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Free Derry () 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 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 On 14 August, the British Army were deployed at the edge of the Bogside and the RUC were withdrawn.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 when, following publication of the Hunt Report, military police were allowed in.
The Irish Republican Army (IRA) began to rearm and recruit after August 1969. In December 1969, it split into the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA. Both were supported by the people of Free Derry. Meanwhile, the initially positive relations between the British Army and the nationalist community worsened. In July 1971, there was a surge of recruitment into the IRA after two young men were shot dead by British troops in Derry. The government introduced internment on 9 August 1971 in Operation Demetrius. In response, barricades were again erected around Free Derry. This time, Free Derry was defended by well-armed members of the IRA. From within the area they launched attacks on the British Army, and the Provisionals began a bombing campaign in the city centre. As before, unarmed "auxiliaries" manned the barricades, and crime was handled by a voluntary body known as the Free Derry Police.
Support for the IRA rose further after Bloody Sunday in January 1972, when 13 unarmed men and boys were shot dead by the British Parachute Regiment during a protest march in the Bogside (a 14th man was wounded and died months later). Following the Bloody Friday bombings, the British retook the "no-go" areas. Free Derry came to an end on 31 July 1972 in Operation Motorman, when thousands of British troops moved in with armoured vehicles and bulldozers.
The Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) was formed in March 1968 by members of the Derry Branch of the Northern Ireland Labour Party and the James Connolly Republican Club,McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 27 including Eamonn McCann and Eamonn Melaugh. It disrupted a meeting of Londonderry Corporation in March 1968 and in May blocked traffic by placing a caravan that was home to a family of four in the middle of the Lecky Road in the Bogside and staging a sit-down protest at the opening of the second deck of the Craigavon Bridge. The Derry March – Chronology of Events Surrounding the March , Conflict Archive on the Internet. Retrieved 11 November 2008. After the meeting of Londonderry Corporation was again disrupted in August, Eamonn Melaugh telephoned the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and invited them to hold a march in Derry. The date chosen was 5 October 1968, an ad hoc committee was formed (although in reality most of the organising was done by McCann and Melaugh) and the route was to take the marchers inside the city walls, where nationalists were traditionally not permitted to march.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 37 The Minister of Home Affairs, William Craig, made an order on 3 October prohibiting the march on the grounds that the Apprentice Boys of Derry were intending to hold a march on the same day. In the words of Martin Melaugh of CAIN "this particular tactic...provided the excuse needed to ban the march." When the marchers attempted to defy the ban on 5 October they were stopped by a Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) cordon. The police drew their batons and struck marchers, including Stormont MP Eddie McAteer and Westminster MP Gerry Fitt.Lord Cameron, Disturbances in Northern Ireland, chapter 4, paragraph 49 Subsequently, the police "broke ranks and used their batons indiscriminately on people in Duke Street". Marchers trying to escape met another party of police and "these police also used their batons indiscriminately."Lord Cameron, Disturbances in Northern Ireland, chapter 4, paragraph 51 Water cannons were also used. The police action caused outrage in the nationalist area of Derry, and at a meeting four days later the Derry Citizens' Action Committee (DCAC) was formed, with John Hume as chairman and Ivan Cooper as vice-chairman.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 45
That afternoon over 1,500 Bogside residents built , armed themselves with steel bars, wooden clubs and hurleys, and told the police that they would not be allowed into the area. DCAC chairman John Hume told a meeting of residents that they were to defend the area and no-one was to come in. Groups of men wearing patrolled the streets in shifts. A local activist painted "You are now entering Free Derry" in light-coloured paint on the blackened gable wall of a house on the corner of Lecky Road and Fahan Street.See photograph at For many years, it was believed that it was John 'Caker' Casey that painted it, but after Casey's death it emerged that it might have been another young activist, Liam Hillen. The corner where the slogan was painted, which was a popular venue for meetings, later became known as "Free Derry Corner".The houses on Lecky road and Fahan Street were subsequently demolished, but the wall was retained. It has been repainted at frequent intervals, often with additional motifs, as, for instance, when the background of the mural was temporarily painted pink in July 2007 for the Gasyard Feile and Foyle Gay pride Week: "'Free Derry' is pink with pride", BBC News On 7 January, the barricaded area was extended to include the Creggan, another nationalist area on a hill overlooking the Bogside. Irish Times, 8 January 1969 A clandestine radio station calling itself "Radio Free Derry" began broadcasting to residents,Advice given for Derry 'Revolution', The Irish Times, 11 January 1969, page 14 playing rebel songs and encouraging resistance.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 56 On a small number of occasions law-breakers attempted crimes, but were dealt with by the patrols.Calmer weekend in Derry, The Irish Times, 10 January 1969 Despite all this, the Irish Times reported that "the infrastructure of revolutionary control in the area has not been developed beyond the maintenance of patrols." Following some acts of destruction and of violence late in the week, members of the DCAC including Ivan Cooper addressed residents on Friday, 10 January and called on them to dismantle the barricades. The barricades were taken down the following morning.Derry barricades to come down, The Irish Times, 11 January 1969
