e
G LONDONDEREY EIOTS INQUIRY COMMISSION, 1869.
The Mayor's evi- Mayor of tlie city, though labouring under indisposition, kindly attended to give
(lence, 5o86. evidence to which, especially when it is considered that it is the sixth occasion of his
Sir JJ. Keid, 4213. fiUing the post of Chief Magistrate, we attach no little importance. The gentleman
who filled the same office, during the years 1867 and 1868, was likewise examined
before us, as were several local magistrates and other gentlemen of position in the
borough. Several traders and shopkeepers also, whose business brought them into
close and intimate relation with the humbler classes of the population; who were, on
all hands, admitted to have the best means of knowing the sentiments and opinions of
these classes ; and whose personal veracity was not only unimpeached, but was frankly
and cheerfully attested, by those whose own views were least in harmony with theirs,
gave us the full benefit of the information possessed by them, and supplied us with,
perhaps, the most valuable evidence which we have had to consider. At the outset,
we had some apprehension that the witnesses produced, or' tendering themselves for
examination, might come too exclusively from one political party; but, before our
Inquiry closed, we found that any such idea was erroneous, and that Conservatives as
well as Liberals, Tories as well as Whigs, were amply represented in the witness-chair.
It gave us great satisfaction, too, having regard to some of the questions most urgently
demanding to be considered, under the terms of your Excellency's warrant, to have the
voluntary and very frank evidence, as it certainly appeared to us, of the governor and
other of&ce-bearers of the Apprentice Boys, and of a gentleman holding the position of
a Deputy Grand Master of the Orangemen of Ireland. Though, amongst such a body
of witnesses, it was only natural to expect a good deal of diversity of opinion, on almost
any question, and not the least on those that formed the subjects of our Inquiry, it gives
us much gratification to say that the suggestions and recommendations which we now
feel it our duty to submit to your Excellency would, we are convinced, be approved of
by the great majority of the inhabitants of Londonderry, whether Protestant or Catholic,
Conservative or Liberal.
To one class of witnesses that appeared before us we have not yet referred, namely,
the officers and men of the Eoyal Irish Constabulary force, from time to time on duty
in Londonderry. Their evidence, on the points as to which they were examined, was
clear and satisfactory, and was of the greatest importance, in connexion with portions of
the investigation intrusted to us.
We shall now submit to your Excellency the results of our Inquiry, doing so, as far
as possible, in the order in which each subject has been referred to us for consideration;
but, to avoid needless repetition, we shall group together the facts bearing on the
" existing local arrangements for the preservation of the peace of the city of London¬
derry ; the magisterial jurisdiction exercised within it; and the amount and constitution
and efficiency of the police force usually available there." It would hardly be possible
to take these subjects separately into consideration; doing so would only cause incon¬
venience and confusion.
Viile Map, p. 22. The city of Londonderry stands mainly on the left or western bank of the River Foyle,
which at this point is a broad and noble stream, being spanned by an iron bridge 1,200
feet in length. The old walled-in city, of historic celebrity, stands entirely on the left
bank, built on a hill crowned by the Protestant Cathedral, and is in circumference
about an English mile ; the wall being pierced by six gateways, but without gates. This
portion, with its adjacent sub-mural extensions, is connected by the bridge just mentioned
Stat 31 & 32 Vict another portion, on the right bank, known as Waterside. The parliamentary and
cap. 4!), s. 9. ' municipal boundaries of Londonderry are now the same, and extend, on both sides of the
Foyle, to a considerable distance outside the districts as yet built on; but of late years
the streets and houses, within the boundary, seem to have been pretty steadily on the
increase. The city contains several flour-mills, two distilleries, three breweries, two
foundries, five tan-yards, and several extensive shirt factories, and shows decided indica¬
tions of commercial prosperity. The Coleraine and Derry Railway, running northward,
by the eastern shore of Lough Foyle, connects it with the north-eastern railway system;
the Derry and Enniskillen line unites it with the central railways of Ireland. As the
connexions thus formed have no unimportant bearing on matters which it became our duty
to inquire into, we think it well to notice the fact, for your Excellency's information.
While touching on the topographical position of Londonderry, we think it important
to direct your Excellency's attention to a circumstance to which the evidence, given in
our Appendix, in several places refers. 'I he portion of the city and liberties comprising,
as we have pointed out, by far the principal part, on the left bank of the Foyle, would
seem properly to belong to the county of Donegal, the river being the natural boundary
Census 1861. between that county and the county of Londonderry. Now, Donegal is, with the
exception of Cavan, the most Catholic of the nine Ulster counties, while Londonderry is
one of the most Protestant; the proportion of Catholics to Protestants in Donegal a
