Thank you for visiting! Extramural Activity is …
(1) a map/database of the wall paintings in Northern Ireland/north-east Ireland. The database is accessed via the maps. There is one map showing all the wall paintings ever, and another showing only those that are currently visible.
(2) a collection of images and information about them. The collection of images is searchable using the tools in the side-bar. You can also scroll through the entries below — the newest works are at the top. If you want a feed of the latest art, “follow” us using one of the methods in the side-bar — a new entry is added (almost) every day.
(3) a set of “Visual Histories”, that is, pages describing and illustrating the history, trends, and common motifs in muraling and street art, e.g. Cú Chulaınn murals, the Bobby Jackson murals, Free Derry Corner, the International Wall, murals with Iron Maiden’s Eddie The Trooper, etc., etc.
The Big Fish
After floating above the traffic in Shaftesbury Square for more than 60 years, the statues on the Ulster Bank building were taken down last year (2023) and packed off to the Ulster Museum (Belfast Live). The blank wall is now home to a giant, multi-eyed, fish by French artist Veks Van Hillik (ig), painted for both HTN24 and the Linen Quarter business development group (web).
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Meditating Boxer
This is one of Solus’s (ig | web) boxers in graceful poses, painted for HTN24 on Millfield at the bottom of Brown Street.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Micky Modelle
DJ and producer Micky Modelle (Fb) grew up in Tullycarnet and lives in Bangor (Kilcooley Fb). On Saturday week (May 25th) he will be playing at the Electic Love (web) festival in Belfast.
The in-progress shot (final image) is from March 29th. Painted by (artist and former DJ) Glen Molloy (ig) and launched on May 10th. The original photograph can be seen at Twisted Records.
Replaces a UYM board in Drumhirk Drive, Kilcooley, Bangor.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Lucky Monsters
Berlin-based Mexican artist Sr. Papá Chango (ig | web) was in Belfast for HTN24, combining classical still life – in this case a metal pitcher with a pink lily and a clover leaf – with one of his “lucky monsters”.
Salisbury St, Belfast
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Sásta A Bheıth Anseo
The mural on the wall of Madden’s bar in the city centre has been updated. Fiddler Art Lundy and the “decommissioned” ashtray are retained, but much else has changed. (For the previous version, see Madden’s.)
Traditional Irish and Irish-language music features in multiple places:
— a poster for new group Biird (ig) is in the mirror behind Art’s head (and next to an Acht Na Gaeılge fáınne (see #AchtAnois) and a Pride flag);
— by his fingering hand is a poster for Féıle Na Gealaí (web);
— the “Fine Art” in front of the pints is the cover of Kneecap’s (web) forthcoming album – DJ Próvaí’s familiar tricoloured balaclava can be seen on the side-door in the third image, below (see also their two murals in Beechmount, Incendiary Device and England Get Out Of Ireland);
— the album cover to its right is the EP “Sásta A Bheıth Anseo” [Happy To Be Here] by Múlú (Mıaḋaċluġaın Ní Doṁnaıll | ig) which you can hear on youtube.
The other main change is the addition of two newspapers. In the Andersonstown News in Art’s pocket trumpets Cliftonville’s 3-1 victory over Linfield in the Irish Cup on May 4th (youtube highlights), while on the table a copy of The Irish News reports on DUP (now-former) leader Jeffrey Donaldson being prosecuted on charges of rape and sexual assault (BBC).
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Hitting The Wall
The Belfast marathon (web) took place on May 5th (the same day as Hit The North) and as the runners completed their twentieth mile at the Waterworks on the Antrim Road they might have seen the mile marker shown above, which hopefully inspired them to power through ‘the wall’ they typically hit around 18-20 miles/3.5 hours of running (Marathon Handbook).
Also along the route, in North Queen St, and with a suitable theme, is the Sınn Féın placard shown below: “Let’s not run from the conversation” about a united. Ireland.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Tomorrow
Sydney-based artist Sophi Odling (web | ig) was in town for HTN24, painting this large piece in York Lane (behind the D block of the new UU building), showing a youngster dreaming of what they will get up to ‘tomorrow’.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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North Down UVF
Each quadrant of Down (north, south, east, west) gave rise to a battalion of Ulster Volunteers, and North Down comprised 15 companies, almost doubling the typical British-Army size of eight companies (History Ireland; see also another History Ireland article on the initially sporadic development of the Volunteers out of Unionist Clubs).
Upon the outbreak of the Great War, the Down volunteers joined the 13th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles, which were assigned to the 108th brigade of the 36th Division of the British Army.
The mural shown in this entry is a recent repainting; the previous version was painted in 2017 (and originally c. 2007 – see M03697).
See also: Only A Few Minutes – a memorial mural to Bangor native James Samuel Davidson, of the 108th and a North Down volunteer.
Clandeboye Road, at the bottom of the Kilcooley estate.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Electrifying Footwork
Jordanian artist Dalal Mitwally (web) was in Belfast for HTN24, painting a large piece in Talbot Street which has signs reading “Danger 33,000 volts” on the wall – marking a Belfast council electricity sub-station.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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The Last Thing To Lose Is Hope
Lídia Cao (ig), an artist from the Galicia area of Spain (ISSA), was in Belfast for HTN24, painting a large piece in Talbot Street, next to DanK’s Blurry Eyed and replacing Sabek’s Conflict.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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