Free Derry (Irish: Saor Dhoire) 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 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 4 1⁄2 months later). Following the Bloody Friday bombings, the British retook the "no-go" areas.
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. Nationalists gained a majority on the council for the first time since 1923. The Free Derry era is commemorated by the Free Derry wall, the murals of the Bogside Artists and the Museum of Free Derry.
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