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Derry's walls were originally built by the Irish Society between 1613 and 1619, under the supervision of the London builder and
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Peter Benson. They were built with the intention of protecting the Scottish and English planters that had moved to Ulster as part of the
Plantation of Ulster The Plantation of Ulster ( gle, Plandáil Uladh; Ulster-Scots: ''Plantin o Ulstèr'') was the organised colonisation ('' plantation'') of Ulstera province of Irelandby people from Great Britain during the reign of King James I. Most of th ...
that had been established by
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) *James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) *James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu *James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334–13 ...
. It was a direct consequence of the previous settlement being destroyed by Irish chieftain
Cahir O'Doherty Sir Cahir O'Doherty ( ga, Cathaoir Ó Dochartaigh or ga, label=none, Caṫaoir Ó Doċartaiġ; 1587–5 July 1608) was the last Gaelic Chief of the Name of Clan O'Doherty and Lord of Inishowen, in what is now County Donegal. O'Doherty was a ...
during O'Doherty's rebellion. As a result of the building of the city's defences by the Irish Society, which was a consortium of livery companies based out of the City of
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the city was officially renamed Londonderry in the 1613 royal charter. This is what has subsequently led to the naming dispute for the city and county of Derry/Londonderry. The walls are at the centre of the historic city of
Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...
and within them are a number of Derry's most important landmarks including the Apprentice Boy's Hall and St. Columb's Cathedral (the first ever purpose-built Protestant Cathedral).


History


Siege of Derry

The Siege of Derry was the first major conflict that occurred during the
Williamite War in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...
. It began when 13 apprentices took the keys for the city's gates and locked them against the advancing forces of the
Earl of Antrim Earl of Antrim is a title that has been created twice, both times in the Peerage of Ireland and both times for members of the MacDonnell family, originally of Scottish origins. History The MacDonells of Antrim descended from Sorley Boy MacDo ...
who were loyal to James II. As Antrim did not have enough men to lay siege to the city, he retreated to
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from ga, Cúil Rathain , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, Northern ...
. On 18 April 1689, the siege would begin in earnest when forces loyal to the king arrived and ordered the city to surrender. Soon James himself would also arrive and ask the city to surrender, but the city refused. The siege would continue until 1 August when ships carrying food and supplies broke through the boom across the River Foyle and relieved the city. The fact that the city's walls have never been breached gave rise to one of its nicknames; the Maiden City.


The Troubles

When the Apprentice Boys March that commemorated the closing of the gates passed through the city in August 1969, some threw pennies from the city walls towards the Catholic majority
Bogside The Bogside is a neighbourhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland. The large gable-wall murals by the Bogside Artists, Free Derry Corner and the Gasyard Féile (an annual music and arts festival held in a former gasyard) are pop ...
. The march was already seen as provocative to many of the city's Catholic population and, along with the tension that had already been building, rioting broke out that turned into the
Battle of the Bogside The Battle of the Bogside was a large three-day riot that took place from 12 to 14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Thousands of Catholic/Irish nationalist residents of the Bogside district, organised under the Derry Citizens' Defence ...
. For most of the Troubles, the walls were closed off to the general public. However, in August 1973 an IRA bomb was detonated on the walls in a successful effort to destroy the Walker Monument. The monument was a 100 ft column and statue of siege hero, Governor George Walker that had been erected in 1828. Especially given its prominence facing the Bogside, many nationalists found it an offensive symbol of Protestant ascendancy, hence why the IRA targeted it for destruction. The section of the wall that contained the monument remained closed, until it was reopened in 2010 (although the column and statue have never been rebuilt).


Layout

The walls are about 1 mile in circumference and contain many of the city's most important landmarks. The entire length of the walls is fully accessible on foot. There are seven gates in total, four of which were built at the same time as the walls themselves and three were added later. * Ferryquay gate is one of the original four gates and gave access to the ferry quay on the
River Foyle The River Foyle () is a river in west Ulster in the northwest of the island of Ireland, which flows from the confluence of the rivers Finn and Mourne at the towns of Lifford in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland, and Strabane in Co ...
. This was the first gate to be closed by the Apprentice Boys during the siege of Derry. * Shipquay gate is one of the original four gates and originally gave near-direct access to the River Foyle, before the land that became the Guildhall was reclaimed from the River. * Bishop's gate is one of the original four gates. The original gate was replaced with a triumphal arch in 1789. * Butcher's gate is one of the original four gates and was named for the street immediately inside the walls where many of the city's butchers were based. * New gate was built in the 1790s and reinforced during the tensions that lead to the 1798 United Irish rebellion. * Castle gate was built between 1805 and 1808. * Magazine gate is the most recent gate to be added, being built in 1888 and giving access directly to the riverfront.


Cannons

The walls are lined with 22 cannons from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, other cannons can be found displayed elsewhere in the city. Derry boasts the largest collection of cannons whose precise origins are known, with many of them being used during the Siege of Derry. In 2005, 24 of the cannons (including two displayed at Brook Hall) were restored to their former glory, with the famous ' Roaring Meg' located at the double bastion near Bishop gate.


References

{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Derry (city) History of Derry (city) City walls in the United Kingdom Walls in Northern Ireland