Derry, Northern, Ireland

View from B & B

View From Walls in Derry

September 4, 2007-A Traveling Day

We had a four-hour drive this morning from Galway. It was a gloomy day and we didn’t mind being in the car. Our car is equipped with a read-out telling average kilometers per hour. Our scenic wanderings yesterday netted 9 mph (I did the conversion for you) and today staying on national highways we made about 39 mph. When we got to N. Ireland the speed limits changed from kilometers to mph. Our speedometer only shows km/hr. I made a conversion table so that when David calls out a speed I tell him its equivalent.

We were amused by stenciled warnings on the road surface saying, “SLOW, SLOW, SLOWER” as if they knew we wouldn’t get it the first time. We also got a charge out of the huge (3500+ square feet) homes in the suburbs that were surrounded by sheep. I’m guessing sheep are more important than cars since these luxurious homes only had one-car detached garages.

I know that the people here love their pets but the advertisements along the road intimate that they may practice voyeurism and cruelty to fish: “freshly battered cod while you watch.”

David wanted to stop at the Shrine of Knock. It is in honor of Our Lady of Knock. We missed the turn and he decided not to turn back. I couldn’t get the song “It’s a Hard Knock Life” from the play and movie Annie out of my head. Maybe it’s good we skipped it.

We were in Yeats country. W.B. Yeats, the writer and his brother J.B., the landscape artist, grew up in Sligo. It’s pastoral countryside and I’m sure it impacted their work. We didn’t stop for lunch since it was too early. We wanted to make Donegal Town, one of the last cities before N. Ireland and spend our Euros. Fodor’s mentioned a combination cyber café and restaurant called the Blueberry Tea Room. It was charming and we got to send your emails. B & Bs don’t generally have WiFi so we’re still hunting for Internet sites in towns.

Derry Town

We had time after our arrival at the B & B in Derry to go into the old walled city and walk on the fortifications that have never been breached. Today the walls dripped rain but they’ve had its share of dripping blood. Londonderry is the British name but Derry is used today. One directional sign had the “London” part blacked out. The walls were built between 1614-18. They’re thirty-feet thick and a mile around.  In 1688 a siege began lasting 105 days when thirteen apprentice boys slammed the gates in the face of the Catholic King James II. The siege was broken and the throne was secured for the Protestant King William III.

The city has had its share of bad times. In 1832 the Workhouse was built as an institution to alleviate poverty. During the famine years 1845-49 many sought passage to America but didn’t have enough money. They applied for aid at the Workhouse where hard labor bought them a bed & food. Families were separated once inside and this was the last time

children saw their parents alive.

Recent history hasn’t been kind to Derry. There’s an alphabet soup of political organizations but it all adds up to strife. From 1969-97 during The Troubles the Republicans (IRA, Sinn Fein) and Unionists (loyal to Great Britain) killed each other to the tune of 3,636 people dead. Now the members of Sinn Fein are firmly installed in the democratic Northern Ireland Assembly.

We ran out of time and St. Columb’s (a Presbyterian cathedral built in 1633) closed before we could get in. It was the place where the man who wrote the song Amazing Grace was inspired after almost sinking at sea and having a bullet pierce his hat while hunting. We’ll stop in tomorrow.

We had dinner at a restaurant/pub (Happy Landings) in Edlinton near our B & B. It had a scruffy pub up front and a fancy restaurant in the back. We made the mistake of walking into the pub and were quickly ushered into the more family oriented rear. The regular menu was elegant but they had an Early Bird menu that went until closing. The offers on that menu were half the price of an entrée on the more extensive regular menu. We got an appetizer and main for what came to $22 each. It didn’t look so bad in pounds at 10.95. David had soup and prime rib; I had the sweetest melon with raspberry coulis and two goat cheese tarts served on salad for a total of $44. I understand that it’s good for our economy when our money has a low foreign exchange rate. We tend to spend more on goods at home but it’s hard on the overseas traveler. Dinner tonight was a good example of how poorly our dollar is doing.

Hi Ho the Derry-O, the Farmer in the Dell. We’re at a farm just outside of Derry in Northern Ireland, formerly called Ulster by the Protestants. Kilennan House, the B & B, is an award winning Victorian three-story country house that has been lovingly restored. The hostess, Averil Campbell, is fastidious to the point of mopping up the entry after David checked in and again as we were carrying in our bags. Her husband takes care of the gardens. They’re beautifully landscaped and manicured. The best part is that we’re surrounded by cows.  Averil said in her thick British accent that they could get loud when looking for their calves. We heard a sample tonight as we were coming in after dinner. I didn’t know cows could be so insistent. She bellowed like crazy and trotted around the pasture until she found her baby.

We’ll finish up Derry tomorrow and make the short drive to the town of Portbalintrae. It’s near the Giant’s Causeway. Don’t know what that is yet.

Toby