TOWER MUSEUM DERRY
Story of Derry and the Spanish Armada
A visit to the city of Derry (Londonderry) one cannot but recognize,
perhaps not at first glance, but a little closer inspection the trouble
history of political and social strife which has defined Northern Ireland
for several hundred years. For the casual tourist, there is not a lot
that one feels of the tensions that vexed the city divided by religion
and loyalties, but cannot help but recognize that it is still less than
half a generation since a relative peace set in and seems to have taken
hold. Though a closer inspection of the remaining damage from bombs,
repaired by not erased, and the clear defining boundaries of the Protestant
and Catholic neighborhoods are a reminder that history is still a work
in progress.
The Story of Derry
The Tower Museum in Derry has housed an exhibit on the history of the north Ireland city since a former tower stronghold of the O’Donnells from the 16th Century was rebuilt to house the town’s museum, just inside the city walls a block from the great town hall (see Derry Walls and Guildhall). The story of tangled Derry’s history, one of Ireland’s oldest establish settlements, from its first days as a monastic enclave of St Columb (see St Columb’s Cathedral), through the English Plantation, the Siege of Derry in 1688-89, to the partition and troubles of the twentieth century. The Story of Derry exhibit deals with the history in a balanced fashion, presented with new exhibits and audio-visual displays. The exhibit ends with a look at the city as it is today and hope for the future.
The Spanish Armada
Most
of Ireland’s and much of England’s
history is bound in religious conflict. When Queen Elizabeth I took
the throne of England,
King Phillip II of Spain fomented the conspiracy to have her overthrown
in favor of his Catholic cousin, Mary of Scotland. The plots were uncovered
and Mary beheaded. Phillip mounted a great fleet, the Spanish Armada
to defeat and conquer England for the Catholic cause. In 1588, despite
a huge disadvantage in ships, the English defeated the Armada, partly
through clever tactics and the ill winds of fate. After the battles in
the English Channel the remaining ships of the Spanish
Fleet attempted to return to Spain by
sailing around Scotland and Ireland, but with bad weather and more misfortune,
most of the great fleet foundered along the rocky shores of the Irish
Island, with the desperate crews throwing horses and supplies overboard
to stay afloat.
The story of the wreck and discovery of the Spanish Galleon, the La Trinidad
Valencera, originally an Italian trade ship captured by the Spanish and
re-outfitted into one of the Spanish Armada’s largest war ships,
which ran aground and sank in Kinnagoe Bay of Country Donegal is told
in a new exhibit at the Tower Museum. The history behind the armada,
of the soldiers and sailors of 16th Century Spain is presented with artifacts
recovered from the ship, 
including cannons, dishes of pewter and silver,
coins and cloth. The story of the wreck’s discovery 400 years after
it foundered by divers from the City of Derry’s Sub Aqua Club,
and the archeologists who studied it is also told with dioramas and audio
visual displays. An educational Discussion Trail, aimed mostly at school
kids, provides an opportunity for visitors to apply lessons from the
history of the religious conflicts of the Elizabethan era to look at
the context of the conflicts of today.
Visiting the Derry Tower Museum
The Tower Museum of Derry is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10am to 5pm and on Bank Holidays. Cost for adults is £4 with a family ticket available for £9. The museum takes up four floors of the tower and a single admission is good for both exhibits. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Derry
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