One of Ireland’s grandest Cathedrals

St Eugene was reputedly an early Irish monk from Dublin who foretold the coming of St Columba. Columba did come and over time his monastery grew large and became ‘Temple Mor’ where the present Long Tower Church is now located. This served Derry for over 300 years before it was seized and destroyed by English Forces in 1568. In 1600, Sir Henry Dowcra entered Derry with a force of 4,000 soldiers and again tore down Teampall Mór and used its stone to build parts of The Derry Walls. After a local bishop was murdered by English yeomanry in 1601, no Catholic bishop was able to reside in the city until 1720. It was only after the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 when the penal laws were relaxed that the Catholic community was able to contemplate building a new Cathedral. St Eugene’s was designed by J.J. McCarthy (1817-1882) and the first stone was laid in 1851. McCarthy was the most outstanding church architect in Ireland of his time and his other works include St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh and St. Mary’s Church in Dingle. The impressive 256 ft spire was only completed in 1903 due to lack of funding. A statue of St Eugene is set in a niche in the tower above the main entrance doors. Its bells still ring every night at 9 pm as a reminder of the Penal Laws which forbade Catholics to attend mass and subjected them to a 9 pm curfew!

Bronagh Gallagher is a singer and actress from Derry City. Her prolific career has had her perform on stage, in plays, and in blockbuster movies such as  The Commitments, Pulp Fiction, and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. Bronagh is still active as the lead soul singer in her self-named band.