Londonderry
Derry Irish: Doire Cholm Cille or Doire Calgaigh is the second largest city in Northern Ireland (after Belfast) and the fourth largest city on the island of Ireland (after Dublin, Belfast and Cork. The population is about 100,000. The city was founded in 542. It has old city walls which are still complete. The city is in County Londonderry, near the border with the Republic of Ireland's County Donegal.
History
The city was originally called Doire (pronounced duhruh) which is an Irish word for a group of oak trees. In English, this word became "Derry". After the Ulster Plantations, the London Companies gave money for the building of the Port and Walls in Derry.
In 1984 the city council changed the name of the local government area back to its original title of Derry but the city's official name is still Londonderry.[1]
People from the Republic of Ireland call the city Derry. Many people (mostly Catholics/republicans) from Northern Ireland also call it Derry. Many people from Northern Ireland who want Northern Ireland to stay in the UK call the city Londonderry.
Londonderry Media
Road sign in Northern Ireland with the reference to London obscured
Road signs in the Republic of Ireland use Derry and the Irish Doire.
Unionist graffiti c. 1920 showing the short version of the name.
A portion of the city walls of Derry
Bishops Street Gate Derry
St Columb's Cathedral
Map of County Londonderry, 1837
The war memorial in The Diamond, erected 1927
Bogside area viewed from the walls
"Free Derry Corner" at the corner of Lecky Road and Fahan Street in the Bogside. The slogan was first painted in January 1969 by John Casey.
