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Title - 'The Battle of the Bogside'
Medium - Emulsion and acrylics
Size - 26ft x 28ft

This was our first mural and thought to be our best. The central figure was based on a photograph taken by Clive Limpkin that appeared on the front cover of a Magazine. Additional photographs and local knowledge supplied the other components of the image. As soon as the painting was completed we knew we had captured something of the spirit of The Bogside. Young people were very much involved in that particular struggle between the RUC, the B-Specials and the campaigners for civil liberties.

The mural was painted in 1994 as commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of The Bogside in August 1969. It was painted in warm greys and white because we wanted to allude to this image as journalism, as an important event in the recent past. It was painted in emulsions and has survived quite well. The construction is a basic X design with the badge of Ireland a major focal point. The Rossville flats in the background were later demolished as being unfit to live in. The child in the gas-mask is a cousin of two of the artists. Lots of youngsters were caught up in the Troubles at that time. The child gas-mask was an attempt to try and protect against the effects of the CS gas that was used extensively by the security forces in the area. In actual fact these old World War II masks were of little real benefit.