Northern Ireland: The Walls, the Stories and the Train Back

After a week of hiking along Northern Ireland’s spectacular coastline, it was time to become urban again. What better way to arrive in Derry~Londonderry than by crossing the relatively new Peace Bridge, arching elegantly across the River Foyle?

From there, it is only a short walk to the Guildhall, beautifully positioned beside the river and overlooking the large square behind it.

Many important events have taken place here over the centuries.

The building itself suffered damage during the Troubles, but today it has been fully restored and once again serves its original purpose. It houses Derry City Council, a small free museum on the ground floor, and one of the most impressive halls I visited anywhere in Northern Ireland.

The stained-glass windows alone are worth the visit.

Derry~Londonderry is often referred to as the Walled City.

Unlike many historic city walls in Europe, these fortifications remain completely intact, and it is possible to walk the entire circuit in around ninety minutes.

From the walls, there are excellent views across the city, including many of the neighbourhoods associated with some of the most significant events in Northern Ireland’s recent history.

Even for someone who rarely sets foot inside a pub, it is impossible not to notice how important pub culture remains here. Some streets are lined almost entirely with pubs, and by evening, they fill with both locals and visitors. The pub still seems to function as a natural gathering place in Irish life.

Derry~Londonderry is certainly a long name for a city.

The original settlement was known simply as Derry, before the name Londonderry was introduced during the Plantation period. (The English Crown confiscated Irish-owned lands and replaced native Gaelic Catholics with English and Scottish Protestant settlers.)

Today, both names remain in use, and which one people choose often depends on who is speaking.

The city itself has long since expanded far beyond the old walls.

Its history is complicated, often violent, and still very present.

I understand that history and collective memory help shape identity, but at times it felt as though people were still carrying the weight of events that happened generations ago.

I visited the Siege Museum, a Protestant museum dedicated to the famous siege of 1689.

The story is complex, involving political, religious and dynastic struggles, but the exhibition itself felt quite one-sided to me.

At the same time, perhaps that is inevitable.

Communities often preserve the versions of history that matter most to them.

At the Museum of Free Derry, the focus shifts several centuries forward.

Here the stories become far more personal.

The exhibits document events from the Troubles through photographs, testimonies and personal belongings.

It is difficult not to be affected by what you see.

As a visitor, I try not to take sides in conflicts I have only recently begun to understand.

Still, I often find myself sympathising with those who appear to have had less power.

The area around Free Derry is filled with murals, memorials and political messages.

Support for a united Ireland is visible everywhere.

So is support for Palestine.

Perhaps that reflects a tendency for communities to recognise elements of their own history in the struggles of others.

Although the city feels peaceful today, it is difficult to avoid the impression that some of the old divisions still exist beneath the surface.

At the same time, one thing struck me during my travels across Northern Ireland.

The further I moved away from the cities, the less visible these divisions seemed to become.

I am sure they still exist.

They simply become less obvious to a passing traveller.

Even for someone arriving from abroad, this has been an educational journey.

Visiting both Belfast and Derry~Londonderry gave me a better understanding of events that unfolded during my own lifetime while I remained largely unaware of them.

Yet when I think back on Northern Ireland, it is probably the landscape that will stay with me the longest.

The cliffs.

The beaches.

The islands.

The endless paths following the edge of the sea.

Northern Ireland is genuinely special in that regard.

Of course, the world is full of beautiful places.

The challenge is finding them.

And I intend to keep looking.

Eventually it was time to board the train back to Belfast.

The same coastline I had spent a week walking now slipped past the window at a much faster pace.

And with that, my Northern Ireland journey came to an end.