit of wet weather, there’s a buzz here that doesn’t feel like it could be easily stifled.

Partly it feels like a consequence of how compact the city is, which makes it feel like everything it has to offer (from riverside views to a craft village to the People’s Gallery) is available all at once; but it’s also a question of character, which the people of Derry have in abundance – if you don’t believe me, go for a night-time talk around the city centre, and squeeze yourself into one of the pubs on Waterloo Street for a pint and a song.

The craft village is located within the old walled city. (Image: James McEnaney)

Aside from its residents, the jewel in Derry’s crown is, without doubt, ‘the walls’.

Standing proudly in the heart of the city, less than a minute’s walk from my hotel, the old walled city is significantly more impressive than I had expected. Built at the start of the 17th Century to protect those involved in the Plantation of Ulster, the walls held throughout the 1689 Siege of Derry and have never, in fact, been breached.

Amazingly, this remarkable, roughly mile-long structure is still pretty much entirely intact, something I’m told is unique in the British Isles and of note even internationally, yet walking the perimeter doesn’t feel like stepping through past (which is the case in cities like Girona) or onto a relic that, like Edinburgh Castle, has been maintained primarily as a tourist attraction.

The Walls of Derry are historic, but they’re not trapped by that history. During my short visit, it seemed to me that the same is true of the city itself.

In the final episode of Derry Girls, we see the characters confront the realities of peace when they take part in the Good Friday Agreement referendum. We don’t see how anyone votes, but we all know what happened next.

The Derry Girls mural. (Image: James McEnaney)

As she wrestles with her feelings, Erin asks her Granda Joe what happens if it fails – what if they vote for peace, in a place so deeply scarred by conflict, with all the implications for all of those who suffered, and “it doesn’t even work?”

“And what if it does?” he replies. “What if no one else has to die? What if all this becomes a ghost story you’ll tell your weans one day? A ghost story they’ll hardly believe.”

I think they might find it hard to believe now.

Information on accommodation and attractions is available from Visit Derry.