The weekend The Dubliners, Tommy Makem and Liam O’Flynn came to Free Derry for the Bogside Fleadh Cheoil

The Dubliners, Tommy Makem and Liam O'Flynn were among the artists who ventured behind the barricades after being invited to the enclave by the Bogside Relief Fund after the Battle of the Bogside.

Over the weekend of Saturday, August 30 and Sunday, August 31, 1969, thousands gathered in Free Derry for what was believed to be the first such event ever staged in the North.

Prior to the festivities the organisers explained how 'a fleadh cheoil was a festival with the emphasis on the word Irish'.

"Musicians gathered at street corners or any other convenient spot and played their instruments, giving enjoyment to themselves as well as to those who cared to listen.

"The fleadh to be held this weekend would be of great significance as it would be the first to be staged in the Six Counties.

"Depending on the outcome a trend could well be set which might well pave the way for a revitalised interest in Irish music.

"It is hoped that nothing will happen to the detriment of our national pride during this fleadh cheoil and we ask the residents of the area to welcome all the visitors, whether musicians or listeners,” one of the organisers said.

Ahead of the fleadh, headquarters were established at the corner of Blucher Street. Efforts were made to erect platforms and amplification systems to ensure the large crowds had a decent vantage point to see and hear the performances.

An unusual request was issued at the 11th hour. Donkeys were required in order to facilitate free donkey rides for children up and down Wellington Street.

The organisers said they were confident of a good response to the request and urged anyone with a donkey to contact the Bogside Relief Fund.

On the eve of the fleadh Major Peter Clare, the British Army PRO in the city at the time, told a Press conference that the 'army would regard with suspicion any invitations to British soldiers to attend’.

"He said that members of the forces on leave and in civilian clothes who were acceptable to the Bogside people were quite at liberty to go into the Bogside. But they will regard with suspicion invitations to troops on duty or any other people not normally able to enter the Bogside area,” the ‘Journal’ reported.

At the official opening ceremony at Joseph Place the spirit of the féile was encapsulated with a large ‘Derry Merry Derry Free’ banner.

And then it began with a performance by Dublin’s Taris Folk Group.

Tomás Ó Canainn, ‘The Pennyburn Piper’, who was originally from Barry Street, returned to his native city from Cork to perform with the all-Ireland champions Na Fíle.

Dancers from various of the local schools put on dazzling displays of Irish dancing during the course of the weekend.

The Nazareth House Céilí Band, An Cumann Gaelach Céilí Band, Eamonn Deane, the O'Hara Brothers Folk Group, the St. Mary's Girls' Accordion Band and the Free Derry Folk were among the local musicians performing.

They were joined by The Dubliners, Liam O'Flynn, Peter Carberry (Longford), John McCann (Tyrone), Sean Green (Belfast), Sean O’Doherty (Manorcunningham), Hugh McGovern (Letterkenny), the Free Belfast Céilí Band, Cumann na bPíobairí, Armagh, and groups from Newtowncunningham, Dromore and Lurgan.

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The great Tommy Makem played to a huge crowd, accompanied by the guitarist Ray Durham. The Keady singer-songwriter’s rendition of his signature tune ‘Four Green Fields’ is the stuff of legend.

Singer-songwriter and folk musician Shay Healy, who penned songs for Emmet Spiceland, The Johnston’s, The Wolfe Tones, Johnny McEvoy, and years later, Johnny Logan, who won the Eurovision Song Contest with Healy’s ‘What’s Another Year’ in 1980, was also there.

Quite aside from the donkeys there was a further treat for the local children when Eugene Lambert brought his RTÉ TV roadshow ‘Wanderly Wagon’ to Free Derry.

Cineman Action travelled from London to project films onto Free Derry corner.

Among the films screened on the Sunday was one of the fleadh festivities that had been recorded in the Bogside on the previous night.

The movies were cast on a section of the Free Derry gable wall that had been painted white for the purpose.

Meanwhile, amid ‘the jollification', as the ‘Journal’ described it, five men arrived from Galway with a lorry load of foodstuffs and clothing.

Kevin Divily, chairman of the Galway Six County Solidarity Committee, presented the goods and a substantial cheque for the Bogside Relief Fund to Sean Keenan, chair of the Derry Citizens' Defence Association.

Sean Kenny, the famous theatrical designer from Tipperary, arranged an impressive fireworks display over the Bogside with 'rockets shooting into the sky from six different angles' as the fleadh came to a close shortly before midnight on the Sunday.

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The fleadh was a tremendous success. There were some misgivings expressed about lock-ins in some of the pubs in the Bog.

"A trait which has manifested itself in connection with such a function when held in some other centres was to a limited extent evident in Derry.

"There had been a report in a newspaper that public houses in the Bogside might ignore the Six County licensing regulations and remain open after the legal closing hour on the occasion of the fleadh.

"To counter any such possibility the Defence Association told pubs that they ought to shut at the customary time,” the ‘Journal reported.

We are confident The Dubliners managed to get a few bottles of porter from somewhere.

"A number of young teenagers, however, were seen with drink in the early hours of Sunday morning - around 2am - or even later. On both nights there were some grown-ups drunk, and one man was seen bawling at a British soldier at the military barricade at the foot of William Street on Sunday night,” the ‘Journal’ concluded.

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