Free Derry ( Irish : Saor Dhoire ) was a self @-@ declared autonomous nationalist area of Derry , Northern Ireland , that existed between 1969 and 1972 . Its name was taken from a sign painted on a gable wall in the Bogside in January 1969 which read , " You are now entering Free Derry " . The area , which included the Bogside and Creggan neighbourhoods , was secured by community activists for the first time on 5 January 1969 following an incursion into the Bogside by members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary ( RUC ) . Residents built barricades and carried clubs and similar arms to prevent the RUC from entering . After six days the residents took down the barricades and RUC patrols resumed , but tensions remained high over the following months .