I’m not a big TV or movie person — but my friends are constantly recommending things for me to watch. Most of the time, they know I’m never going to do it. (But if I do watch something of my own accord and suggest it to them, I expect them to drop whatever they’re doing and start watching immediately.)
But a few summers ago, when Matt and I were visiting my two besties from college for a long weekend, one of them suggested: Let’s watch Derry Girls. Both of them had recommended it to me in the past and I had resisted watching, per usual. But this time I had no choice. And within two minutes of starting the show, the clever opening scene with the background of “Dreams” by The Cranberries (who else?) had me hooked. We watched the next episode, and the next… and soon we had finished the entirety of both seasons that had been released to that point. It would be more than a year before the third and final season was released, which Matt and I dutifully binged at home as soon as it came out.
Fast forward to our most recent trip to Ireland a few weeks ago. After meeting up with our Irish friends Sarah and Kelan in County Donegal (thanks to the Bus Eireann Expressway), we spent one night in Bundoran and two nights in Falcarragh. After exploring County Donegal for a few days, our plan was to continue on to Belfast — but considering the driving route literally passed through Derry, there was no way we were going to miss the chance to visit.
Whether you’ve watched Derry Girls or not, I still think it’s worth it to visit Derry on your trip to Northern Ireland. So, here’s what you need to know before your visit to Derry. (Though I might still try to convince you to watch the show before your trip!)
Is it Derry or Londonderry?
So, the *technical* name of the city is Londonderry — not Derry. However, I choose to call it Derry throughout this post for a couple of reasons.
First, this city was not on my radar at all until I watched Derry Girls. If the show had been called “Londonderry Girls,” I probably would have adopted that nomenclature instead. Second, Sarah and Kelan are from the Republic of Ireland and they call it Derry, and they’re my friends so I do whatever they do. Yeah, if they jumped off a bridge, I’d jump off too. Or if they said “We’re going swimming in the frigid Irish Sea four times this week when it’s barely warmer outside than the water,” I would do it, no questions asked. (Not that I speak from experience.)
A Very Simplistic History of Northern Ireland and The Troubles
As a quick refresher, Northern Ireland is geographically on the island of Ireland. But politically, it is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom, along with England, Scotland, and Wales. The rest of Ireland — not including Northern Ireland — is known as the Republic of Ireland, which is its own country.
From roughly the late 1960s until 1998, Ireland and Northern Ireland were involved in a conflict called “The Troubles,” which was largely related to Northern Ireland’s relationship with the United Kingdom. The unionists, or loyalists, were those in Northern Ireland who wanted to be part of the UK. On the other side of the conflict were the nationalists, or republicans, who lived in Northern Ireland but wanted to be united with the Republic of Ireland. These affiliations fell pretty directly along religious lines as well, with unionists typically identifying as Ulster Protestants, while nationalists identified as Irish Catholic.
Northern Ireland was officially formed in 1921 but conditions were dismal for the Catholics living there — they often faced discrimination in housing, the job market, and voting. As the civil rights movement in the United States picked up steam in the 1960s, it seems to have inspired similar protests and marches in Northern Ireland. When the British army was deployed to get things under control, it only escalated tensions — and violence.
Over the next 30 years, a variety of paramilitary groups on both sides of the conflict fought, killing each other — and often killing innocent civilians as well. Terrorist attacks spread throughout Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and even in England. Paramilitary leaders were jailed, went on hunger strikes, died or were released or escaped. More than 3,500 people were killed as a direct result of The Troubles.
Why Is Derry So Important?
After Belfast, Derry is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland. And it was one of the biggest hotspots for conflict when it came to The Troubles.
In the early 1960s, Derry was a majority Catholic city despite being part of Northern Ireland. But remember how I mentioned above that Catholics were discriminated against when it came to voting? Derry was gerrymandered to the extent that all elected politicians were from the Protestant/unionist minority. Which meant that the local population had basically no representation in government. (Shout out to the U.S. for doing the same thing in so many places these days.)
In August 1969, a three-day riot that took place in Derry pretty much officially kicked off what came to be known as The Troubles. The riot, also known as the Battle of the Bogside, started as a conflict between a parade group celebrating the unionist/Protestant identity, which felt provocative to Catholics as it passed by their nationalist neighborhood of Bogside. When clashes broke out between the two groups, the local police (mostly Protestant) got involved, leading to increased violence between all groups.
As a result of the riots, British military forces were called to Northern Ireland for the first time. Many Catholics were hopeful that the soldiers would help protect them from biased policing and violence. Rather than leaving when the riots ended, the British Army would become a permanent fixture in Northern Ireland throughout the 30-year duration of The Troubles — and beyond.
A few years later, on January 30, 1972, Derry was the site of yet another major turning point in The Troubles. During a civil rights march by Catholic protestors, British soldiers shot 26 unarmed civilians — killing 14. The march had been a protest against internment without trial. When the government of the United Kingdom launched an investigation, they concluded there could be no blame placed on the British soldiers, in typical “We’ve investigated ourselves and found no wrongdoing” fashion.
However, “Bloody Sunday” as it came to be known, kicked off an escalation in conflict between the unionist and the nationalist groups. And Derry had cemented its place as one of the major battlegrounds for the duration of The Troubles.
Things To Do In Derry
Alright, sooooo I didn’t realize this article was going to be so much history and politics when I sat down to start writing it. But I was finding it impossible to accurately write about Derry at all — or explain why Derry is so important — without any of that historical/political context.
Historical Derry
Let’s set aside the particular history of The Troubles for a moment. Derry has plenty of other history dating centuries back, much of which is accessible to learn about and experience, even if you only have a few hours in the city like we did.
