A Visit to Derry

If you are in Northern Ireland, you would be remiss if you did not visit Derry. Most people know Derry as Londonderry, however, the process is in place to officially change the name back to Derry.

Derry is a pretty city. The violence that was there twenty years ago is almost a thing of the past. The people are working hard to overcome the feelings that caused the violence and they are doing a good job of it. They are not completely finished the process yet, but they are getting there.

Derry was a city that was divided along religious lines. It was the Catholics against the Protestants but as the younger generation grew to become adults, they did not understand why there were such problems. As most people are aware, many of the younger generation do not go to Church and even those that do have no idea why the fighting went on for so long.

The people of Derry are working out their differences and both sides of the conflict want the violence to end. Housing for the working class is becoming equalized for both Protestants and Catholics. Job opportunities no longer specify religious preference. Stores cater to all.

The people are also being cautious. There is a wall in one of the areas of Derry that separates homes of the Protestants from homes of the Catholics. The people on both sides of the wall were asked if they wanted the wall to come down. People on both sides said no because they don’t want to chance an outbreak of violence. This wall is not the only wall that is in Derry.

The location of the barracks for the military also has a wall that was meant to help protect the British Army. Some of the guns are still in position but these are older cannons that do not get fired. We had the opportunity to walk along the top of the wall in Derry and you can see that it was strategically placed. It also provides a pleasant walk on a nice spring evening.

When you look over the city of Derry, you can see where the churches are and the amount of land that Derry occupies. One of the pictures that I took looked like the fog had rolled in and that it was quite dense. About ten minutes later, we looked out the window and the view was sharp except for one area in the distance. Ten minutes after that, you could see rain falling nearby but the whole view was clear. It was the rain that caused the view to look like it was affected by fog.

The Irish have a saying, “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.”