LONDONDERRY, or DERRY, Ireland, city, seaport, county borough, Parliamentary borough and assize town in the county of the same name, province of Ulster, on the Foyle, 23 miles from its mouth and 95 miles by rail north-northwest of Belfast. Waterside, a sub urb on the opposite river bank, is united to the city by the iron Carlisle Bridge, 1,200 feet long. The houses of the town rise on the hill tier upon tier, while the summit is crowned by the cathedral. The ancient portion of the city is surrounded by a rampart 1,708 yards long. It contains a small square, called the Diamond, from which four main streets diverge. The walls are pierced by seven gates, giving com munication with other parts of the town, the greater part of which lies outside the walls. The most important public buildings are the guildhall, the county courthouse, the post office, the custom-house, the harbor offices, the jail, Gwyn's Institution, the model school, Magee College, Foyle College, Saint Columb's College, the school of science and art, the lunatic asy lum and Ebrington Barracks. The harbor is commodious and vessels of large tannage can discharge at the quay, which extends for nearly two miles along the river and is provided with a graving-dock. An extensive foreign, colonial and coasting trade is carried on with English and Scotch ports, while Glasgow transatlantic steamers call at the mouth of the river. The principal export is agricultural produce; the chief imports are timber, grain, iron, coal, flax seed, flour and guano. Shirt factories employ thousands of workers and there are timber mills, grain-mills, foundries, coach-factories, bread and biscuit factories, distilleries and a ship-building yard. Intermediate education is
supplied by Foyle College, founded in 1617, and by Saint Columb's Catholic College. Magee College, opened in 1865, besides teaching secu lar subjects, has a theological course adapted to young men studying for the Presbyterian ministry. The Anglican cathedral dates from 1633. The Roman Catholic cathedral is a mas sive and magnificent structure, opened in 1873. The population is about equally divided into Roman Catholics and Protestants. Derry origi nated in a monastic establishment founded by Saint Columba in the 6th century. It remained an ecclesiastical settlement until 1566, when it was occupied by the English in their wars with the O'Neills of Ulster. In 1608 the place was burned and the English governor slain by Sir Cahir O'Dogherty, one of the Irish chiefs of Donegal. During the 20 years that followed, the corporation of London, which obtained a grant of the place from James I, rebuilt the city, surrounded it with a wall, fortified it with cannon and gave it a new name. Henceforth it was known as Londonderry. Here the Prot estants of Ulster took refuge at the Revolution of 1688 and held the fortress against the forces of James II, the siege lasting from 19 April till 30 July 1689; the defense by untrained men against superior numbers being regarded as one of the most heroic and successful military ac tions of modern times. Pop. 40,799.