Irish Film Institute -Battle of the Bogside

Battle of the Bogside

Director: Vinny Cunningham

2004| Colour/B&W| Ireland


In August 1969 following an Apprentice Boys parade through Derry, large numbers of the city’s disaffected Catholic Nationalist population confronted the RUC . There followed three days of rioting, where over 1,000 people were injured. It became known as the ‘Battle of the Bogside’ and only came to an end when, in an unprecedented move, the British Government sanctioned the deployment of army troops to quell the rioters. This documentary uses previously unseen arch i v e footage and takes us behind the barricades into Stormont and Westminister to reveal the inside story surrounding the Battle and the political response to it. It also includes audio recordings of the pirate radio station Radio Free Derry, which was set up in Derry’s Bogside in 1969. Vinny Cunningham, who was just three years old when the riots engulfed his home city, is an experienced director and producer who has made numerous documentaries including Teenage Kicks – the Undertones, which was a runner up in the Best Feature Documentary category at the 2002 Galway Film Fleadh.

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