SquaresRenew 22: Ebrington Square, Derry

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Ebrington Square by night

From Bushmills we moved on to Derry. First a note about naming – Derry, Londonderry, or even the compromise Derry/Londonderry (thus nicknamed Stroke City)?

The name Derry derives from the Irish Daire. During the Plantation of Ulster by Protestant English and Scottish settlers, a new walled city was built across the River Foyle from the old site and renamed Londonderry in 1613 in recognition of investment by the City of London. The use of each name can thus indicate a person’s religion and politics. Has Derry been used more since the popular TV series Derry Girls screened? Possibly – it’s the term I shall stick to anyway.

Ebrington Hotel

We stayed in the Ebrington Hotel. Like everything else on Ebrington Square it has been converted from parts of the old barracks which existed on this site from 1841 until 2003 when it was gifted to the people as part of the peace process. At the height of the troubles 1,000+ soldiers were billeted at Ebrington, so its use as a public space represents a new chapter in the story of the City. Moving on, renewal, reconstruction – you get it!

In the second image above, you can see the whole hotel – two old buildings connected by a newer one. The top photo of the square by night was taken from the linking section between the new part and the building with the clock tower which contained the bedrooms. The old building at the left is the bar/bistro. You can see more detail in the gallery below, along with some other sights from around the square.

Ebrington Hotel Bar and Bistro
Ebrington Hotel
Battle of the Atlantic Memorial
Mural
Mute Meadow

Derry is a much smaller place than Belfast so I feel less need to go back because we saw most of what we wanted to see. However I loved this hotel which had some of the friendliest staff I have ever come across, so it’s worth going back just for that.

Part of Becky’s SquaresRenew Challenge, using images from our April 2024 trip to Northern Ireland to illustrate one or more of the following:

  • Move forward
  • Reconstruct
  • Renew
  • Burgeoning
Northern Ireland, UK , , ,

37 Comments »

  3. You “squared” Ebrington Square! Perfect. A friend of mine just returned from three weeks in Ireland (where they got both Covid and food poisoning!), and it included a visit to Derry. She said she asked some women working in a shop if they thought the town was anything like the TV program (I haven’t seen it), and the women busted up laughing. Said that it was *exactly* like in the show.

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  4. It’s a good city from my point of view as I always like cities and towns that have hills to climb in them. I did notice the airport was Derry but it’s Londonderry/Derry in the city. Have to admit, not being religious at all since birth it seemed weird to me travelling around that the Catholic church had such a tight grip on Ireland with large chapels on practically every street corner and although I liked Derry Girls that also was rather weird to me with priests and nuns running schools and loads of other stuff. You tend to think because it’s so near geographically it will be similar to Scotland but when there I realized it is very different in its mentality due to that long legacy. More so than visiting England or Wales. I also found it weird being called ‘a brit’ a couple of times, just matter of factly, no anger in it, as I’ve always thought of myself as being a Scot first, British coming second but only for passports, officialdom etc. Bob.

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  5. Agreed, Anabel, staff/people always make a place more memorable especially conversations with locals who add more colourful stories to the history of an area. We never made it to Northern Ireland and only visited Dublin and surrounding coastal areas. Expensive country to visit so I’m enjoying seeing the place through your experience.

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    • Hotels are good for less than a week. Most cottages we’ve rented don’t like short lets. It was quite quiet, apart from the night there was a coach party of American tourists in which made it feel much busier. I think the hotel has only been open since last year so hopefully business will pick up as people get to know of it.

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