I. A N. County Of Ireland

I. A N. County Of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, bordering on the Atlantic ocean, Lough Foyle, and Lough Neagh, and on the counties of Antrim, Tyrone, and Donegal; area, 802 sq. m.; pop. in 1871, 173,932. In the centre and toward the south the surface is mountainous, and elsewhere mostly lowland, which is generally fertile. The principal rivers are the Foyle, Bann, and Roe. Agriculture, though improving, is not in a very advanced state. The principal manufacture is the weaving and bleaching of linen. The greater part of the county is held by lease under the corporation of London and its grantees.

II. The Capital

II. The Capital, a city, parliamentary borough, and port, on the left bank of the Foyle, here crossed by a bridge 1,200 ft. long, 5 m. above Lough Foyle, and 123 m. N. N. W. of Dublin; pop. in 1871, 25,242. It is picturesquely built on an oval-shaped hill, the site of ancient Derry, surrounded by walls, beyond which however it has greatly extended. On the summit of the hill stands the cathedral of Derry, 114 ft. long and 66 ft. wide, with a spire 178 1/2 ft. high. Besides several other churches of various denominations, the city contains Foyle college, Magee college, a district lunatic asylum, and a union workhouse. The Roman Catholic and church of Ireland bishops reside here, but both sees retain the former name of Derry, and the latter diocese has been united with that of Raphoe. The Diamond or market place, a quadrangular area, is situated in the centre of the town, and contains the corporation hall; and from the middle of the sides of this four principal streets lead to the four original gates. A Doric column, surmounted by a statue of the Rev. George Walker, celebrated for his defence of the town in the siege of 1689, was erected in 1828 at a cost of £4,200. In 1873 the inward shipping amounted to 260,823 tons, and the customs duties to £107,188. - The ancient town of Derry, originally called Derry Calgach, took its rise from a monastery which St. Columba founded here in 546. It was repeatedly pillaged by the Danes and by the neighboring Irish chiefs, and was burned several times.

In 1198 the English under De Courcy captured it. It was garrisoned in 1566, during Tyrone's rebellion, and in 1568 the fort and nearly the whole town were destroyed by the explosion of a powder magazine. It was rebuilt in 1600, and eight years later Sir Cahir O'Dogherty captured it, slaughtered the garrison, and burned a large part of the town, because of its resistance to the authority of James I. The land on which it stood, as well as that of the whole county, was declared forfeit to the crown, and James made it over to the mayor, aldermen, and council of London. They constituted a body for its government, which still exists, called the "Irish Society," and parcelled out much of the county among the twelve city companies of London. The new city which they built on its ruins was called Londonderry. It became a stronghold of Protestantism, and in December, 1688, its gates were closed against James II., who laid siege to it on April 18, 1689. The siege was kept up for 105 days, when a man-of-war and two ships loaded with provisions ran past the batteries and the obstructions in the river, and relieved the starving inhabitants.

The greatest cruelty had been practised by the besiegers, and the utmost suffering endured by the besieged, who had eaten all their horses and dogs, and were on their last ration of tallow and salted hide when relieved. The garrison of 7,000 men had been reduced to 3,000; the loss of the besiegers was estimated at 8,000. Since this famous siege, the city has advanced steadily in growth and prosperity.

Londonderry.

Londonderry.

Londonderry #1

I. Robert

I. Robert, second marquis of. See Castlereagh.

II. Charles William Stewart Vane

II. Charles William Stewart Vane, third marquis of, a British soldier and diplomatist, half brother of the preceding, born in Dublin, May 18, 1778, died in London, March 6, 1854. He was made ensign of a foot regiment, and served in the Netherlands in 1794. Subsequently, while attached to the British mission at Vienna, he was severely wounded at the battle of Donauworth. He commanded a regiment of dragoons during the Irish rebellion of 1798, and also in the expedition to Egypt under Sir Ralph Abercrombie, in the course of which he was again dangerously wounded. In 1803 he became under-secretary of state for the war department, but resigned to take command of a hussar brigade under Sir John Moore in the Peninsula, and covered the retreat of the British army to Corunna (1809). He was adjutant general under Sir Arthur Wel-lesley until May, 1813, signalizing himself at Talavera and elsewhere, and receiving the thanks of the house of commons. In 1814 he was made a lieutenant general, was military commissioner of the armies of the allied sovereigns, and was appointed ambassador to Austria, having in the preceding year exercised similar functions at the court of Berlin. He was the representative of Londonderry in the house of commons from 1801 to 1814, when he was raised to the peerage as Lord Stewart, and sworn a member of the privy council.

In 1815 he was one of the British plenipotentiaries at the congress of Vienna. In 1822, on the death of his brother, he succeeded to the marquisate of Londonderry; and in 1823 he was created Earl Vane, having in 1819 contracted a second marriage with the only daughter of Sir Harry Vane Tempest, and assumed the name and arms of Vane. In right of his wife he became possessed of large estates in Durham, for the development of which he constructed the harbor of Seaham, a vast undertaking for private enterprise. He was raised to the rank of general in 1837, and became colonel of the life guards in 1843. In 1852 he received the garter vacated by the death of the duke of Wellington. He is the author of a "History of the Peninsular War" (4to, 1808-'13), and edited the correspondence of his brother, Lord Castlereagh, which was published in 1850.