The following day, several thousand residents, led by the DCAC, withdrew to the Creggan and issued an ultimatum to the RUC – withdraw within two hours or be driven out. With fifteen minutes of the two hours remaining, the police marched out through the Butcher's Gate, even as the residents were entering from the far side. The barricades were not maintained on this occasion, and routine patrols were not prevented.No major clashes in Derry, The Irish Times, 22 April 1969
Samuel Devenny suffered a heart attack four days after his beating. On 17 July he suffered a further heart attack and died.Ombudsman's Report, section 5: Mr. Devenny's death Thousands attended his funeral, and the mood was sufficiently angry that it was clear the annual Apprentice Boys' parade, scheduled for 12 August, could not take place without causing serious disturbance.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites p. 47
A deputation that included Eamonn McCann met senior army officers and told them that the army would not be allowed in until certain demands were met, including the disarming of the RUC, the disbandment of the B-Specials and the abolition of Stormont (the Parliament and Government of Northern Ireland). The officers agreed that neither troops nor police would enter the Bogside and Creggan districts.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 64 A 'peace corps' was formed to maintain law and order. When the British Home Secretary, James Callaghan, visited Northern Ireland and announced his intention to visit the Bogside on 28 August, he was told that he would not be allowed to bring either police or soldiers with him. Callaghan agreed.Callaghan to enter Bogside without bodyguard, The Irish Times, 28 August 1969, page 4 Accompanied by members of the Defence Committee, he was "swept along by a surging crowd of thousands" up Rossvile Street and into Lecky Road, where he "took refuge" in a local house,McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 69 and later addressed crowds from an upstairs window. In preparation for Callaghan's visit the "Free Derry" wall was painted white and the "You are now entering Free Derry" sign was professionally re-painted in black lettering.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 68
Following Callaghan's visit, some barricades were breached, but the majority remained while the people awaited concrete evidence of reform.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 120 Still the army made no move to enter the area. Law and order was maintained by a 'peace corps'—volunteers organised by the DCDA to patrol the streets and man the barricades. There was very little crime. Punishment, in the words of Eamonn McCann, "as often as not consisted of a stern lecture from Seán Keenan on the need for solidarity within the area."McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 67 In September the barricades were replaced with a white line painted on the road.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 121
The Hunt Report on the future of policing in Northern Ireland was presented to the Stormont cabinet in early October. Jim Callaghan held talks with the cabinet in Belfast on 10 October, following which the report's recommendations were accepted and made public. They included the recommendation that the RUC should be 'ordinarily' unarmed, and that the B-Specials should be phased out and replaced by a new force. The new RUC Chief Constable, Arthur Young, an Englishman, was announced, and travelled to Belfast with Callaghan. The same day, Seán Keenan announced that the DCDA was to be dissolved. On 11 October Callaghan and Young visited Free Derry, and on 12 October the first military police entered the Bogside, on foot and unarmed.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 72
The events of August 1969 in Derry, and more particularly in Belfast where the IRA was unable to prevent loss of life or protect families burned out of their homes, brought to a head the divisions that had already appeared within the movement between the radicals and the traditionalists, and led to a split in December 1969 into the Official IRA and the Provisional IRA.Bell, J. Bowyer, The Secret Army, pp. 366–367 Initially, both armies organised for defensive purposes only, although the Provisionals were planning towards an offensive campaign.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 163 In Derry there was far less hostility between the two organisations than elsewhere and householders commonly paid subscriptions to both.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 96 When rioters were arrested after the Officials' Easter parade in March 1970, Officials and Provisionals picketed their trial together.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 172 At the start the Officials attracted most of the younger members.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 74 Martin McGuinness, who in August 1969 had helped defend the barricades, initially joined the Officials, but a few months later left to join the Provisionals.Bishop, Patrick, and Mallie, Eamonn, The Provisional IRA, pp. 144, 155
