In this map, you can explore the sites of major flashpoints in the Northern Irish Civil Rights movement – whether that be protests, the murder of civilians, or clashes between Catholics and law enforcement. You can also see outlines of the spatial sections of gerrymandering that the Unionist-controlled government put in place to maintain power. Click on the various map elements to learn more.
Additional contextual information can be found below.
Northern Ireland’s beginnings date back to December of 1921 and the signing of the Anglo-Irish treaty following the Irish War of Independence, where the Irish Republican Army (IRA) fought the British army for the end of British rule over the island. This treaty established the Saorstát Éirann (or, the Free Irish State) as a self-governing body, but still maintained that the island would be considered a “dominion within the community of nations known as the British Empire.1 This was deemed unacceptable by many members of the IRA, who had risked their lives for complete freedom from Britain and viewed the oath requirement as representative of the founding of the Irish State as merely symbolic, with no true change in power and control. This struggle for a consensus on what constituted true freedom from Britain continued for over a decade. But in 1937 a new constitution was passed through a nationwide plebiscite and the Irish State became Éire and then the Republic of Ireland (in 1949). This also led to the drawing of the border that now separates Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.2
Despite this separation, the majority of Catholics (the majority of whom were also Republican) in Northern Ireland viewed the region as “temporary and illegitimate.”3 Those in the North who were loyal to British rule, and who were for the most part Protestant, were called Unionists or Loyalists and they took advantage of the power awarded to them through British rule. The Northern Ireland Government Act was passed in 1922, which ended proportional representation in government and redrew electoral boundaries to benefit the continuation of Loyalist/Unionist control, a phenomenon known as ‘gerrymandering.’4 This unjust practice led to overwhelming Loyalist/Unionist control in a Northern Ireland that was over thirty percent Catholic.
This disparity was especially stark in Derry, a city that itself was over sixty percent Catholic. The new electoral boundaries divided the city into three sections, one of which was almost entirely Catholic (the South Ward), whereas the other two (the North and Riverside Wards) had small Protestant/Loyalist majorities. This resulted in Loyalists controlling two thirds of the city council seats, despite only making up about one third of the population. In records from the Derry government at the time, they made it clear that “they believed that the fate of the constitution was on a knife’s edge and that it was therefor defensible to gerrymander Derry on the basis that the safety of the state is supreme law. In a Nationalist/Republican city, a Unionist majority was secluded by a manipulation of ward boundaries, for the sole purpose of retaining control.”5
This abuse of power led to devastating unequal treatment of Catholic citizens, which most notably took shape in the distribution of public housing. In an effort to keep the gerrymandered districts intact, the city government would force Catholic families to live in unsafe housing conditions while they waited for public housing to become available. Since voting was determined by property, Catholics would overwhelmingly only be given housing in districts that would continue the unequal control of city council. This led to many families being forced into homelessness or squatting.6 These unjust housing practices were still in place as Derry entered the 1960s, and were the primary impetus for the birth of the city’s civil rights movement. In the map below, you can explore the sites of major flashpoints in this movement – whether that be protests, the murder of civilians, or clashes between Catholics and law enforcement. You can also see outlines of the spatial sections of gerrymandering that the Unionist-controlled government put in place to maintain power.
