Marks of Time
Historic Buildings as  illustrations of the past.
  • Home
  • Derry Londonderry
    • The Early City
    • New World Order: The Arrival of the English
    • The Merchant City: The Eighteenth Century
    • The Industrial City: The Nineteenth Century
    • The Troubled City: The Twentieth Century
    • The Creative City: The Twenty-First Century
  • Ulster
    • The Early Region
    • Early Christian
    • Hiberno Romanesque
    • The Anglo Normans
    • Tower Houses and Friaries
    • The Plantation
    • The Georgians
    • Vernacular
    • The Victorians
    • Early Twentieth Century
    • The Twentieth Century
    • The Twenty First Century
  • Strabane
    • The Early Region Strabane
    • Early Christian Strabane
    • Norman Strabane
    • Plantation Strabane
    • A New Order
    • Vernacular Strabane
    • Georgian Strabane
    • The Strabane Canal
    • Arcadian Living Strabane
    • Early Nineteenth Century Strabane
    • Strabane Railway
    • Strabane Industry - Sion Mills
    • Late Nineteenth Century Strabane
    • Early Twentieth Century Strabane
    • Twentieth Century Strabane
    • Twenty First Century Strabane
  • Blog
    • Derry to Strabane
    • Derry to Limavady
    • Kilkenny to Derry
    • Dublin Visit
    • Inishowen Tour
    • Co Down Visit
    • Carrickfergus Tour
    • Stirling
    • Belfast to Derry
  • About
    • Links
    • Further Reading
  • Contact

The troubles

By 1970, things had  deteriorated  in the city. Civil Rights Marches  had led to riots, counter riots, the deployment of the Army and the  commencement of the IRA bombing campaign.  Northern  Ireland descended into  30 years of strife  which at times appeared unending. The city, which had been  largely unchanged  from the Edwardian period, was very badly damaged by bomb  attacks.  Plenty of historic buildings  were lost to be replaced by cheap and quick  replacements that perhaps display  a lack of confidence in the length of time  that they too would last.
 
Other  historic features were permanently damaged. The  Commercial Buildings on Foyle  Street for example, still bears the marks of a  bomb detonated outside it in  the early 1980s. 

Free Derry Corner  and the area  around it, in the centre of the Bogside, is one of the more  noticeable architectural legacies of the period. It is preserved by its  surrounding community and along with nearby murals and monuments of varying  sophistication, they collectively tell a story, from a particular point of  view, of the  principle incidents of the period. Elsewhere in the city, other  murals and  monuments express Unionist and other viewpoints, and record  individual deaths  and damage.

The  defensive structures built by the Army  and  Police  which for so long  formed the  strongest architectural image   of full  blown conflict within the city are now largely gone. This, in  itself,  reflects the relative peace that the city now enjoys. This drawing is  of an  Army sangar which has been retained within the Ebrington Barracks site to   help with future interpretation. When used it would have been mounted on a   high platform. There were four at Ebrington, one at each corner of the site   linked by a high metal curtain wall to provide protection from missiles. The   approach would not have been unfamiliar to the Normans.

At Carlisle Square, at the entrance to the city. The ‘hands across the divide’ statue at the  entrance to the city on  Carlisle     Square  stands out as a   representation of the next phase - the search for  peace. 
   

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
<Back       End of Century >
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.