Relations between the British Army and the residents had steadily decayed since the first appearance of troops in August 1969. In September, after clashes between nationalist and unionist crowds that led to the death of a Protestant man, William King, the British Army erected a 'peace ring' to enclose the nationalist population in the area they had previously controlled. Roads into the city centre were closed at night and people were prevented from walking on certain streets.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, pp. 136–7 Although some moderate nationalists accepted this as necessary, there was anger among young people. Clashes between youths and troops became more frequent. The riot following the Officials' Easter parade in March 1970 marked the first time that the army used '', who rushed into the Bogside wielding batons to make arrests.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 151 The snatch squads soon became a common feature of army arrest operations. There was also a belief that they were arresting people at random, sometimes days after the alleged offence, and based on the identification of people that they had seen from a considerable distance.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, pp. 81–2 The rioters were condemned as hooliganism by moderates, who saw the riots as hampering attempts to resolve the situation. The Labour radicals and Official republicans, still working together, tried to turn the youth away from rioting and create socialist organisations—one such organisation was named the Young Hooligans Association—but to no avail.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, p. 84 The Provisionals, while disapproving of riots, viewed them as the inevitable consequence of British occupation.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 155 This philosophy was more attractive to rioters, and some of them joined the Provisional IRA. The deaths of two leading Provisionals in a premature explosion in June 1970 resulted in young militants becoming more prominent in the organisation. Nevertheless, up to July 1971 the Provisional IRA remained numerically small.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 179
Two men, Séamas Cusack and Desmond Beattie, were shot dead in separate incidents in the early morning and afternoon of 8 July 1971. They were the first people to be killed by the British Army in Derry. In both cases the British Army claimed that the men were attacking them with guns or bombs, while eyewitnesses insisted that both were unarmed. The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), the newly formed party of which John Hume and Ivan Cooper were leading members, withdrew from Stormont in protest, but among residents there was a perception that moderate policies had failed. The result was a surge of support for the IRA. The Provisionals held a meeting the following Sunday at which they called on people to "join the IRA". Following the meeting, people queued up to join,McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town, pp. 89–90 and there was large-scale rioting. The British Army post at Bligh's Lane came under sustained attack, and troops there and around the city came under fire from the IRA.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites, p. 233
Gun attacks on the British Army increased. Six soldiers were wounded in the first day after internment, and shortly afterwards a soldier was killed—the first to be killed by either IRA in Derry. The army moved into the area in force on 18 August to dismantle the barricades. A gun battle ensued in which a young Provisional IRA officer, Eamonn Lafferty, was killed. A crowd staging a sit-down protest was hosed down and the protesters, including John Hume and Ivan Cooper, arrested. With barricades re-appearing as quickly as they were removed, the army eventually abandoned their attempt.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites pp. 238–9
The Derry Provisionals had little contact with the IRA elsewhere. They had few weapons (about twenty) which they used mainly for sniping.Bishop, Patrick, and Mallie, Eamonn, The Provisional IRA pp.196–7 At the same time, they launched their bombing campaign in Derry. Unlike in Belfast, they were careful to avoid killing or injuring civilians. Eamonn McCann wrote that "the Derry Provos, under Martin McGuinness, had managed to bomb the city centre until it looked as if it had been hit from the air without causing any civilian casualties."McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town p. 106
Although both IRAs operated openly, neither was in control of Free Derry. The barricades were manned by unarmed 'auxiliaries'.Ó Dochartaigh, Niall, From Civil Rights to Armalites p. 243 Crime was dealt with by a volunteer force called the Free Derry Police, which was headed by Tony O'Doherty, a Derry footballer and Northern Ireland International.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town p. 100
Political pressure for the action against the "no-go" areas increased after the events of Bloody Friday in Belfast. A British Army attack was considered inevitable, and the IRA took the decision not to resist it.McCann, Eamonn, War and an Irish Town p. 114 On 31 July 1972, Operation Motorman was launched when thousands of British troops, equipped with armoured cars and armoured bulldozers (AVREs), dismantled the barricades and occupied the area. Operation Banner: An Analysis of Military Operations in Northern Ireland , prepared under the direction of the Chief of the General Staff. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
Many of the residents' original grievances were addressed with the passing of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972, which redrew the electoral boundaries and introduced universal adult suffrage based on the single transferable vote. Elections were held in May 1973.Callanan, Mark and Keogan, Justin F., Local Government in Ireland, Institute of Public Administration, Dublin, 2003, p. 462 Nationalists gained a majority on the council for the first time since 1923. Since then the area has been extensively redeveloped, with modern housing replacing the old houses and flats. The Free Derry era is commemorated by the Free Derry wall, the murals of the Bogside Artists and the Museum of Free Derry.Davenport, Fionn et al., Ireland, Lonely Planet, Melbourne, 2006,p. 629
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