Battle of the Bogside facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of the Bogside |
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| Part of the Troubles and the 1969 Northern Ireland riots |
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Bogsiders defending their barricades
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| Date | 12–14 August 1969 | ||
| Location |
Derry, Northern Ireland, UK
54°59′52″N 7°19′38″W / 54.99778°N 7.32722°W |
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| Caused by | (see Why it happened) | ||
| Methods | large-scale rioting | ||
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The Battle of the Bogside was a big three-day clash that happened in Derry, Northern Ireland. It took place from August 12 to 14, 1969. Thousands of Catholic residents from the Bogside area fought against the police, known as the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), and loyalists.
This event started more violence across Northern Ireland. It led to the British Army being sent in. Many people see it as the start of a long conflict called the Troubles, which lasted for about 30 years.
The fighting began when a group called the Apprentice Boys of Derry marched past the Catholic Bogside area. The RUC pushed back the Catholic crowd and moved into the Bogside. Loyalists followed, attacking Catholic homes. Bogside residents fought back with stones and petrol bombs.
People in the Bogside built barricades to protect themselves. They also set up first aid stations and places to make petrol bombs. A special radio station, "Radio Free Derry," broadcast messages asking people to keep fighting. The RUC used CS gas against the residents. This was the first time this type of gas was used by police in the UK. Residents worried that another police group, the Ulster Special Constabulary (B-Specials), would be sent in and hurt many Catholics.
The Irish Army set up hospitals near the border with the Republic of Ireland. The Irish government asked for United Nations peacekeeping forces to come to Derry. On August 14, the British Army arrived, and the RUC left. The British Army did not go into the Bogside. This area became a "no-go area" called Free Derry. This situation lasted until October 1969, when military police were allowed in.
Contents
Why it happened
Tensions had been growing in Derry for over a year before the Battle of the Bogside. This was partly because of long-standing problems for many people in the city. Derry had more Catholic and nationalist residents than Protestants. For example, in 1961, there were about 36,000 Catholics and 17,000 Protestants.
However, the city had been controlled by the Ulster Unionist Party since 1925. This was due to a practice called gerrymandering. This meant drawing election areas in a way that gave one group more power.
Unfair treatment
Unionists kept political control of Derry in two main ways. First, they drew the boundaries of voting areas unfairly. This gave unionists more elected representatives in the city council. Even though nationalists had won control of the city council in 1921, unionists redrew the boundaries to get it back.
Second, only people who owned or rented a home could vote in local elections. Nationalists said this rule was kept by unionists to reduce the number of anti-unionist votes. In Derry, 61.6% of people could vote in national elections, but only 54.7% could vote in local elections. There was also a lot of unfairness in getting jobs.
Because of this, even though Catholics made up 60% of Derry's population in 1961, unionists had 12 seats on the city council compared to 8 for nationalists. If nationalists were about to win a voting area, the boundaries were changed again. Controlling the city council also meant unionists controlled who got public housing. They gave housing in a way that kept Catholics in certain areas. This also caused a shortage of homes for Catholic families.
Another problem was that government decisions often favored the eastern part of Northern Ireland, which was mostly Protestant. This was highlighted by the Cameron Commission after the riots of 1968. For example, a naval training school in Derry was closed in 1965. This added 600 people to the unemployment list, which was already nearly 20%. Also, Northern Ireland's new town was built in Craigavon, and the second university was placed in Coleraine. Coleraine was a mainly unionist town, even though Derry was much larger and the second biggest city.
People stand up for their rights
In March 1968, a small group started the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC). They wanted to force the government to change its housing rules. The group included local members of the Northern Ireland Labour Party, like Eamonn McCann. It also had members of the James Connolly Republican Club. The DHAC took direct action, such as blocking roads. They also went to local council meetings without being invited. They did this to help Catholic families who had been waiting a long time for council housing.
