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Through the efforts of its outward-looking people and its seafaring traditions over the centuries, Derry has managed to extend its influence far across the globe. Its strategic position on the cusp of two different Ireland’s gives it an ‘edginess’ not unlike Berlin, Trieste or Istanbul, albeit on a smaller scale. This edginess has also found expression in great endeavours in music, literature and the arts generally and in the world of politics. It is no surprise that Derry people brought these skills and attributes with them when they settled abroad.
An openness to the outside world has seen Derry impress its stamp in many countries. This was particularly evident in the United States where Derry people of both traditions, the Gaelic Catholic Irish and the Ulster-Scots Protestants, have left strong marks over the centuries by establishing settlements and implanting their traditions. Owing to its westerly location, Derry was seen as being halfway between London and the American colonies – the obvious launch point to the Americas.
From about 1680, a trickle of emigrants arrived in the American colonies mainly from Donegal, Derry and Tyrone. Links had also been forged between Foyle Presbyterians and American Presbyterianism at the end of the 17th century.
The first significant migration from Derry to the American colonies was during the early 18th century. This first migration was led by James McGregor, a Presbyterian minister from Magilligan. In 1718, he led several hundred Presbyterian people from the Bann Valley who sailed from Coleraine and Derry to Boston. The following year, the migrants established a settlement in New Hampshire, first called Nutfield and later, Derry with McGregor as its Presbyterian minister, the first in New England. Later in the century, Derry emigrants (along with those from other northern counties) spread farther, mainly through Pennsylvania, Virginia and the Carolinas and eventually to Tennessee and Kentucky.
Derry established itself as one of the chief Irish ports for transatlantic trade in the 18th century. Flaxseed, the raw material of the linen industry, was shipped to Derry from Philadelphia in the early spring, and on the return voyage, linen and emigrants were destined for Philadelphia. The flax-growing areas of New York, New England and Pennsylvania became essential to the success of the linen industry in Derry and throughout the northern counties of Ireland.
In the early 1800s, the famous Du Pont company of Philadelphia encouraged migration of workers from Derry through pre-paying their passages and general acts of paternalism. These historic ties with Derry culminated in the establishment in the late 20th century of a Du Pont factory on the outskirts of Derry which in its day, became a major employer in Derry.
A steady flow of emigrants left Derry in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars from 1815 onwards. In the middle of the century, Derry port was one of the major points of embarkation for persons emigrating as a result of the Great Famine. In 1847 alone, 12,385 people left the port for America.
The largest and most well-known ‘Derry’ in the United States is in New Hampshire. It officially became a township in 1827 and linked to its Ulster connections, became famous for the production of linen and textiles. A small town by American standards (pop. 34,300), it was the birthplace of US astronaut, Alan Shepherd and the home for a period, of poet, Robert Frost.
Other US states with Derry placenames include Louisiana, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Colorado. Derry in Louisiana and New Mexico are unincorporated communities and there are numerous places known as Derry Township.
Derry, Oregon was named after Derry in New Hampshire where the father of a resident of the community hailed from. It is situated in Polk County named after the 11th President of the United States, James Polk and located near the Pacific ocean.
Derry, Louisiana, also a small community, is situated in the centre of the state in bayou country. It is renowned for being the location of a US National Park, the Magnolia Planation which attracts many visitors annually.
The state of Pennsylvania has four townships named Derry: in Dauphin County, Mifflin County, Montour County and Westmoreland County respectively. This abundance is not surprising, as the first port of call for most Ulster-Scots in the 18th and 19th centuries was Pennsylvania, a religiously-tolerant and ‘free-thinking’ colony at the time.
Dauphin County’s Derry Township was incorporated in 1729. This positioned the township securely in the decades immediately before the period of ferment during the Revolutionary War and American Independence.
Derry in Westmoreland County was established in 1852 and was so named because the area’s first settlers after the Native-Americans were Ulster-Scots. Interestingly, the township’s crest includes a depiction of the cross of St. George – strangely, no mention on the crest of Ireland’s patron saint!
Derry in New Mexico is situated in Sierra County in the southwestern part of the state, near the Mexican border. It was founded in 1869 and remains a small farming community.
The town of Derry also exists in the world of US fiction. It is the name of the central location in a number of novels by the famous writer, Stephen King. His fictional town of Derry in the state of Maine is situated near two other towns, also with a ring of County Derry, Coleraine and Castlerock.
Derry’s influence on the US would be incomplete without mention of John Hume. Few politicians were as well-known, respected and liked in the corridors of power and beyond as John Hume. Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and many other senior US politicians listened intently when Hume talked about Irish affairs.
For a small city on the north-west coast of Europe, Derry has had a notable influence on many parts of the United States. This also applies in a variety of ways to the influence of Derry people also in Britain, Canada and Australia. The kind of migration identified above may not continue as strongly in the future, but it has helped Derry leave a lasting mark abroad.
*Paul McElhinney is a writer living in Wexford. He writes for a number of journals and is the author of the ‘Lion of the RAF’. He used to work in the Department of the Taoiseach in Dublin and is a very regular visitor to Derry where his family hails from.
Related topics:DerryAmericanIrelandColeraine
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