Insert Headline

In its annual report the NIEA states it has been working in partnership with key stakeholders to maximise the potential of the Walls.

The report states: “This work as part of the Walled City Signature Project has delivered a Conservation Plan and Management Plan for the monument as well as interpretative panels and the conservation of nearby listed buildings.

“This year a management group has been established and is helping to ensure delivery of new lighting, wardens seating and well coordinated events.

“With 215,000 people estimated to have visited the monument free of charge last year this is by far the most popular NIEA site.”

The NIEA is one of a number of agencies that promotes the Walls and on its website hails the historic site as the “only surviving complete series of city walls in Ireland” and “one of the first major pieces of urban planning in Ireland.”

Built for the Irish Society between 1613 and 1618, the walls were besieged in 1641, in 1648 and 1649, when the Parliamentarians held out against the Royalists and were relieved by General Owen Roe O'Neill, and in 1688-9 for 105 days against the forces of James II.

The NIEA suggests a recommended clockwise route around the walls starting at the north-east beside Shipquay Gate.

It describes St Columb's Cathedral (1628-33) in the south angle of the walls as “one of the most remarkable buildings of the Ulster Plantation.”