Museum of Free Derry and "The Troubles"

While visiting Derry, our group took some time out of our busy schedule to visit the Museum of Free Derry. The purpose of the museum is to tell the story of what happened in the city during the period 1968- 1972, popularly known as ‘the troubles’.

Glenfada Park in disrepair 2005

 The Museum began as a block of flats in Glenfada Park which was the site of many murders during Bloody Sunday in 1972. The building fell into disrepair and was later saved by the Bloody Sunday Trust.

Phase 1 2006

The museum opened in 2007 (phase 1), but was later reconstructed and reopened in early 2017 (phase 2)

Phase 2 2017

 

 

 

 

The newly constructed building is almost twice the size of the previous museum, and holds 20,000 artefacts. The new building also offers space for exhibitions and a class room.

 

 

 

 The museum and its contents are a representation of the struggles the oppressed people of Derry faced. Throughout this time, young Irish people questioned their identity as an Irish person and were faced with the harsh reality that they are in fact looked down on.

like many Irish characters we have read about in class, they didn't simply dismiss their Irish heritage when faced with opposition, they embraced it and fought to keep their culture alive. One thing that has become evident throughout history is, the Irish will never give up and will continue to fight for freedom.

 

 

Photo taken on-site

The Troubles

"The Troubles" are characterized as the civil rights era, Battle of the Bogside, Internment, Bloody Sunday and Operation Motorman.

One event highlighted by the Museum of Free Derry was Bloody Sunday. On January 30^th 1972, a march was organized by the NICRA against the Internment and the ban on marches by the government. The march was organized to be a peaceful march through Derry, but things did not go as planned.

Although the IRA promised to stay away in order to keep the peace, British soldiers put up barricades to prevent the march from entering the city center square, and a little over an hour after the march began, 13 innocent men had died.

The British Army labeled the men they killed as 'bombers' and reported that the young men were armed, but it was later found that all men killed were unarmed civilians.

Bloody Sunday has become a source of international inspiration for the people of Northern Ireland and continues to be an event with great significance in the community. There are murals and monuments commemorating the events taken place that day to remind the people of the history they share and the lives they have lost in order to secure freedom.

If you are ever in Northern Ireland I encourage you to visit the Museum of Free Derry!

 

 

 

What it Means to be Irish

Bloody Sunday is one of the most prominent events in my mind when thinking about the Troubles in Ireland. Bloody Sunday was the civil rights march that turned violent and deadly, killing multiple people, at the hands of the British army. 

The outcome from this event has evolved the Irish people into very passionate people. Now, I say very passionate because from the readings we have learned that a common characteristic of the Irish is passion but the troubles have evolved them into very passionate people. I believe this is what it means to be Irish. Fighting for something bigger than you is remarkable and is what several people we have met in Ireland are doing and they’re doing it with passion.

After meeting Irishmen that had family involved in Bloody Sunday and seeing all the work and time they have dedicated to the cause, opened my eyes to their passion and heart that lives inside them. These men and women have sought justice from persecution for their loved ones. They have also built a museum so the neighborhood, community and country will never forget the incident that happened in 1972.

Instead of picking a quote from a class reading I chose to pick a quote from our study abroad trip. The photo on the right is a photo of a wall I took in Derry on June 21, 2017. This photo is from a home that had been torn down but was previously someones home during the civil war movement. The wall states "you are now entering Free Derry". This wall was to represent a sector of the city that was choosing not to comply with the unjust laws of that time. This wall was to indicate that this particular area of Derry was free.


This wall and this quote symbolizes the passion that the people of Derry had and still do have for a free society. It shows that the people of this area felt strongly about the issues of the past and the current issues at hand, they felt that they could make a difference and nothing was going to get in their way. They used the passion inside them to never give up on getting equal rights for themselves, their families, their neighbors and their country.
Some benefits from studying aboard would be the influence the people from the visting country will have on you. For me, seeing people working so hard was touching. They were not just going through the motions, they knew they had a purpose and they were doing everything they could to share their purpose with the world. This has inspired me to find my purpose in life and once found, share it with the world.

From this study abroad experience I have also learned that everyone is fighting their own battles, so be patient and really get to know people. Because if you're lucky they will wow you with the amount of passion they have inside them just dying to be let free. Places like the Ulster University are swarming with staff that are all working to do their best for their community and their country. It's so refreshing to see people work with such passion and enthusiasm and it was a pleasure to get to know them.