I’m back! No post last night, it would have interfered in my New Year’s Eve pub adventure. The last two days were spent in County Derry, in the town of Derry. Disclaimer: This post is political in nature, as Derry is ground zero of the “Troubles,” in Ireland.
Steven and I spent New Year’s Eve in an Irish pub on Waterloo Street in downtown Derry. It was a Republic bar (Irish not British), we arrived about 10:00pm and the traditional music was just beginning. At the very first hint of a fiddle, the crowd became electrified and began stamping their feet and revving up. It was great to see that there was no apparent age break for the love of the music. The young and the old alike were excited with the coming music. Steven and I drank and sang along with the songs we knew until the strike of mid night. I almost missed the New Year; I was in the bathroom and in true Irish fashion, the girl in the next stall shared the last 6 squares of the toilet paper with me. After ringing in the New Year, we headed out, on foot back to our B&B just outside “Bogside.” Bogside is also known as “Free Derry.”
The B&B, “Rosemont Park,” is just outside the “Bog,” across the street from the largest Catholic Church in Derry. The owner, Thomas, told tales of the days during the “Troubles” and past conflicts in the neighborhood. Across the street from the 19th century home was a British Battalion Armory. It seems that the armory was bombed often in the 70’s and 80’s by the IRA, there are still parts missing from the ceiling. Upon our arrival we were joined by one of Thomas’ childhood friends. As a boy in the 70’s his family had owned the local dairy. He told the tales of his milk bottles being taken for “jelly bombs” used by the IRA to defend themselves from the British officers. The city is still divided, but there seems to be a cautious peace.
Derry is the last completely walled city in the world (video), we walked the entire wall, mom too! The city is the place where most of the violence during the “Troubles” occurred. Some history: Derry is the name used by the Irish when referring to the town and Londonderry is the named used by the British loyalists. This important fact is the basis for the “Troubles” in this lovely Town. Derry is the site of “Bloody Sunday,” (I know the song by U2 too). “Bloody Sunday, sometimes called the Bogside Massacre, was an incident on 30 January 1972 in the Bogside area of Derry, Northern Ireland, in which twenty-six unarmed civil-rights protesters and bystanders were shot by soldiers of the British Army. Thirteen males, seven of whom were teenagers, died immediately or soon after, while the death of another man four-and-a-half months later was attributed to the injuries he received on that day. Two protesters were also injured when they were run down by army vehicles. Five of those wounded were shot in the back. The incident occurred during a Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association march,” for the Irish civil rights movement (the right for the Irish to vote in North Ireland). Derry is now the site of 12 murals depicting the “Troubles.” (See photos). The murals include those representing: Bloody Sunday and the Hunger Strikes of the Irish political prisoners, including Bobby Sands, who refused to wear general inmate jumpers, when they were political prisoners, not in the general population. History: “Robert Gerard "Bobby" (9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was an Irish volunteer of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and member of the United Kingdom Parliament who died on hunger strike while imprisoned in HM Prison Maze. He was the leader of the 1981 hunger strike in which Irish republican prisoners protested against the removal of Special Category Status.”
Steven and I were both in love with Derry. This little town and all its history of the struggles of a people only wanting independence from Great Britain, like the much of the world has at one point.
We are now in County Sligo, in the small town of Ballymote. This is known as “Yeats” country. Tomorrow we will see some monolithic monuments, olds churches, graveyards, and I’m certain more than one pub. Our drive down the coast was remarkable today; the power of the North Atlantic Ocean is breathtaking. We had lunch in a little tavern where Yeats used to write some of his poems, and drank. We plan a relaxed morning and then we will head off again. We are at this B&B for two nights; it gives mom a chance to recharge her batteries. Logging off, until tomorrow
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