Free Derry

Free Derry (Irish: Saor Dhoire) was a self-declared autonomous Irish nationalist area of Derry, Northern Ireland that existed between 1969 and 1972 during the Troubles. It emerged during the Northern Ireland civil rights movement, which sought to end discrimination against the Irish Catholic/nationalist minority by the Protestant/unionist government. The civil rights movement highlighted the sectarianism and police brutality of the overwhelmingly Protestant police force, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). The area, which included the mainly Catholic Bogside and Creggan neighbourhoods, was first secured by community activists on 5 January 1969 following an incursion into the Bogside by RUC officers. Residents built barricades and carried clubs and similar arms to prevent the RUC from entering. Its name was taken from a sign painted on a gable wall in the Bogside that read, "You are now entering Free Derry." For six days, the region was a no-go area, after which the residents dismantled the barricades and RUC patrols resumed. Tensions remained high over the following months. On 12 August 1969, sporadic violence led to the Battle of the Bogside, a three-day pitched battle between thousands of residents and the RUC, which spread to other parts of Northern Ireland. Barricades were rebuilt, petrol bomb "factories" and first aid posts were established and a radio transmitter ("Radio Free Derry") broadcast messages calling for resistance. The RUC fired CS gas into the Bogside, the first time that gas had been employed by UK police. On 14 August, the British Army were deployed at the edge of the Bogside and the RUC were withdrawn. The Derry Citizens Defence Association (DCDA) declared their intention to hold the area against both the RUC and the British Army until their demands were met. The British Army made no attempt to enter the area. The situation continued until October 1969...