On 5 January 1969,[1] local activist Liam Hillen painted graffiti on a gable wall at the end of a housing terrace stating "You are now entering Free Derry".

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.

Free Derry Corner, Rossville flats, and the surrounding streets were the scene of the Battle of the Bogside in 1969 and Bloody Sunday in 1972.

As currently situated, it now lies in the central reservation of Lecky Road, which was upgraded to a dual carriageway some time following the demolition of the original terraced houses.

[7] Also on the reservation are memorials to the 1981 hunger strikers and to those who died engaging in paramilitary activity as part of the Provisional IRA's Derry Brigade.