Londonderry Facts
Fact 1: St. Columb's Cathedral in Londonderry was built in 1628 and consecrated in 1634. It is the first Protestant cathedral to be built in Europe since the Reformation. The cathedral houses the earliest church bell in Ireland and many of the relics from the 1688-1689 city siege. The cathedral's stained glass windows tell the story of the siege.
Fact 2: Londonderry's Old City walls were built during the early 1600's in order to protect the new English colonists. It is the only completely walled city in Ireland. The plans for the city were developed by the city of London, and it was granted a charter in 1613 and given the name Londonderry. During 1688-1689, the city withstood 105 days of siege by King James II's army. Today, the wall remains intact and offers a one-mile circuit that provides many good views of the city.
Fact 3: Built in the eighteenth century, Downhill Castle was the Earl-Bishop of Derry's palace. The meticulous grounds include lakes, ornamental gardens, and neoclassical buildings. Mussenden Temple, which is the library of the Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry, Frederick Hervey, is the most famous landmark of the castle.
Fact 4: Located on the Foyle River on the North Coast of Northern Ireland, Londonderry is the chief town of County Londonderry. Prior to 1613, when the city was granted to the city of London for colonization, it was called Derry. Today, some folks still refer to the city by this name.
Fact 5: Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo, brought her plane down in Ballyarnet in 1932. The city lies just three miles from Londonderry and is home to the Amelia Earhart Cottage.
Fact 6: Magilligan Strand is the longest beach in Ireland. The shore sweeps out to Magilligan Point, where the shingles of the beach become pure sand. However, it is the magnificent Benone Strand that received the European Blue Flag Award. The beach is hundreds of yards wide at low tide and is especially popular for bass fishing.
Fact 7: Derry is one of the longest continuously inhabited places in Ireland. The earliest historical references date to the sixth century AD when a monastery was founded here. However, for thousands of years before, people had lived in the area. Traces of these prehistoric people have been found in various archaeological sites in the area.
Fact 8: The name Derry is derived from the old Irish word Daire, which means an oak grove on an island totally or partially surrounded by water. The original oak grove that gave its name to the city was located on a small hill that was formerly an island on the River Foyle. The channel that ran along the western side of the island eventually dried out and left a marshy area behind. In time, this area became known as the Bogside and is one of the best-known areas of the city today.
Fact 9: Foyle Valley Railway Museum contains many examples of locomotives, signal levers, and other railway hardware used in the northwest region of Ireland during the early 1900's. It was at this time that Londonderry was the center of railway communications for the area.
Fact 10: During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the port of Derry became an important embarkation point where Irish emigrants left for America. Some of these people founded the colonies of Derry and Londonderry in the state of New Hampshire!
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