Four metres high, over ten metres wide and running approximately
a kilometre and a half long, the Walls of Derry make Derry not only the sole remaining
intact walled city on the island of Ireland but also one of the finest examples
of a fortified town in Europe.
With a distinctive central diamond at its centre, the city was
the first planned city in Ireland and was built between 1613 and 1619 by The Honourable
The Irish Society (no, that’s not a misprint – that’s what they actually called
themselves). Its distinctive city walls were constructed to help defend the city
from Irish insurgents who opposed the plantation.
So formidable were these defences that they managed to withstand
several sieges, including one in 1689 that lasted for more than a hundred days,
earning Derry its nickname, the Maiden City. This nickname is not to be mixed up
with its other nickname, Stroke City, which originates not from the town’s proud
history of heavy petting but due to the political correctness of calling the place
Derry-stroke-Londonderry for much of its troubled history. Fortunately, with the Troubles falling away into the past, the Walls
of Derry, once closed to the public due to the ideal vantage point over the city
they would provide for more than just tourists, have long since reopened. Today,
they now constitute Derry’s most-visited sites and one of Northern Ireland’s favourite
short walks.
If you like the Walls of Derry, here are some other walls in
and outside Ireland you might also enjoy:
- Hadrian’s
Wall: Pretty ineffective wall spanning northern England that failed to keep
out the Scots.
- The
Walls: Irish rock band, coming soon to play a local summer festival near you.
- The Wall Street Journal:
Business newspaper that has everything you need to know about stocks and shares
but lacks a good horoscope and the TV listings.
- Great
Wall of China: Hugely impressive Chinese construction that used to be
known as the only man-made object visible from space, until everyone realised
that it was only as wide as the length of their semi-detached house, which
is definitely not visible from space.
- The Wall:
11th studio album from Pink Floyd. A classic.
- The
Walls of Limerick: Traditional Irish dance that’s a particular favourite of
aunts and visiting tourists.
- The
Wailing Wall: Fun-loving peaceful place in the middle of Jerusalem. Very hard
to miss.
- The
Berlin Wall: Used to separate the part of Berlin where you could find McDonald’s
and the part where you couldn’t.
- Wall-E: Hugely successful and critically-acclaimed science-fiction robot-love-story animation movie. What’s not to like?
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