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DERRY CITY |
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DERRY lies at the foot of Lough Foyle, immediately before the border
with the Republic. It's a crossroads city in more ways than one; roads
from all cardinal points arrive here, but it was also a major point of
emigration from the eighteenth century onwards, an exodus which reached
tumultuous proportions during the Great Famine. Derry is the fourth-largest
town in Ireland and the second-biggest in the North, but it has a
markedly different atmosphere from Belfast, being two-thirds Catholic .
While entrances to the city are now marked by signs in Irish welcoming
visitors to Derry, the city still appears as " Londonderry " on many
road maps and signs, a preference adhered to by the British government,
Unionists and television news bulletins, Indeed, it has also acquired
the nickname " Stroke City " - a reference to the tactful placating of
both Nationalist and Unionist traditions by entitling it "Londonderry/Derry"
on signs and in radio and television broadcasts. Whatever, the case,
locals of both persuasions now generally refer to their city as "Derry".
Within Ireland, Derry is highly regarded for both its characteristically
caustic humour - best caught in the busier bars and at the football
matches at the Brandywell - and its musical pedigree, having produced
names as diverse as Dana, Dáithí Sproule (of Altan), Phil Coulter, The
Undertones, and many less famous.
Approached from the east in winter twilight or under a strong summer sun,
the city presents a beguiling picture, with the spread of the River
Foyle and the rise of the city's two hillsides, terraced with pastel-shaded
houses from which rise the hueless stone spires of the ever-present
Church Orders. This scenic appeal apart, at first sight Derry might
appear to offer little cause to linger, for all the richness of its
history. Yet there are several real attractions, mostly enclosed within
the seventeenth-century walls , themselves the most significant reminder
of the city's past. And four miles or so west of the centre, across the
border on the Letterkenny Road, is the unmissable Grianán Ailigh , a
stone fort and the oldest habitation left standing in Ireland.
Outside Ireland, the name of Derry recalls the Troubles of recent years
and savage events like the Bloody Sunday massacre. Nonetheless, under no
circumstances be deterred from visiting, for, unlike Belfast, the
cutting edge of violence had receded considerably here even before the
ceasefires, and the city is still imbued with a real sense of optimism,
despite losing much trade to nearby Letterkenny thanks to the declining
value of the punt against sterling.
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