By mid-1968, this group joined with the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA). They pushed for bigger changes across Northern Ireland. On October 5, 1968, these activists planned a march through Derry. However, the march was banned. When the marchers, including Members of Parliament Eddie McAteer and Ivan Cooper, went ahead anyway, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) hit them with batons.
Gerry Fitt, a Member of Parliament from West Belfast, brought three British MPs to watch the march. Fitt was at the front and was also hit by RUC officers. TV news showed Fitt, a British MP, with a bloody head and shirt. These images were seen around the world. The police actions made many people angry, especially Catholics in Northern Ireland. The next day, 4,000 people protested peacefully in Derry to support the marchers. Another protest with up to 15,000 people happened on November 16. These events led to more and more civil unrest, which ended with the big clashes in August 1969.
Early 1969 events
In January 1969, a march by a group called People's Democracy was attacked. This happened near Derry, at Burntollet bridge incident. Off-duty Ulster Special Constabulary (B-Specials) and other Ulster loyalists were involved. The RUC did not protect the marchers. When the injured marchers arrived in Derry on January 5, fights broke out between their supporters and the police. That night, police officers broke into homes in the Catholic Bogside area and attacked several residents.
An investigation by Lord Cameron found that "a number of policemen were guilty of misconduct." This included attacking people, damaging property, and using hateful slogans. After this, barricades were built in the Bogside. Local groups started patrols to keep the police out. This is when the famous mural with the slogan "You are now entering Free Derry" was painted. It was done by a local activist named John Casey.
On April 19, there were more clashes between NICRA marchers, loyalists, and the RUC in the Bogside. Police officers went into the home of Samuel Devenny (42), a Catholic man not involved in the riot. They beat him badly with batons. His teenage daughters were also attacked. Devenny died from his injuries on July 17. Some people consider him the first person to die in the Troubles.
On July 12, known as "The Twelfth", there was more rioting in Derry, nearby Dungiven, and Belfast. This violence happened during the yearly Orange Order marches. These marches remember the Battle of the Boyne. During the clashes in Dungiven, a Catholic civilian named Francis McCloskey (67) was beaten by RUC officers and died the next day. After these riots, Irish republicans in Derry formed the Derry Citizens Defence Association (DCDA). They wanted to prepare for future problems.
The DCDA members were initially activists from Republican Clubs. Many other young Labour activists and local people joined them. Their goal was to keep the peace. But if that failed, they planned to defend the Bogside. They collected materials for barricades and things to throw. This was done before the Apprentice Boys of Derry march on August 12.
The Apprentice Boys march
The yearly Apprentice Boys parade on August 12 celebrates the end of the Siege of Derry. This was a Protestant victory. Many Catholics saw the march as very insulting. Derry activist Eamonn McCann wrote that the march "was seen as a planned insult to the Derry Catholics."
The march did not go through the Bogside itself. But it passed very close, at the corner of Waterloo Place and William Street. This is where the first trouble started. Some loyalists threw pennies from the city walls down at Catholics in the Bogside. In return, Catholics used slingshots to fire marbles. As the parade passed the edge of the Bogside, Catholics threw stones and nails. This led to a very intense fight.
The fighting begins
The RUC, who were being hit by many objects, then moved against the Catholic rioters. While police fought with rioters on William Street, officers at the Rossville Street barricade encouraged Protestants. These Protestants were using slingshots to fire stones across the barricade at Catholics. The police then tried to ease the pressure by taking down the barricade and moving into the Bogside. They came on foot and in armored vehicles. This created a gap, and Protestants also rushed in, breaking the windows of Catholic homes.
Nationalists threw stones and petrol bombs from the top of the tall Rossville Flats. This stopped the police advance. It also injured 43 of the 59 officers who first went in. When people realized how good this high position was, young people kept getting more stones and petrol bombs. Groups of loyalists and nationalists kept throwing stones and petrol bombs at each other.
