Derry – Ireland.com County Guides

County Derry

Check out what's happening in Derry City

The Tower museum, bridge over the Foyle and the beach near Mussenden Beach

Derry, or Londonderry as it is also known, was originally named after Columcille's oak grove – Doire being the Gaelic for oak.

London was added to the city and county name in 1608 when the area was granted to a group of London merchants. In modern times it has been dubbed Stroke City in an attempt at diplomacy.

Columcille was an important member of the O'Neill clan and founded a string of monasteries before leaving for Iona off Scotland where he also created a famous monastery.

His poetry bears early testimony to the literary leanings of this county which also inspired playwright Brian Friel (he was educated in the city and worked as a maths teacher in Derry for 10 years), nobel prize winner, poet Seamus Heaney and journalists Eamonn McCann and Nell McCafferty all of whom hail from the county.

It has also produced an impressive crop of musicians ranging from Phil Coulter, who wrote The Town I Loved So Well; Dana, who won Ireland's first Eurovision in 1970 with the saccharine All Kinds of Everything, the tenor Josef Locke and rock stars Neil Hannon of Divine Comedy and Feargal Sharkey, the lead singer of the Undertones.

And special mention must be made of Danny Boy, the world famous Londonderry Air which hails from a Limavady fiddler.

The troubled history of Derry provides rich raw material for artistic discovery.

It was famously under siege in the 17th century and three centuries later it was the site of Bloody Sunday – the flashpoint that started more than thirty years of sectarian trouble in the province.

The city is beautifully dramatic - built in 546 AD on a hill which was originally an island in the river Foyle.

It is the only completely walled city in Ireland and one of the finest examples of its type in Europe.

The modern city preserves the 17th century layout with four main streets radiating from the Diamond to four gates – Bishop's Gate, Ferrygate, Shipquay Gate and Butcher's Gate.