page_title: History of Derry
section_title: Plantation of Ulster
hierarchical_section_title: History of Derry / Plantation of Ulster
caption_attribution_description: English: Identifier: journalofroyalso45roya (find matches) Title: Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Year: 1915 (1910s) Authors: Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Transactions Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Proceedings and transactions Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Proceedings and papers Subjects: Publisher: Dublin, Ireland&#160;: The Society Contributing Library: Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center Digitizing Sponsor: Internet Archive View Book Page: Book Viewer About This Book: Catalog Entry View All Images: All Images From Book Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book. Text Appearing Before Image: that of a mitred abbot,on account of the authority he was to exercise over the religioushouses. To complete the reform at Derry a church was built outside theabbey precincts to serve the spiritual needs of the secular population.It was named Teampull M6r, the great church, though its lengthwas but 90 feet/3 unwarrantably extended by Colgan to 80 paces(passus), or 400 feet. The Teampull Mor became afterwards thecathedral church of Derry. Its site is now occupied by a Catholicparish church, popularly known as the Long Tower, from a towertraditionally stated to have been a round tower, which stood heredown to the end of the 17th century.* A further reform of the abbey was made in 1397 by PrimateColton, who ordered all suspect persons to be removed from theprecincts, and the abbot and canons to return to the observance of a 1 Annals of Ulster, a.d. 1162&#160;; Four Masters. 2 Ordnance Memoir of Londonderry, p. 21. 3 Annals of Ulster&#160;: wrongly 80 feet in Four Masters. 4 Ordnance Memoir, p. 25. Text Appearing After Image: 212 ROYAL SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF IRELAND common life. In connexion with this visitation mention is madeof chambers and other accommodation for guests, the choir of theabbey church, a dormitory and a re^ctory.1 The abbey had, how-ever, entered on a period of decay. In 1412 it was so muchimpoverished through long wars and other calamities that its inmatescould not be duly maintained.2 In 1423 its buildings were reducedto manifest destruction and ruin by continual wars and deadlyenmities in those parts.3 A hundred years later the position onlyof the church could be traced.4 The explosion of an English powder-house in 1567,5 and the works of Sir Henry Docwra in 1600, wroughtfurther havoc.6 The plan of Docwras fort,7 reproduced in theOrdnance Memoir and one of Derry in Facsimiles of National MSS.show what may be recognised as a side of the claustral buildings,that peece of an ould monasterie mentioned in Phillipss report, longe before the burneing of Derry by them repaired and yetmaynte Note About Images Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original work.
context_page_description: The earliest references to the history of Derry date to the 6th century when a monastery was founded there; however, archaeological sites and objects predating this have been found. The name Derry comes from the Old Irish word Daire meaning 'oak grove' or 'oak wood'.
context_section_description: After the collapse of the Earldom of Ulster in the 14th century, Ulster saw a Gaelic resurgence at the expense of the Norman colony. Throughout the second half of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I's military leaders tried to conquer the province of Ulster, then outside English control. The English first came to Derry in 1566 but the garrison established there at that time lasted only a few years. A second, more successful garrison returned in 1600 during the Nine Years War against the Gaelic O'Neill and O'Donnell earls. On this occasion the English managed to hold on to Derry and, when the war came to an end in 1603, a small trading settlement was established and given the legal status of city. During the 1608 O'Doherty's Rebellion, this 'infant city' was attacked by Sir Cahir O'Doherty, Irish chieftain of Inishowen, and the settlement was virtually wiped out.
  This attack came about shortly after the Flight of the Earls when the O'Neill and O'Donnell chieftains, together with their principal supporters, fled to the continent, leaving Gaelic Ulster leaderless. The new king in London, James I, decided on a revolutionary plan designed once and for all to subordinate Ulster. The 'Plantation of Ulster' required the colonising of the area by loyal English and Scottish migrants who were to be Protestant in religion. One part of this colonisation was to be organised by the ancient and wealthy livery companies of the City of London. In 1623 the new county granted to the Londoners and its fortified city, built across the River Foyle from the recently destroyed settlement, were renamed Londonderry in honour of this association. At this point the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I. The usage of "Derry" versus "Londonderry" is still controversial.
  The City of Londonderry was the jewel in the crown of the Ulster Plantation. It was laid out according to the best contemporary principles of town planning, imported from the continent (the original street lay-out has survived to the present almost intact). More importantly, the city was enclosed by massive stone and earthen fortifications. It was the last walled city built in Ireland and the only city on the island whose ancient walls survive complete. Among the city's new buildings was St. Columb's Cathedral (1633). This is one of the most important 17th century buildings in the country and was the first specifically Protestant cathedral erected anywhere in the world following the Reformation.
caption: Map of Derry in 1622, showing the Bishop of Derry's residence in the northwest.
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