Ireland Day 5 - The First Concert

On Tuesday morning, after breakfast, we met in the garden of St. Columb's Park House, where Mr. Kammel had prepared a warm-up for body and mind for us. For an hour, he worked intensively with us on our breathing combined with balance exercises and full-body movement. To relax, we formed two rows and Massaged each other's shoulders and back, which felt very good. In another exercise, we stood opposite each other in pairs, with one person dictating movements and the other person mirroring them. It was a beautiful sunny start to the day, where we could sort out the events of the past few days and focus our minds.

After that, we relaxed and started our planned city tour of Derry. Two German-speaking tour guides led a tour around the wall that separates a Protestant part of the otherwise Catholic city.

Derry, or Londonderry, is a city on the River Foyle. The name Derry dates back to the old Irish name Daire, which means "oak grove". The inhabitants of Northern Ireland also call the city "City of bones" or "The maiden city".

The former is due to the fact that Halloween in Derry is the biggest festival of the year. On October 31, the otherwise very pretty city transforms into a city of bones decorated with Halloween decorations.

The latter has a deeper, political, and more important meaning. The designation The maiden City refers to the fact that the city was not "fallen" or "broken" during the entire war between Catholics and Protestants. Historically, this cannot be fully proven.

In addition, Derry is not only the second largest city in Northern Ireland but also one of the oldest in all of Ireland.

In Derry, there is a wall that was built from 1613-1619 to protect against the first Scottish and English settlers. These walls are still completely intact today.

During our tour around the 1.5 kilometer long wall, we heard a lot about the conflicts, protests, and tragedies that took place in Northern Ireland. The heroes of these fights and conflicts are immortalized on the walls of some houses. A portrait of a 13-year-old girl who was shot by a policeman in front of her house, depictions of protests, and pictures of the 26 people who lost their lives in the Bloody Sunday protest.

The Bloody Sunday / Bogside massacre was a massacre that took place on January 30, 1972, in which 26 unarmed civilians were shot dead by British soldiers during a protest. To this day, no one has been held accountable for this horrific act, as the British crown still holds back documents that could help with the investigation.

The history of Derry and Northern Ireland is very interesting and extends into the present. Many events are not long ago. The inhabitants of Ireland do not like to talk about the conflicts. Therefore, the desire for peace is even greater. Landmarks like the Peace Bridge, which extends from one side of the River Foyle to the other, are symbols of this peace.

In the evening at 6 p.m., we gathered at St. Columb's Park House to warm up and prepare for the first concert on this concert tour. This took place at 7:30 p.m. in Christ Church in Londonderry and was also performed by the Codetta Youth Choir and Codetta Junior Choir. We started the concert with a half-hour block, followed by the two choirs each performing for about 15 minutes, and we rounded off the concert with four more pieces. Two of our singers, Sam and Vanessa, hosted our pieces during the concert and did an excellent job. The end of the concert was formed by the pieces 'You will be found' followed by 'Nearer my god', both of which were well received by the audience. As an encore, we sang 'Kein schöner Land' and, of course, 'An Irish Blessing' was not to be missed, with some in the audience reciting the text. It was a truly successful concert and we were rewarded with a plentiful and delicious dinner at a pizzeria. The mood was lively and we didn't miss the opportunity to perform the Irish song 'And the auld triangle', which Michael had taught us in Balbriggan three days earlier, between the starter and main course. And so, another day in Londonderry came to an end before we set off back to Ireland on Wednesday.