We started at the Visitor Information Centre, where Sarah took charge of talking to the information desk worker while the rest of us fan-girled over all the cute Derry Girls souvenirs. Within a few minutes, Sarah had acquired a map of the city and a plan. So we set off for our first stop — the Derry Guildhall.
The Guildhall is free to enter, and inside we found an exhibit about the Plantation of Ulster. While I wasn’t super interested in reading all the panels about crops and whatnot (I know, I’m a bad Midwesterner), it did help illustrate how the conflicts between the Irish and the British go back centuries. In the early 1600s, King James I sent Protestant settlers from England and Scotland to colonize Ulster (a province that is today’s Northern Ireland), displacing native Irish Catholic populations. The colonizers who stayed in Ulster became the ancestors of the unionists, and the displaced native Irish became the ancestors of the nationalists.
So, related to the Plantation of Ulster, is another of Derry’s most iconic sights: the Walls of Derry. These walls were originally constructed between 1613 and 1619 as a way to protect the English and Scottish planters who had moved to Ulster — because the Plantation’s previous settlement had been destroyed by a native Irish chieftain in 1608. Due to the fact that a consortium of companies from London had been in charge of the Derry Walls’ construction, the city was officially renamed “Londonderry” in 1613.
These days, the Walls of Derry are exceedingly-well preserved and visitors can walk along the roughly one-mile circumference of the walls surrounding the old city. In fact, they are the only complete circuit of walls on the entire island and one of the best examples of a walled city remaining in all of Europe. Plus, you get some really amazing views of Derry and the surrounding areas. It doesn’t take long to walk along the whole thing, so don’t miss out.
Political Derry
Now that you’ve had an introduction to — or refresher on — The Troubles, we can get into the political things you’ll want to see in Derry. During our visit, we took the stairs down from Butcher Gate on the west side of the Walls, which brought us to the famous Bogside neighborhood. Yep, the same Bogside that was the namesake of the Battle of the Bogside in 1969.
This is one of the most interesting neighborhoods in all of Derry. First of all, you’re greeted by a mural stating “You Are Now Entering Free Derry,” and so the surrounding area is called Free Derry Corner. The declaration and painting the of “Free Derry” mural actually pre-dates the Battle of the Bogside by several months, but it goes to show how tensions were building in the time leading up to the riots. Since 1969, the mural has been professionally re-painted several times, including recently with a yellow background for sarcoma awareness, and with the background of the flag of Palestine to show solidarity.
Speaking of murals, the People’s Gallery of Murals is another can’t-miss, and Free Derry Corner is a great place to start. On the walls of the buildings in the Bogside neighborhood, there are 12 large murals that tell the story of the Bogside experience during The Troubles. The murals were painted between 1994 and 2006 by three local artists. While we were in the Visitor Information Centre, we’d taken a flyer about the murals which helped guide our visit and shared a little bit about the meaning behind each one.
Also in front of Free Derry Corner is a green space with memorials and billboards for the republican cause. With more than 70% of Derry’s population identifying as Catholic, it makes sense that the nationalist perspective is more represented in the city — we didn’t really see any comparable displays of unionist pride. But stay tuned for my next post about Belfast and how both sides are well represented there.
Derry Girls’ Derry
Derry Girls obviously takes place in Derry, and the first season is set in 1994 — so a few years before The Troubles would “officially” end. I didn’t know much at all about The Troubles before watching, and while the show teaches you quite a bit, it’s still through the perspective of goofy teenagers with their own teenage problems. However, Derry Girls still illustrates how the nearly 30 years of conflict impacts the characters’ everyday lives. If you haven’t watched, here’s a funny clip from Season 2 when the main characters — Catholic girls — are sent to a camp with Protestant boys, which is called “Friends Across the Barricade.”
If you have watched Derry, you know what a good show it is. So if you’re in Derry, you there are a couple of key places you’ll probably want to visit!
First up, of course, is the Derry Girls Mural. You can find it on the side of Badgers Bar and Restaurant, also easily seen from the Ferryquay Gate area of the Walls of Derry. The mural, which was originally painted in 2019, now has an awning cutting through the bottom half, but it’s still definitely worth seeing.
Next, you can check out a few locations around town where certain scenes were filmed. We went to St. Augustine’s Church, where a funeral scene from the show took place. On Orchard Row/St. Columbs Wells, you’ll find where Erin and her friends chased Toto through Bishop’s Gate, flanked by soldiers. And on the show, the girls seem to have lived near Limewood Street, where several shots were filmed.
And Derry Girl fans absolutely cannot miss the Tower Museum, which costs £6 for adults. While the museum houses a dark and dimly-lit permanent exhibition about “The Story of Derry,” we were far more interested in the Derry Girls Experience, where you could see original memorabilia from the show, like Erin’s bedroom and the Quinns’ kitchen table. You can even see a certain “Child of Prague” statue that makes an appearance in Season 2. 😉
And there are plenty of Derry Girls souvenirs at the Tower Museum as well. 🙂
Final Thoughts on Visiting Derry
While we were only able to spend a few hours in Derry, the palpable sense of history in the city helped me understand more about The Troubles and the current relationship between Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Watching Derry Girls turned out to be my entry point into Ireland’s history, but I’ve been able to continue learning through books (like Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe) and now my own travels as well! And there’s something so magical about getting to experience history for yourself.
Plan Your Visit to Derry
Best Hotels in Derry/Londonderry: Derry Hotels
Top Things To Do in Derry: Private Guided Walking Tour in Derry City // Derry City: The Troubles Bogside Walking Tour // The Bloody Sunday Story – Walking Tour // Derry City Walls History Walking Tour Experiences
Have you ever watched Derry Girls or considered a visit to Derry? What have you learned about The Troubles through your own research or experiences? Let me know in the comments!
-Cathy
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