The actions of the Bogside residents were somewhat organized. The DCDA set up a main office in the home of Paddy Doherty. They tried to manage the making of petrol bombs and where barricades were placed. Workshops for petrol bombs and first aid stations were set up. A radio station, "Radio Free Derry," broadcast messages. It encouraged people to resist and called on "every able-bodied man in Ireland who believes in freedom" to defend the Bogside. However, many local people joined the rioting on their own. Impromptu leaders also appeared, like McCann and Bernadette Devlin.
The RUC was not ready for such a big riot. Their riot shields were too small and did not protect their whole bodies. Also, their uniforms were not fire-resistant. Some officers were badly burned by petrol bombs. There was no system to let officers rest. So, the same police officers had to work for three days without a break. The exhausted police also started throwing stones back at the Bogsiders. Loyalists helped them.
Late on August 12, police began filling the area with CS gas. This gas caused many breathing problems for local people. A total of 1,091 small gas canisters and 14 larger ones were fired into the crowded residential area.
On August 13, Jack Lynch, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland, spoke on TV. He said, "the Irish Government can no longer stand by and see innocent people injured." He asked the British Government to stop police attacks in Derry right away. He also called for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be sent to Derry. Lynch also announced that the Irish Army was being sent to the border. They were to set up field hospitals for injured civilians. Some Bogsiders thought that Irish troops were about to cross the border to defend them.
By August 14, the rioting in the Bogside was at a critical point. Almost everyone in the Bogside community was involved. Many were encouraged by false rumors that St Eugene's Cathedral had been attacked by loyalists. The police also started using guns. Two rioters were shot and wounded. The Ulster Special Constabulary (B-Specials) were called up and sent to Derry. This was a police force made up almost entirely of Protestants. They had no training in crowd control. Residents feared the B-Specials would enter the Bogside and hurt many Catholics. After two days of almost constant rioting, the police were exhausted. They were grabbing sleep wherever they could.
On the afternoon of August 14, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, James Chichester-Clark, asked the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, to send British troops to Derry. Around 5 pm, soldiers from the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire arrived. They took over from the police. They agreed not to break through the barricades or enter the Bogside. This was the first time the British government sent its army directly into Ireland since Ireland was divided.
At first, the Bogside residents welcomed the British troops. They saw them as a neutral force compared to the RUC and B-Specials. Only a few radicals, like Devlin, were against their arrival. However, this good relationship did not last long as the Troubles got worse.
Over 1,000 people were injured in the rioting in Derry, but no one was killed. A total of 691 police officers were in Derry during the riot. Only 255 were still working by the afternoon of August 15. The number of police changed throughout the day, but figures show that at least 350 police officers were seriously injured. It is unclear how many Bogsiders were injured, as many injuries were never reported.
Other riots
On August 13, NICRA asked for protests across Northern Ireland. They wanted to support the Bogside and draw police away from Derry. That night, they released a statement. It said that a "war of genocide" was about to start. They asked all Irish people to help each other. They also called on the government of the Republic of Ireland to act quickly to prevent a "great national disaster." They urgently asked for a United Nations peacekeeping force to be sent to Derry.
Nationalists held protests at RUC stations in Belfast, Newry, Armagh, Dungannon, Coalisland and Dungiven. Some of these protests became violent. The worst violence was in Belfast. There, nationalists clashed with both the police and loyalists. Loyalists attacked Catholic areas. Many homes and businesses were burned, mostly Catholic-owned. Thousands of mostly Catholic families had to leave their homes. Some people saw this as an attempt to attack the Catholic minority. Seven people were killed in Belfast, and hundreds were wounded. Five of those killed were Catholic civilians shot by police. Another Catholic civilian was shot dead by B-Specials in Armagh. Both republican and loyalist paramilitary groups were involved in these clashes.
Documentary
The documentary Battle of the Bogside won "Best Documentary" in October 2004. It was produced and directed by Vinny Cunningham and written by John Peto.
See also
- Timeline of the Troubles
- Exercise Armageddon
