The Other View

What’s In a Name?

By Tommy McKearney

The problem with having strangers visit the northern part of this island is that they tend not to understand the imaginary differences between the area's inhabitants. Touring Americans, for example, are generally of the opinion that the McIvors and McBirneys and the McGuinnesses and McKennas are all part of a homogeneous Irishness. Day-tripping Dubliners, on the other hand, are unable to recognise distinctive physical features such as shifty eyes and untrustworthy chins that invariably exposes the prejudices of the speaker more than the politics of the passer-by. Even local experts can sometimes be bamboozled. The current popularity of soap opera first names makes it much more problematic to place a Kylie, Charlene or Britany than a Seamus, a Kevin or a Trevor. One issue, however, that allows for no wriggle room or ambivalence for either stranger or native is the great debate over the proper name of the capital city of the Northwest - should we call the place Derry or Londonderry?

For the benefit of visitors to this part of the world, Catholics call it Derry, Protestants prefer Londonderry and gutsy old BBC Northern Ireland uses Foyleside. As is often the case with contentious issues in this region, partisans almost always say that their own favoured description is 'the right and proper version'.
Catholics and nationalist refer back to the old Gaelic name for the area, Doire Cholmcille and insist that since this is the older, and possibly original name, that this should have priority. Educated unionists counter this by saying that Doire Cholmcille is not exactly Derry and that if historic precedent is to be the guiding principle then there is probably an even older, pre-Celtic name. The uneducated unionist response is best left for some other arena.

Unionist and/or Protestant reasoning for use of the Londonderry tag rests on the very substantial investment made by City of London merchants in the town in the 17thCentury and the subsequent granting of a royal charter to the trustees of the administrative body known as the Irish Society in 1613. In addition, it is usually also said that prior to the merchants arrival the area was a minor backwater with few prospects. Learned nationalists reply to this argument by asking whether a 17th Century royal decree should be binding today and moreover, if hefty investment is the yardstick for naming an area then the town might very well now be known as Heustonderry or Bostonderry. Less learned nationalist comment is needless to say, less well argued.

There is of course precedent for naming and renaming towns and cities in Ireland and abroad. In the last century, the Rebel County of Cork took grave exception to their main port being known as Queenstown and renamed it Cobh as soon as they had the opportunity. Russians also excel at name changing. They have had a ball with what was originally known as St. Petersburg. During a bout of anti-German feeling they re-named the city Petrograd and then in a period of pro Bolshevik fervour changed this to Leningrad and recently have reverted to St. Petersburg.
The real point about these name changes is that the re-naming was politically inspired. This turns out to be the case more often than not. Zimbabwe instead of Rhodesia, Kampuchea rather than Cambodia or Ho Chi Minn City replacing Saigon were all politically motivated decisions and all used to send out a clear message. There are instances when name changes are cultural rather than political but this tends to happen less often. There is nothing inherently wrong with having political motivation per se as the reason for a change of name. If history were to be the only the only yardstick, O'Connell Street in Dublin would still be called Sackville Street and every town in Germany would have one of its 1930 era streets known as Adolf Hitler Strasse.

More often than not, the best way to decide on the name for a city or country is to leave it to the inhabitants to decide what they want. There is rarely an objective yardstick and ultimately popular choice must also be the best and fairest method of deciding what name is used for the capital of the Northwest. A majority in the city would undoubtedly opt for Derry leaving the minority feeling disgruntled, for a while at least. However, it might soften unionist anger a little if they were to look at a monument dedicated to the original UVF erected in the nearby Church of Ireland in Altnagelvin. It uses the word 'Derry' with no difficulty and thus might ease unionist pain knowing that the word was thought appropriate for those who fought at the Somme.

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