Londonderry
Londonderry names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Londonderry or "DERRY," a county borough
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
or "DERRY," a county borough, seaport, and the capital of the county of Londonderry, Ireland; on the Foyle, about 140 miles north-northwest from Dublin; it contains, within the walls, four main streets, which cross at right angles, and form, with the smaller streets and lanes, a sort of parallelogram; the old walls still remain in fine repair, though the town has grown beyond them; principal buildings, the Anglican cathedral, a Gothic structure, built in the year 1633, a handsome modern Catholic cathedral, Foyle College (1617), a bishop's palace, a deanery, various places of worship, schools, a mechanics' institute, jail, an infirmary, a small theater, a linenhall, town hall, district lunatic asylum, union workhouse, custom house, and barracks; also, a Doric column, surmounted by a statue, erected in honor of the Rev. G. Walker, who defended the city during its memorable siege (1689); has an extensive trade with the West Indies and the United States; the harbor is deep, wide, and tolerably secure. The town is of great antiquity, and has often suffered from the effects of war. Its chief industries are brewing and distilling, tanning, iron and brass founding, manufacture of linen and shirts, and salmon fishing. Steamers run to Liverpool, Glasgow, and Belfast. Pop. about 40,000.
Londonderry the chief city and port of the county of Ulster in north Ireland
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the chief city and port of the county of Ulster in north Ireland. The population is about 40,000. The city is at the head of Loch Foyle, twenty-three miles from the sea. A tender runs down the bay to connect with the Glasgow ocean liners for America. The center of the city is still surrounded by a wall. Seven gates give access. The harbor is safe for large ships and is the seat of an important trade with Scotland, England, and parts of Ireland. In British history Londonderry is celebrated as the center of the Scotch-Irish. In 1689 the men of Ulster successfully defended the city against James II from April to August. The present population is equally divided between Protestant and Catholic. The latter completed a superb cathedral in 1873.
Londonderry a maritime county of the province of Ulster
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a maritime county of the province of Ulster, Ireland. Area, 816 square miles. Good crops are produced in its fertile lowlands. The salmon fisheries of the river Bann are worldfamous. The same river also supplies power for the staple manufacture of the province, linen. There are also extensive distilling, brewing, and salt making establishments, as well as important deep-sea fisheries. Capital, Londonderry. Pop. about 140,000.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When Collier's wrote this in 1921 Londonderry was an Irish port trading with the West Indies and making shirts and linen; within months the 1920-21 partition put it inside Northern Ireland, a few miles from a new international border, and its county ceased to be an administrative unit when Northern Ireland's counties were replaced by district councils in 1973. The city became a flashpoint of the Troubles: the Battle of the Bogside in 1969 and Bloody Sunday on 30 January 1972, when British paratroopers shot dead thirteen civil rights marchers (a fourteenth died later), an event the Saville Inquiry finally judged unjustified in 2010. The shirt factories and distilleries the old entries listed are essentially gone, and the population of the urban area is now roughly double the 40,000 given. The seventeenth-century walls the accounts admired do still stand complete, and the city, called Derry by most of its residents and Londonderry by others, was UK City of Culture in 2013.
Written for this edition, 2026.