Some were the children of the children of the dead. They too stood with heads bowed as distant church bells tolled over the Creggan and the Bogside yesterday. In Rossville Street, where 13 died close by, former Bishop Edward Daly led the rededication of the permanent memorial to the victims of Bloody Sunday.
Wearing the same stole as when he prayed over a dying youth 30 years ago to the precise minute, he spoke of how "those terrible sights and sounds are still etched on our very minds and souls".
Up to 2,000 people, including the surviving wounded and families of the victims, observed a minute's silence at 4.15 p.m. - the time noted as British paratroopers rushed into the Bogside and opened fire on anti-internment demonstrators on January 30th, 1972.
A poignant traditional lament was sung in Irish by Caitríona O'Leary before the bishop spoke. He talked of the passing of "30 long, hard years" and remarked that Rossville Street held many memories for him - "many happy years before 1972".
But Bloody Sunday had changed everything. "Rossville Street has never been the same. Derry has never been the same. The lives of many families and many individuals were changed utterly that day."
Dr Daly said that the stole he was wearing was his most treasured possession; it was his link to that day and to those who died that day. It had rested all those years in his study beside a photograph of 17-year-old Jackie Duddy, who was shot down as he ran alongside the then Father Daly in the Rossville Flats car-park.
The bishop said he hoped the memorial, and the memory of the victims, would be a reminder to all of the fruits of conflict and injustice "which blighted this place for so long".
He prayed "for victims everywhere - here, in Afghanistan, the Middle East and New York". He added: "We identify with all people who have suffered, of whatever race or religion or nation".
That is also the theme of this year's Bloody Sunday commemorations and the new plaque unveiled by Dr Daly is dedicated "to all those throughout the world who have struggled, suffered and lost their lives in the pursuit of liberty, justice and civil rights".
Kay Duddy, a sister of Jackie, said the bishop had been a "tower of strength" in the past 30 years to the families and the wounded.
Relatives came forward to lay fresh wreaths and flowers at the base of the monument engraved with 14 names - the 14th is that of John Johnston, who was wounded on the day and died some months later. A few young girls brought single roses.
The faces of many of the Bogside's elderly residents could be seen peering through the windows of nearby Joseph's Place, through which some of them had also watched the slaughter on Bloody Sunday.
Moments after the brief ceremony ended, the heavens opened with a drenching downpour, just as they had done during the joint funeral of the victims in the Creggan 30 years ago.
Suzanne Breen writes: The Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, has said while the North should remember the past, it must not be shackled by it. He said that on the 30th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, his thoughts lay with the families of those who died.
"It is an anniversary which will evoke very painful memories and unfortunately the past 30 years in Northern Ireland have created too many such anniversaries and too much pain."
The Saville inquiry had been set up to discover the truth of what happened but it was important that a natural concern with the past did not stop people moving forward.
"We should use the truth, we should use what reconciliation we have from gaining the truth to build a platform for the future."