Free Derry

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Free Derry was the name given to the self-declared autonomous republican region of Derry, Northern Ireland, following the Battle of the Bogside of August 12-August 14, 1969.

Over the course of 1968-69, Derry was the scene of intense rioting beween nationalist protesters and the Royal Ulster Constabulary. "Free Derry" arose out of a perceived need to keep the RUC and British soldiers out of the Catholic nationalist Bogside area.

In January 1969, a march by the radical group People's Democracy from Belfast to Derry was attacked by loyalists at Burntollet, five miles outside Derry. When the marchers (many of whom were injured) arrived in Derry on January 5, rioting broke out between their supporters and the RUC, who were seen to have failed to protect the march. That night, RUC members broke into homes in the Catholic Bogside area and assaulted several residents. An inquiry led by Lord Cameron concluded that, "a number of policemen were guilty of misconduct, which involved assault and battery, malicious damage to property...and the use of provocative sectarian and political slogans" ^[1]. After this incident, barricades were set up in the Bogside and vigilante patrols organised to keep the RUC out. It was at this point that famous slogan "You are now entering Free Derry" was painted on the corner of Columbs street by a local activist named John Casey.

On August 12, 1969 severe rioting broke out in Derry after the loyalist Apprentice Boys of Derry annual parade, part of which passed by the Bogside. After the RUC attempted to disperse nationalist rioters and followed them into the Bogside, pitched battles were fought between Bogside residents and the RUC in the "Battle of the Bogside". Barricades were put up around the Bogside, Brandywell and the Creggan-all Catholic and nationalist neighbourhoods. When the police were withdrawn from the area, the Irish republican dominated Derry Citizen's Defence Association effectively took over policing of the area. From this time until mid 1972, "Free Derry" was therefore a reality, in that the state forces were unable to enter or control much of the city.

The autonomy was celebrated by a "Liberation Fleadh" on August 30-August 31, 1969, described by organizers as a "manifestation of mass happiness," one of the more situationist aspects of this autonomous zone.

During this time, the Irish Republican Army split into the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA. Both factions had a presence in Free Derry and organised attacks from the "no-go" area on British Army troops. A community alert system, often neighborhood women banging garbage can lids, was used to alert the IRA to patrols by the security forces into the area.

The level of violence in the city escalated considerably after Bloody Sunday (1972), when 14 nationalist protesters were shot dead by British troops in the Bogside in January 1972. The Official IRA called off its campaign in May of that year after local people demonstrated against their killing of a local youth who was home on leave from the British Army. The Provisional IRA, which would become the dominant faction, continued its armed actions however. Free Derry represented a major security problem for the authorities, as it provided a base for IRA attacks. For this reason, the British Army mounted a major operation, known as Operation Motorman, to re-take the area and re-establish control over it. On 31 July 1972, several thousand British troops, equipped with tanks, armoured cars and armoured bulldozers, dismantled the barricades and occupied the area. The PIRA did not resist as it did not have the numbers, arms or training to take on a British operation of this magnitude.

This represented the end of "Free Derry", as an autonomous zone.