MURALS IN DERRY

In the Bogside neighbourhood, just outside Derry city, visitors are confronted by gigantic and visually stunning murals. They serve as artistic
landmarks and powerful reminders of the dark days of the “Troubles.” Bogside was once the site of some of the most disturbing and tragic events of
the conflict.

The Civil Rights Mural

The Beginning

This is one of the latest murals by 'the Bogside Artists'. The completed mural was unveiled in the summer of 2004. The mural is situated on
Rossville Street in the Bogside area of Derry.

"This mural commemorates the beginning of the struggle in Derry for democratic rights. It cannot be stressed too often that this struggle
involved Protestants as well as Catholics. Our mural shows a typical march of the period. Our intention was to describe it as it was, a happy,
almost festive occasion. These early marches were inspired by the civil disobedience campaigns of Martin Luther King."William Kelly,
Bogside Artists

Operation Motorman
The Summer Invasion

The photograph shows a mural painted by 'the Bogside Artists'. The mural was completed in July 2001 and is situated on
Rossville Street in the Bogside area of Derry. The mural depicts some of the events that occured during 'Operation
Motorman' on 31 July 1972.

Operation Motorman was a large operation carried out by the British Army in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The
operation took place in the early hours of 31 July 1972 with the aim of retaking the "no-go areas" (areas controlled by
residents, including Irish republican paramilitaries) that had been established in Belfast and other urban centres.
In Derry, Operation Carcan (or Car Can), initially proposed as a separate operation, was executed as part of Motorman.

Bernadette
Battle of the Bogside
The mural depicts some scenes from the 'Battle of the Bogside' which took place in August 1969. The mural shows
Bernadette McAliskey (Devlin at the time) addressing the crowds on the streets of the Bogside. She later received a prison
sentence for taking part in, and inciting, a riot.
The painting uses a number of triangular themes echoing the 'Free Derry Corner' wall which is a focal point of the painting.
The bin lid in the foreground was used by women and children in Catholic areas throughout Northern Ireland to alert people of
an impending raid by the British Army. The mural was painted in 1996.This is a mural painted by 'the Bogside Artists'. The
painting is based on the events of the Hunger Strike. The mural was unveiled on Tuesday 25 July 2000 and is situated on Rossville Street in the
Bogside area of Derry.

Death Of Innocence
Annette McGavigan Mural
Annette McGavigan (1 June 1957 – 6 September 1971) was a 14-year-old girl fatally wounded by
a gunshot in crossfire between British soldiers and the IRA on 6 September 1971. McGavigan's family has claimed that
the bullet which killed her was fired by a British soldier.
After three years of conflict in Northern Ireland, Annette became the 100th civilian to be killed in the Troubles. No
individual has been charged with her death.
The mural is close to the site where she died.

Bloody Sunday Commemoration

Bloody Sunday Victims

The mural contains portraits of the 14 people who were killed by the British Army on 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry on 30
January 1972. In addition to the portraits, there are also 14 oak leaves with each leaf symbolising one of the victims.
Derry takes its name from the Irish word Doire meaning oakgrove.

This mural was completed to coincide with the 27th anniversary of the shootings in January 1999.
 Bloody Sunday Mural
January 30th, 1972

This mural depicts one of the events that took place on 'Bloody Sunday' in Derry on 30 January 1972. On this day the
British Army opened fire on a Civil Rights demonstration and killed 14 people. The mural shows a group men, led by a
local Catholic priest (later to become Bishop Daly), carrying the body of Jack (Jackie) Duddy from the scene of the
shooting. Depicted in the background are the marchers carrying a 'civil rights' banner. The same banner became
bloodstained when used to cover the body of one of those killed.

This mural was painted in 1997 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday' on 30 January 1972.

Hunger Strike
Raymond Mc Cartney Mural

The first of the two major hunger strikes began on 27 October 1980 and ended on 18 December 1980 after a period
of 53 days. Raymond Mc Cartney, the main subject in the mural, was one of those who took part. Initally seven
Republican prisoners in the H-blocks of the Maze Prison volunteered to go on hunger strike. They were followed on 1
December 1980 by 3 women prisoners in Armagh prison. A further 23 Republican prisoners joined the strike on 15
December 1980. The first hunger strike was called off when the prisoners thought that the government had conceded
on the issue of political status. The entire episode together with the second hunger strike in 1981 when ten men,
including Bobby Sands, lost their lives left an indelible scar on the Bogside.

The Petrol Bomber

Battle of the Bogside
The above mural depicts some scenes from the 'Battle of the Bogside' which took place the Bogside area of Derry in August
1969. The mural shows a young boy in a gas mask - which he used to try to protect himself from the CS gas used by the
Royal Ulster Police - holding a petrol bomb. The mural was painted in 1994.
 The Runner
The mural depicts a very typical sight from the troubles. Tear gas was used extensively in riot
situations. This image shows a young boy in full flight, seconds after a can of CS gas has been
fired. It compliments the mural of the soldier on the ajoining wall, relating to Operation
Motorman, which took place mainly in the Creggan area of the city.
The two portraits within the mural are of Manus Deery (top) and Charles Love (bottom). Manus
Deery was a 15 year old boy who was shot dead on 19 May 1972. He was hit by fragments
from a ricochet bullet fired by a British Army sniper from an observation post on the city walls.
Charles Love was 16 years old when he was killed on 28 January 1990. He had been watching
a Bloody Sunday commemoration march when the IRA exploded a bomb on the city walls. The
bomb was intended to kill or injure security force members on the city walls but flying debris
struck Charles Love who was standing a quarter of a mile from the site of the bomb.

You are now entering free Derry

John “Caker” Casey
Free Derry Corner is a historical landmark in the Bogside neighbourhood of Derry, Northern Ireland, which lies in the
intersection of the Lecky Road, Rossville Street and Fahan Street. A free-standing gable wall commemorates Free
Derry, a self-declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry that existed between 1969 and 1972. On the corner is a
memorial to the 1981 hunger strikers and several murals. There is also a memorial to those who died engaging in
paramilitary activity as part of the Provisional IRA's Derry Brigade.

Blog : https://www.voyage-yukon.net/bogside-derry/