 That afternoon over 1 @,@ 500 <unk> residents built barricades , armed themselves with steel bars , wooden clubs and <unk> , and told the police that they would not be allowed into the area . <unk> chairman John Hume told a meeting of residents that they were to defend the area and no @-@ one was to come in . Groups of men wearing <unk> patrolled the streets in shifts . John ' <unk> ' Casey , a local activist , painted " You are now entering Free Derry " in white paint on the gable wall of a house on the corner of <unk> Road and <unk> Street . That corner , which was a popular venue for meetings , later became known as " Free Derry Corner " . On 7 January , the <unk> area was extended to include the <unk> , another nationalist area on a hill overlooking the <unk> . A clandestine radio station calling itself " Radio Free Derry " began broadcasting to residents , playing rebel songs and encouraging resistance . On a small number of occasions law @-@ <unk> attempted crimes , but were dealt with by the patrols . Despite all this , the Irish Times reported that " the infrastructure of revolutionary control in the area has not been developed beyond the maintenance of patrols . " Following some acts of destruction and of violence late in the week , members of the <unk> including Ivan Cooper addressed residents on Friday , 10 January and called on them to <unk> the barricades . The barricades were taken down the following morning . 
