Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [567]
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WALK FACTS
Start The Diamond
Finish The Diamond
Distance 2km
Duration 30 to 40 minutes
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The walls then turn southwest and begin a steep climb beside the modern Millennium Forum (9; Click here) theatre and concert venue. At the top of the hill is the Ferryquay Gate (10), where the apprentice boys barred the gate at the start of the Great Siege of 1688–89. In those days there would have been a drawbridge as well as a padlock on the gate. Both padlock and key can be seen in the chapter house of St Columb’s Cathedral.
Above the gate is the image of the Reverend George Walker. Below, in the arches to either side, are metal rings; these were used to tether horses, which were not allowed into the inner city on market days.
The stretch of wall beyond overlooks the Fountain housing estate (11), the last significant Protestant community on the western bank of the Foyle (the vast majority of Derry’s Protestants have moved across the river to the Waterside area or further afield). The round, brick-paved area on the ground outside New Gate is where a 10m-high bonfire is lit on the night before the annual Apprentice Boys’ march.
Bishop’s Gate (12), which bisects the southern flank of the wall, was rebuilt in 1789 for the 100th anniversary of the Great Siege. Bishop Harvey, a keen antiquarian, had a hand in the reconstruction and requested a triumphal arch in honour of King William I. During the Great Siege, it was here that King James II demanded the surrender of the city.
Outside the gate on Bishop St Without is the one remaining turret of the 1791 Old Gaol (13). Theobald Wolfe Tone, founder of the United Irishmen, spent some time in prison here following the failed rebellion of 1798.
The Double Bastion (14) at the southwestern corner of the walls is home to Roaring Meg, the most famous of the cannons used during the Siege of Derry; the noise it made was said to be more terrifying than any physical damage it managed to inflict.
The next section of wall is known as the Grand Parade, and offers an excellent view over the Bogside estate. The prominent murals on the houses below were painted by the Bogside Artists (see the boxed text, Click here).
An empty plinth on Royal Bastion (15) marks the former site of a monument to the Reverend George Walker, joint governor of the city during the Great Siege. The 27m-tall column, erected in 1826 and seen by local Nationalists as a symbol of Unionist domination, was blown up by the IRA in 1973. The restored statue of Walker now stands in a memorial garden next to the Apprentice Boys’ Memorial Hall.
Behind the Royal Bastion is the 1872 Church of Ireland Chapel of St Augustine (16), built on the site of St Colmcille’s 6th-century monastery. A little further along is the Apprentice Boys’ Memorial Hall (17), its windows protected by steel grilles and splashed with paint bombs hurled from below. Behind it is the grand Corinthian temple of the First Derry Presbyterian Church (18).
Just past the church is the Butcher’s Gate, from where you can return to the Diamond, head down Magazine St to the Tower Museum, or descend Fahan St to the Bogside and the People’s Gallery.
Tours
Bogside Artists Tours (Map; 7137 3842; www.bogsideartists.com; People’s Gallery & Studio, cnr Rossville & William Sts; per person £4; tours start 10am, noon, 2pm & 4pm daily) Guided walking tours of the famous People’s Gallery murals led by the artists themselves. Minimum of five preferred, though singles can tag along with bigger groups. Best to book ahead on the website.
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VOICES: THE BOGSIDE ARTISTS
The Bogside Artists – brothers Will and Tom Kelly, and friend