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mostly painted between 1997 and 2001, commemorate key events in the Troubles, including the Battle of the Bogside, Bloody Sunday, Operation Motorman (the British Army’s operation to re-take IRA-controlled no-go areas in Derry and Belfast in July 1972) and the 1981 hunger strike. The most powerful images are those painted largely in monochrome, consciously evoking journalistic imagery – Operation Motorman, showing a British soldier breaking down a door with a sledgehammer; Bloody Sunday, with a group of men led by local priest Father Daly carrying the body of Jackie Duddy (the first fatality on that day); and Petrol Bomber, a young boy wearing a gas mask and holding a petrol bomb.

The most moving image is The Death of Innocence, which shows the radiant figure of 14-year-old schoolgirl Annette McGavigan, killed in crossfire between the IRA and the British Army on 6 September 1971, the 100th victim of the Troubles. Representing all the children who died in the conflict, she stands against the brooding chaos of a bombed-out building, the roof beams forming a crucifix in the top right-hand corner. At the left, a downward-pointing rifle, broken in the middle, stands for the failure of violence, while the butterfly symbolises resurrection and the hope embodied in the peace process.

The final mural in the sequence, completed in 2004, is the Peace Mural, a swirling image of a dove (symbol of peace, and also of Derry’s patron saint, Columba), rising out of the blood and sadness of the past towards the sunny yellow hope of a peaceful future.

The People’s Gallery & Studio (Map; 7137 3842; www.bogsideartists.com; cnr Rossville St & William St; admission free; 9am-6pm daily) opened in 2008 on ‘Aggro Corner’, the street intersection once notorious as the kicking-off point for confrontations between Bogsiders and security forces. It provides an exhibition space for local and international artists, and runs art workshops for young people. You can buy prints of the murals, and the Bogside Artists themselves are usually in residence – they are happy to sign books and posters, and offer guided tours of the murals (see opposite).

The murals can be seen online at www.cain.ulst.ac.uk/bogsideartists, and in the book The People’s Gallery (available from the gallery shop and the artists’ website).

THE WATERSIDE

Across the river from the walled city lies the largely Protestant Waterside district. At the height of the Troubles, many Protestants living in and around the Bogside moved across the river to escape the worst of the violence.

Here you’ll find the Workhouse Museum (Map; 7131 8328; 23 Glendermott Rd; admission free; 10am-5pm Mon-Thu & Sat), housed in Derry’s original 1840–1946 workhouse. Daily life at the workhouse for the 800 inmates was designed to encourage them to leave as soon as possible, alive or dead. One of the exhibits is the grisly horse-drawn hearse used to carry away the corpses.

Other displays cover the Potato Famine, while the excellent Atlantic Memorial exhibition tells the story of the WWII Battle of the Atlantic and the major role that Derry played.

Walking Tour

You can make a complete circuit of Derry’s walled city, walking along the top of the walls, in around 30 minutes. There are frequent sets of steps where you can get on and off.

This walk starts from the Diamond, Derry’s central square, dominated by the war memorial (1).

From the Diamond, head along Butcher St to Butcher’s Gate (2). At the height of the Troubles the gate reverted to its original, 17th-century role, serving as a security checkpoint controlling entry to the city centre from the Bogside. Turn right before the gate and climb the steps up onto the top of the city walls.

Stroll downhill across Castle Gate (3), added in 1865, to Magazine Gate (4), named for the powder magazine that used to be close by. Inside the walls is the modern O’Doherty’s Tower (5), based on a 16th-century castle that once stood nearby. It houses the excellent Tower Museum (6; Click here). Outside the walls is the red-brick, neo-Gothic Guildhall (7; Click here).

The River