On the main road not far from Burt Castle is this unusual church. Modelled to recall the form of the Iron Age fort on the hill above, this building is well worth the visit. Out side it is circular. Inside the same, but the circles are off centre creating space for the sacristy at the end opposite the entrance. The spire is off centre as well imparting a modern Twentieth Century air to the composition. The building and surroundings are filled with specially commission art works.
Grianan is located on a small hill about three miles outside of Derry~Londonderry. It stands sentinel like over looking the city. The structure is a ‘cashel’ ie a stone ring fort. There are many examples of the type along the west coast of Ireland but this is one of the best. The stone fort is in fact a product of the last period of development at the site, and if you stand on the battlements you can just about make out the two great lines of earthen embankments which encircle the place and formed its original defences. The structure is reputed to date to the Iron Age.
. Finally we arrive in Derry~Londonderry. This is a view of the Guildhall, rebuilt in 1912 following a devastating fire in a Perpendicular Gothic style. The details of the building are full of civic symbolism. It is overlooked by the City Walls constructed between 1613 and 1618, the last city walls constructed in Europe. Some of the cannon on this stretch are older being brought to Ireland as part of the Elizabethan campaign against O'Neill and O'Donnell In the Nine Years War of the late Sixteenth Century.
A trip up the centre and west of Ireland.
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