A lecture explaining connections between Derry’s Walls and a US city will take place in Derry this week.
The Walls400 History Lecture will take place in St Columb's Cathedral on Friday evening, delivered by Dr Breandán Mac Suibhne, of Centenary University, New Jersey, on the subject of 'The Maiden City and the City of Brotherly Love: Derry and Philadelphia'.
The lecture will be preceded by a short historical vignette to explain the events in the Plantation City of Londonderry of 1616 that have left an enduring legacy on both sides of the Atlantic.
Niall McCaughan, Chairperson of the Friends of the Derry Walls, who are organising the lecture, said it was the fourth such event.
“Each year we choose a story connected with the building of the Walls and we look at the legacy it has created both on the place we live in and on our cultural identities.
“We are fortunate to have secured Dr Mac Suibhne as our 2016 speaker. As an historian of society and culture in modern Ireland, with a particular interest in the history of north-west Ulster, Dr Mac Suibhne will provide the audience with insights into how this special Walled City influenced historical events in Ireland and America.
“The Walls Friends are also lucky to have the support of artists such as Fiona Lusby, who help focus our attention on the Derry Walls, a monument we often take for granted as we pass through its gates.
“Fiona's interpretation of the river god on Bishop's Gate provides an explanation of what the sculptor was trying to communicate in the details of the sculpted head."
Everyone attending the lecture will also benefit from entry into a draw for a specially commissioned print of the Boyne River God.
Local artist Fiona Lusby (pictured above with Mr McCaughan) has produced the drawing as her interpretation of the sculpted head which adorns Bishop's Gate.
"I drew on the themes of the sculptor's design of a youthful river god, crowned with a laurel wreath, representing victory in battle, and with ears of corn, representing the fertility of the Boyne river valley,” she said.
“In my interpretation, I have tried to bring the stone sculpture to life and have used the flowing beard to connect with the river theme of the sculpture."
Tickets for the lecture are available now from the Playhouse Box Office; 028 7126 8027 or via www.derryplayhouse.co.uk price £8 (£5 concessions). Proceeds from the lecture will go to support archaeological investigations in and around the Walled City in 2016/7.
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