Derry
city in Northern Ireland
Derry, officially Londonderry, is a cathedral city in Northern Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Foyle. Cityside and the old walled city are on the west bank and Waterside is on the east, with two road bridges and one footbridge crossing the river in between.
The population of the city was 85,279 in the 2021 census, making it the second-largest city in Northern Ireland after Belfast. The Derry Urban Area had a population of 105,066 in 2011. The district administered by Derry City and Strabane District Council contains both Londonderry Port and City of Derry Airport. Derry is close to the border with County Donegal, with which it has had a close link for many centuries. The person traditionally seen as the founder of the original Derry is Saint Colmcille, a holy man from Tír Chonaill, the old name for almost all of modern County Donegal, of which the west bank of the Foyle was part before 1610.
In 2013, Derry was the inaugural UK City of Culture, having been awarded the title in 2010.
Name
Despite the official name, the city is commonly known as Derry, which is an anglicisation of the Irish Daire or Doire, which translates as 'oak-grove/oak-wood'.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Derry” as city in Northern Ireland. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Northern Ireland. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q163584. VIAF identifies the subject as 141955584. The Library of Congress control number is n50056238. Authority coordinates are 54.992, -7.342. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 2 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2011, 1610 and 2013.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Derry”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Derry primary sources, Derry archive and Derry research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Derry”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Derry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.