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Derry

Derry

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | Copyright

Derry, or Londonderry (Ir. Doire, ‘place of the oaks’), Northern Ireland, commanding the west bank of the Foyle estuary. The site of a monastery founded by Colum Cille, which was destroyed by the Vikings, modern Derry was founded by Sir Henry Docwra in 1600. The charter granted to London companies in 1613 (see ulster plantation) allowed the prefix ‘London’ to be added: Londonderry remains the official name of the city, and is preferred by unionists. Although the nationalist majority changed the name of the local authority to Derry city council in 1978, the British government refused permission to change the name of the city itself.

Derry's formidable stone walls, completed in 1618, mark it out as the last fortified city to be built in western Europe. During the Williamite War Protestant resistance to the armies of James II in the 105‐day siege of Derry, after Apprentice Boys had closed the city gates, was a decisive moment in European history. Again the city played a key role, as the centre of communications for the North Atlantic campaign, during the Second World War. With these exceptions Derry's history has been that of an ethnic frontier at the economic margin. The modest success of the port, and the city's role as a source of cheap female labour for the shirt making industry, caused the population to double, to 40,000, during the second half of the 19th century. But Derry was unable to emulate Belfast's economic diversification and take‐off, nor did it generate large‐scale male employment. Although the population doubled again during the 20th century, the economic story was downbeat.

The siege made Derry a symbol of Protestant power in Ulster: for unionists it remains ‘the maiden city’. But Catholics were a majority of the population well before 1900, and during the 20th century Protestant power was maintained with difficulty. To immense Catholic disappointment, the Boundary Commission kept the city within Northern Ireland in 1925, and only gross gerry‐mandering preserved Unionist control of the city council until 1973. This required a local housing policy restricting Catholics to tenancies in the overcrowded South Ward, and reluctance at Stormont to promote any growth in the city: in 1965, for instance, the city's Magee College was passed over as the site for a new university in favour of the market town of Coleraine. Driven by such grievances, and by its very rapid population growth in the 1950s and 1960s, Catholic Derry was primed to explode. The renewed Northern Ireland conflict began there with the televised police violence of 5 October 1968, and continued with the ‘battle of the Bogside’ (Aug. 1969) and ‘Bloody Sunday’ (Jan. 1972). Under direct rule housing in a small city, if not employment, was a problem which the British state had the resources to solve. In the 1970s Catholic Derry expanded northwards and the Protestants moved east: a new sectarian terminology of ‘west bank’ and ‘east bank’ emerged to describe the now river‐divided city. By the 1990s it seemed that a precarious new equilibrium had been reached, with restabilized ethnic boundaries, improved housing, and increased investment, mainly in consumer services and in a massive expansion of Magee College.

Bibliography

Lacy, Brian , Siege City: The Story of Derry and Londonderry (1990)

A. C. Hepburn
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"Derry." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Derry." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-Derry.html

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Derry

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

Derry or Londonderry city (1991 pop. 95,371) and district, NW Northern Ireland. The city is the county town of Co. Derry. Much of the district is mountainous, except for the low cultivated plain along Lough Foyle. The district was dominated for many centuries by the O'Neill family. The city, on the Foyle River near the head of Lough Foyle, is the second most important in Northern Ireland. It is a naval base and seaport with industries that include food processing, textiles and apparel, computer products and services, and chemicals.

The city grew up around an abbey founded in 546 by St. Columba. It was burned by the Danes in 812. In 1311 Derry was granted to Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster. When it was turned over (1613) to the corporations of the City of London, the name was changed to Londonderry; the older name was restored for the local government authority in 1984. The old town walls are well preserved. In the siege of Londonderry by the forces of James II (beginning in Apr., 1689), it was held for 105 days under the leadership of George Walker ; a triumphal arch, a column, and one of the town gates commemorate the siege. In the late 20th cent. the city was the scene of conflict between Catholics and Protestants.

The city contains a Protestant cathedral (built 1628-33; restored 1886-87), a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a monastery church (founded 1164). Magee Univ. College in Derry is affiliated with Queens Univ., Belfast.

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Derry

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

Derry City and administrative district on the River Foyle near Lough Foyle, nw Northern Ireland. In ad 546 St Columba founded a monastery here, and a settlement grew up around it. In 1311, Derry was granted to the Earl of Ulster. In 1600 English forces seized the city, and in 1613 James I granted Derry to the citizens of London. It was renamed Londonderry, a new city was laid out, and Protestant colonization began. In 1688–89, James II unsuccessfully besieged the city. Sectarian violence plagued the city in the latter half of the 20th century. In 1984 its name reverted to Derry. Industries: clothing manufacture. Area: 347sq km (149sq mi). Pop. (1997) 104,000.
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Derry

A Dictionary of British Place-Names | 2003 | | Copyright

Derry (Doire) Derry. Doire Calgaigh 535. ‘Oak grove’. The original Irish name was Doire Chalgaigh, ‘Calgach's oak grove’. A later name was Doire Cholm Cille, ‘Columcille's oak grove’, after a monastery founded by St Columba in 546. In 1613 Derry was renamed Londonderry by a group of merchants from London.
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A. D. MILLS. "Derry." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

A. D. MILLS. "Derry." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O40-Derry.html

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Derry

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms | 1985 | Copyright

Derry

a ballad or set of verses, 1553 [from the repetitive use of “Hey derry, derry” in folk songs].
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Derry

A Dictionary of British Place-Names | 2003 | | Copyright

Derry (Doire an Bhile) Down. ‘Oak grove of the sacred tree’.
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Derry

A Dictionary of First Names | 2006 | | Copyright

Derry ♂ Of uncertain origin, perhaps a blend of Derek and Terry.
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PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Derry." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Derry." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Derry.html

PATRICK HANKS, KATE HARDCASTLE, and FLAVIA HODGES. "Derry." A Dictionary of First Names. 2006. Retrieved February 10, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O41-Derry.html

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Derry

Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names | 2005 | | Copyright

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JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Derry." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN EVERETT-HEATH. "Derry." Concise Dictionary of World Place-Names. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O209-Derry.html

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Derry

A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology | 2004 | | Copyright

Derry. Anglicization of Doire.
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JAMES MacKILLOP. "Derry." A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Derry

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

Derry •Barry, Carrie, carry, Cary, Clarrie, Gary, glengarry, harry, intermarry, Larry, marry, miscarry, parry, tarry •angry • chapelry • cavalry • lamprey •Crabtree •gantry, pantry •Langtry • polyandry •askari, Bari, Cagliari, calamari, Campari, charivari, curare, Ferrari, Harare, Kalahari, Mari, Mata Hari, Qatari, Rastafari, safari, sari, Scutari, shikari, sparry, starry, Stradivari, tamari, terramare, Vasari, Zanzibari •compadre • chantry •beriberi, berry, bury, Ceri, cherry, Derry, ferry, Gerry, jerry, Kerry, merry, perry, Pondicherry, sherry, terry, very, wherry •débris • Hendry • Geoffrey • belfry •devilry, revelry •Henri, henry •peltry •entry, gentry, sentry •pedantry •peasantry, pheasantry, pleasantry •vestry • every • elderberry •checkerberry • whortleberry •chokecherry • daredevilry •Londonderry • knobkerrie

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