Site of DHAC Sit-Ins
The Derry Housing Action Committee disrupted several meetings of the Londonderry Corporation (March 25th, May 25th, and August 27th, 1968) to protest the lack of housing provision in the city.7
Site of Wilson Family Protest
John Wilson (Catholic) lived with his family in a caravan, but was told he was unlikely to obtain social housing. One of the Wilson’s children died from causes linked directly to the poor housing conditions. On June 22nd, 1968 the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) physically moved the Wilson family’s caravan home to the middle of the Hamilton Street – Ann Street junction which lay directly in the middle of a major bus route in the city. The DHAC put his caravan in the middle of the road, blocking traffic for 24 hours. The following weekend, it did so again and blocked traffic for 48 hours.8
Site of Craigavon Bridge Protest
As part of a series of protests against discriminatory housing conditions in Derry, the Derry Citizens Action Committee (DCAC) held a sit-down protest on the newly opened bridge on July 3rd, 1968.9
Ferryquay Street Bridge Protest
On November 2nd, 1968 the Derry Citizens Action Committee (DCAC) led a march of about 1,000 along the route of a previous march that had been banned by the RUC. When the protestors arrived at the Ferryquay Street Bridge they were met by a group of Loyalists, led by Major Ronald Bunting, who attempted to block their route. Despite this, the DCAC march managed to get through and held a gathering in the Derry Diamond where the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights was read aloud by an 11 year old Catholic resident of Derry.10
Site of Derry Diamond Protest
On the 16th of November, 1968 the Derry Citizens Action Committee (DCAC) organized a march to the Diamond area of Derry, which was followed by a sit-down demonstration that involved 15,000 participants.11
Ambush at Burntollet Bridge
On January 1st, 1969 forty members of the People’s Democracy activist group began a march, modeled after Dr. Martin Luther King’s Selma March, in Belfast that would take them across the North of Ireland, with Derry as their final destination. Along the way, disaffected citizens joined the march and the group grew to a few hundred. On the fourth and final day, the march set out from Claudy. As they crossed Burntollet Bridge, a mere seven miles from their final destination in Derry, they were attacked by a Loyalist mob. This mob included members of the B-Specials who were off duty. They used iron bars, glass bottles, sticks, and stones to attack the marchers – thirteen of whom would require hospitalization. The RUC on duty at the time did little to intervene.12
Site of Samuel Devenny Killing
On April 19, 1969 a group of boys fleeing the RUC ran through the Devenny household. The RUC proceeded to break down the door of the home and beat the residents, injuring Samuel Devenny the most severely. Samuel Devenny eventually died of his injuries on July 17th, less than a month before the annual Apprentice Boys March. Devenny would come to be considered the first victim of ‘The Troubles.’13 The House of Commons Inquiry into his death can be viewed here.
Site of Francis McCloskey Death
On the 14th of July, 1969 Francis McCloskey (67) died at Altnagelvin Hospital where he had been brought for treatment of head injuries he sustained by RUC officers’ batons the day prior.14
Samuel Devenny Funeral
A funeral was held for Samuel Devenny on the 20th of July, 1969. The Catholic population of Derry turned up in droves, with an estimated 15,000 people participating in the funeral procession from the Devenny home to Derry Cemetery.15
Notes
- Eunan O’Halpin & Daithí Ó Corráin. The Dead of the Irish Revolution. Yale University Press, 2020. p.544.
- Michael Hughes, Ireland Divided (University of Wales Press, 1994), p. 71.
- Ibid.
- Peter Gray, “Northern Ireland: A History of Conflict,” Presentation, Institute of Irish Studies at Queens University, Belfast, June, 2019.
- Prince, Simon and Warner, Geoffrey, Belfast And Derry In Revolt: A New History of the Start of The Troubles, (Dublin, Ireland: Irish Academic Press, 2012) 14-16.
- Ibid, 15.
- Conflict and Politics in Northern Ireland Archive. “A Chronology of the Conflict – 1968,” CAIN, https://cain.ulster.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch68.htm.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Cunningham, Vinny, director. Battle of the Bogside. BBC4, 2004. 1 hr. https://vimeo.com/32340356.
- Young, Connla. “Francis McCloskey Remembered in Dungiven,” Irish News, https://www.irishnews.com/news/northernirelandnews/2019/07/15/news/francie-mccloskey-remembered-in-dungiven-1662880/.
- Cunningham, Vinny, director. Battle of the Bogside. BBC4, 2004. 1 hr. https://vimeo.com/32340356.
The Battle of the Bogside In Three Parts 