It’s Not a Conspiracy If It’s On a Plaque: Northern Ireland, Day 5

(Full credit to Lisa for coming up with the post title while we walked the city today. We were walking the walls of Old Derry and reading the signs. Lisa noted that one building was described as having been originally a Bishop’s Palace, then a military barracks, and finally a Freemason’s Hall. “What a string of patriarchal powers,” one of us said. “It’s a conspiracy!” I said. “It’s not a conspiracy it it’s on a plaque” my wife replied, leaden with sullen truth.)

We had a lovely day in Derry/Londonderry, sometimes called “Slash City”, unironically, by locals but this wasn’t how it started. Let’s back up, shall we?

The morning dawned warm and sweaty – if you recall our last post (and if not, welcome to the blog!) our hotel room had some atmospheric issues that we resolved to the best of our ability; which is to say, not all that well. Nevertheless we seemed to get a good night’s rest and sprung up with a renewed sense of correcting for the previous day’s stresses. Lisa had consulted a number of restaurant reviews and her eyes set on a spot in “old Derry” called “Born”. First of all, it was located in what I couldn’t help but think of as “Irish Queen Anne”, which will only make sense to Seattle folks. It was a lovely neighborhood with a lot of families and small shops, and the food was quite good. Also, the breakfast was legit, both the Irish and the American-inspired varieties. I know it’s starting to sound like we’re those jerk tourists who just want American food, but really nothing could be farther from the truth. It’s just that, having been divorced from it for roughly nine months, suddenly having access to buttermilk pancakes with syrup is a real treat.

Mildly amusing moment – while sorting out our agenda over breakfast, we had a mild kerfluffle because we were looking for something called the “Craft Village” but google maps kept taking us back to where our car was parked. One of us cottoned to the issue before the other (no reason to name names) but eventually we both realized that we had serendipitously parked right next to the Craft Village without even noticing. Probably, we were distracted by my having to parallel park, on a hill, with everything being backwards. Turned out really well on the first try, by the way thankyewverymuch.

So, breakfast over, we start to head for the sights of old Derry, particularly the Walls. And now let us speak as succinctly as possible about the history of this fine city. (Note: all facts are as recalled by a tourist after reading them once. Writing a paper? Go get a book.) In 1689 James I was about to invade the city. (Ringing any bells? We’ll circle back in a minute.) Thanks to the quick thinking of 13 apprentice boys of Derry the gates of the city were shut before James could arrive and a siege instead ensued. It lasted for 9(?) months before being lifted, James never having breached the city. The city’s relief came in August of 1690. Guilds/clubs called “Apprentice Boys” (not youth organizations, despite the name) sprang up in 1814, and the parades started a little later.

So what’s up for real?

The whole William of Orange vs. James I thing was not memorialized like this for more than a hundred years. However, it was retroactively latched on to by Protestants for the potent symbolism, i.e. “Protestant king beats Catholic king” and since then history surrounding those campaigns has been … well, I was going to say “fetishized” but that sounds judge-y…. on the other hand I can’t think of a better word. Just like the bonfires in Belfast, this Apprentice Boys parade is a huge event that draws plenty of Protestants AND Catholics, who run counterpoint events over in Republican Derry areas. And I told you ALL of that to explain a) why we couldn’t get a better hotel room, and b) to tell you that we saw a bunch of things about the siege of Derry today and a lot of it is fraught.

Before we even did the walls, though, for logistical reasons we first went to “the People’s Gallery” just outside the walls. Numerous buildings in this area have murals depicting pro-Republican images; Bobby Sands, Bloody Sunday etc… The message on the wall in the image, “You Are Now Entering Free Derry” has been there since 1969, dating back to a period of about 3 years when a portion of Derry was barricaded against British soldiers. The neighborhood was then and still is a Catholic stronghold; the median in the street has giant memorials to the hunger strikers (martyred IRA members). Fair warning, if I explain every reference in detail I’ll never go to bed, so I am not going to. There are also symbolic trees from around Ireland and also, more recently, an olive tree from Palestine. (Some Republican Irish relate themselves to the Palestinians and a lot of cross-pollination goes on there.) It really is a striking area, between the memorials and the mural art the place has a real air to it. One interesting note: London/Derry at this point skews widely towards the Protestants and Republicanism, and the Catholics (despite the Apprentice Boys pomp and circumstance) are actually a clear minority in the city. It makes for odd vibes – ostensibly the Republicans are the oppressed people in Northern Ireland, but this is undeniably their town. I have thoughts, but I also don’t assume I can solve an issue that so many have failed to do, so on we move.

After rummaging Bogside for a bit we trundled back up the hill and on to the Walls of Derry. I am not entirely certain how much is original work, well-maintained, and how much is restoration, but they are in great shape. They encompass a relatively small portion of modern Derry, but are still pretty massive. Numerous churches and other important structures were built right up against them, so walking the walls get you both good views of the city and a quick rota of historical points of interest. Once again the Presbyterians rear their most honored heads; Presbyterian leaders were at the forefront of the defense of the city in 1689-90, and were rewarded with prime land for a meeting house as a result. “Oh no, we couldn’t,” would be the response if my elders are anything to go by, before a quick “well since you insist, I can picture the walls going up over here, probably white paint” and so on. Numerous cannons (Note the double nn) still exist from the period and are placed where they would have been, with excellent fields of view in all directions. No wonder James couldn’t take the place. Well, cannons plus he was Cat- never mind, this place is starting to get to me. All in all, walking the Walls is a lovely way to both see the city and get up close looks at some impressive old buildings.

After the Walls we did in fact find the Craft Village, which turned out to be an artist collective where a side street-cum-alley is dressed up like a small village high street. It’s somewhat twee but is also a charming spot full of local craftspeople selling their wares. If you like gathering up a tchotchke or three when you travel I’d say this is ground zero for your shopportunities. Alas, we were visiting on Sunday and many of the shops were closed, but it was still fun to take a stroll round and window-graze. That done, it was back to the car and, double alas, back to our hotel room. Another day older and wiser, we still could not manage the warmth of the room. We did step out for awhile to a lovely dinner at Browns in Town. Capsule review: “A” for inventiveness, “B/B-” for actual fooding. Side note: another parallel parking success! Maybe we should get a right-driving car for forever! (This is very funny humor, hee hee ho ho.) Fat and happy, we got back and packed ourselves up, ready to be out of the hotbox and on to our next adventure.

Dear Lord I’m getting good at these. Even if you don’t call them cliffhangers.