Derry

Names in the historical account

Lewis’s 1837 entry uses the heading Londonderry while recording Derry as the popular name. He relates Doire to oak woodland, lists Derry-Calgach and Derry-Columbkill, and dates the London prefix to the 1613 charter and the Irish Society. ^[2]

A religious settlement before the walls

The directory links the early town to Colum Cille’s religious foundation, while acknowledging uncertainty about the foundation date and earliest history. It distinguishes the older church sites from the later walled city and describes the reuse of building material during works around 1600. The city’s history therefore extends beyond the circuit most familiar in later accounts. A wall, church site and remembered place-name can belong to different stages of that history. ^[2]

Columba’s foundation and its uncertainties

Derry’s connection with Columba is central to the city’s ecclesiastical tradition, but the early chronology remains debated. Queen’s University Belfast’s archaeological account compares the traditional foundation dates of 546 and 535 and notes an alternative interpretation placing the monastery around 590, with Columba’s relative Fiachra as founder or co-founder. It regards the monastery’s membership of the Columban federation and its links with Iona as secure. ^[3]

The 1908 Catholic Encyclopedia records the received tradition linking Columba with Derry’s oak grove and an early monastery. Later archaeological research places the foundation date and identity of the founder in question. ^{[3] [4]}