The Open Wound of the Bogside.

Rossville Street was once a normal street with humble housing on the Bogside of Derry Ireland, but after January 30th, 1972, it would never be the same. On that date, around 15 thousand people gathered to peacefully march against the imprisonment of over 300 people without trial for being affiliated with the IRA. (Irish Republican Army) Shortly after the march began, 13 lives were lost and 18 people were shot and injured by British paratroopers with no reason to open fire. One of the injured passed away only months after the incident due to their injuries. Now, Rossville Street is home to many murals that contain political messages. There are also the politically charged taggings and the Bloody Sunday Obelisk Memorial which displays the names of the 14 victims who died during the protest. The Obelisk sits as a sad and mournful reminder of lives lost. To some, they are innocent lives who were protesting for their rights, but to others, these people were not innocent, they supported terrorists and deserved to die. This thought process depends solely on the individual’s political affiliation. To the people of Derry, Rossville Street is a place of strife, with murals, taggings, and posters on every wall that you can see, it is a place to express the grief and anger of lost lives, it also serves as a place of remembrance and a place to express political grievances. Rossville Street is located parallel to the walls of Derry but the identity it currently holds was ascribed by the events in which took place on it and the people that were affected by the loss.