Pageant tells of sadness of the Siege

Estimates of the amount of deaths within the city in the 105-day-long vary but it is not excessive to suggest that upwards of 8,000 men, women and children perished in the stand-off which became a centrifugal point in the course of the Glorious Revolution and one of the climatic episodes of the Williamite Wars.

For several years now as part of the week long Maiden City Festival which concludes with the Relief of Derry parade, one of the highlights of the day before the beginning of the actual walk is the Relief of Londonderry Pageant. This Pageant held at noon at Carlisle Circus at the city side end of Craigavon Bridge relates the dramatic story of the Siege and provides the last act of the Festival before the parade begins in full.

The Relief of Londonderry Pageant is a case of making history accessible through live performance on the very streets affected by the events of over three centuries ago. Performed by the Crimson Players, a drama group dedicated to the historical re-enactments of the period, the annual event attracts throngs of spectators to the edge of Craigavon Bridge to watch the events unfold.

One of the founding members of the Crimson Players is Valerie Moore who again took part in Saturday’s pageant. Valerie plays the mother of a character known as ‘young McGimpsey’ whom it befalls to swim upstream against the heavy tide of the River Foyle to warn the city that the Jacobite army was approaching and tragically drowns in the process. Valerie relates the grief of a mother in such a dire situation.

“I am proud and privileged each year to take part in this commemoration of the events of the Siege and relate the tragedy that unfolded in Londonderry over three hundred years ago,” she said.