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Apprentice Boys' Memorial Hall Review

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Apprentice Boys' Memorial Hall

Address: Society St., West Bank, Derry
Phone: 028/7126-3571

Category: Historic Districts/Sites
Location: Derry

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Fodor's Review:

Imposing in its Scottish Baronial fortified grandeur, Apprentice Boys' Memorial Hall is a meeting place for the exclusively Protestant organization set up in 1715 to honor 13 apprentice boys who slammed the city gate in the face of the Catholic King James in 1688 and sparked the Siege of Derry, which has been a symbol of Protestant stubbornness ever since. Inside there's an initiation room in which 20,000 have pledged to uphold Protestant values, and a magnificently chaotic museum filled to the brim with furniture, firearms, books, bombs, swords, and sculpture. It's a fascinating glimpse into a mostly closed world. An upstairs bar and dance hall—now used for meetings, initiations, and social events organized by the Apprentice Boys—has walls lined with 12 banners representing the lost tribes of Israel. (Some Protestants believe the lost tribes of Israel ended up in Northern Ireland and are their forebears.) A new exhibition showcasing the story of the siege was added in 2007.

Cost: Donations accepted
Open: June-Aug., weekdays 10-4:30; tours by appointment.

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