Free Derry Corner
54°59′44.8″N 07°19′36.4″W / 54.995778°N 7.326778°W |
Free Derry Corner is a historical landmark in the
Provisional IRA's Derry Brigade
.
On 5 January 1969[1] a local activist, long believed to be John "Caker" Casey, but who might have been Liam Hillen, painted graffiti on a gable wall at the end of a housing terrace stating "You are now entering Free Derry".[2][3][4][5] Civil rights activist and writer Eamonn McCann stated: "That phrase, 'You are now entering Free Derry', I take credit for that. It's not an original phrase but it was I who devised it on the night in question and had it put up on the wall, and that's the most enduring thing I've ever written: You are now entering Free Derry. That came from Berkeley in California in 1956 in a
Berkeley Free Speech Movement
... And there was a student occupation of Berkeley College ... In the entrance to Berkeley College there was a big sign that said 'You are now entering Free Berkeley' from the Free Speech Movement, and I said, Well that's cool, and then when we came to Derry, I had that put up on that gable wall...."
[6]
When the British Home Secretary, central reservation of Lecky Road, which was upgraded to a dual carriageway sometime following the demolition of the original terraced houses.[7]
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Free Derry Corner in 1984.
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View of the corner from the Hunger Strike memorial, showing the "petrol bomber" mural.
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The Hunger Strike memorial, which faces the Free Derry wall.
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The Free Derry wall in 2018.
References
- ^ "Exhibition marks 50 years of Free Derry Corner". BBC News. 13 January 2019. Archived from the original on 6 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ Kerr, Adrian (16 November 2009). "A silent and powerful witness to troubled times". Derry Journal. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
- OCLC 1090397177.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Sweeney, Eamon. "'You Are Now Entering Free Derry': Man who painted iconic slogan passes away". Derry Now. Archived from the original on 1 January 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
- ^ "Free Derry Wall painter Liam Hillen passes away". www.derryjournal.com. 27 December 2018. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22241810/ Archived 22 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine Eighteen minutes into the interview 'Eamon McCann on life at 80', Brendan O'Connor Show, RTE Radio 1, 22 April 2023
- ^ "Bogside Murals tell stories of a half century of conflict". Patrick Comerford. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Free Derry Corner.
- Photograph of the original slogan at Museum Of Free Derry.
- A visual history of Free Derry Corner.
- A BBC gallery of 12 images of Free Derry Corner.
- Free Derry Wall Painter Passes Away