Ireland Guide
Antrim and Derry
The walls
Derry's city walls are one of the best-preserved defences in Europe. A mile in length and never higher than a two-storey house, they are reinforced by bulwarks and bastions and a parapeted earth rampart as wide as any thoroughfare. Within their circuit, the original medieval street-pattern has remained, with four gateways surviving from the original construction, albeit in slightly revised form. The best approach to the walls is from the Guildhall Square, once the old quay, east of Shipquay Gate.