Saying Goodbye to Richard, Derry with Jon McCourt, The Junction, Corrymeela

                     
                                                    Leaving for Derry!

Packing.

The change in our routine started the day causing excitement to be traveling and tinging with sadness as we depart our friends in Belfast.  After a light breakfast, we gathered in the Farset lobby to wait for the bus.

Goodbyes.

Richard Dougherty joined us, related his thoughts, and thanked us from all the Forthspring Community Center for our assistance and interaction with the youth and everyone.

Ruth, the hotelier at Farset, was glad to see us go, I mean, wished us well.  Richard said goodbye to each of us and we were off.

Derry/London Derry

We met Evan, Susan, and John.

John told us how at the start of the Troubles 97.3 percent of the people on the walled City side of the river were Catholic Nationalist and 65 percent of the residents on the other side of the river were Protestant Loyalists.

Columb, a monk, was awarded the island and named it Doire for place of oaks.

Wen the Catholic dethroned King James swept northward, the leaders of London Derry were trying to decide whether to submit or fight.  The thirteen young apprentices closed the gates and when James sued for surrender, they opened fire and killed his body guard. From these early years in the life of the City, John brought us up to just before Bloody Sunday.

After lunch at Austin's Department Store, we went to the Junction, which is a cooperative center for peace and reconciliation organizations in Derry.  Maureen and Seamus discussed how the Junction started and their efforts in the city. 

Then John took us to the Bog Side area and we learned the details of Bloody Sunday and his experiences in that and since.  Bloody Sunday set things in motion for this country and figured greatly in his life.

From there we went to Corrymeela in Ballycastle. We got oriented, ate, and worshiped in the Croi building.

Submitted by Rod Aldrich

Leaving Farset Hotel and saying goodbye to Richard:

On the Road to Derry:

In Derry with Jon McCourt:

Protestant area of Derry:

Walking the Walls:

St. Columbs Church:

Walking the Walls:

Looking down on the Bogside from Walls of Derry:

St. Augustine Church:

Inside St. Augustine:

At The Junction - A Joint Community Outreach Center:

At the Bloody Sunday Memorial:

Arriving at Corrymeela:

Cross at Corrymeela overlooking Rathlin Island:

Wall in Corrymeela Sanctuary named "Tree of Life":