(1) A map/database of the wall-paintings in Northern Ireland/north-east Ireland, especially Belfast and Derry. There is one map showing all the wall-paintings ever, and another showing only those that are currently visible in Belfast.
(2) 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 mural-image collections of the following photographers are curated by Extramural Activity:
The Seosamh Mac Coılle collection is housed at this site. This collection is searchable using the tools in the side-bar on the right. You can also scroll through the entries below.
If you want a feed of the latest art, “follow” the Seosamh Mac Coılle collection and the Paddy Duffy collection, using the links in the side-bar of each site — a new entry is added to one of those two collections (almost) every day. A vintage image is added to the Peter Moloney collection (almost) every day.
“”Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic”, “Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell”, “A new evil has arisen”. Churchill was right in 1899, Enoch Powell was right in 1968, Pastor McConnell was right in 2014.”
The quotations above the AI-generated image come from a sermon by Pastor James McConnell in May, 2014, at the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle on the Shore Road. The sermon was alleged to be “grossly offensive” and McConnell was charged. The key portion of the sermon read, “Today we see powerful evidence that more and more Moslems are putting the Koran’s hatred of Christians and Jews alike into practice. Now, people say there are good Moslems in Britain; that may be so but I don’t trust them, Enoch Powell was right and he lost his career because of it; Enoch Powell was a prophet and he told us that blood would flow in the streets and it has happened. … Islam’s ideas about God about humanity, about salvation, are vastly different from the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.”
In the penultimate paragraph of the ruling (pdf), Judge McNally concluded, “Having considered all these matters and the particular facts of this case I have come to the conclusion that the words upon which the charges are based, whilst offensive, do not reach the high threshold required of being “grossly offensive”. I find myself in agreement with Lord Justice Laws in the “Chambers” case when he said that the courts need to be very careful not to criminalise speech which, however contemptible, is no more than offensive. It is not the task of the criminal law to censor offensive utterances. Accordingly I find Pastor McConnell not guilty of both charges.” (In the ultimate paragraph, the judge cited the poet Rumi: “Silence is the language of God; all else is poor translation”.) A small board on the fence below presents this judgment.
The reference to “Churchill in 1899” is probably to volume 2 of The River War, in which Churchill wrote, “Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen – all know how to die – but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.
The reference to “Powell in 1968” is to Powell’s infamous “Rivers of blood” speech (pdf) against immigration to the UK from the Commonwealth. As McConnell notes, Powell was dismissed from Ted Heath’s shadow cabinet the following day.
The PSNI is investigating the display as a “hate incident” rather than a “hate crime”, as there is no underlying crime if the home-owner agrees to the board being mounted. The relevant statute deems it a crime “to use, or to display in writing, words that are threatening, abusive or insulting, where the intention or likely effect is to stir up hatred or arouse fear”. (Slugger)
The piece is at the highly-visible junction of O’Neill Road and Knocknenagh Avenue, Rathfern, Newtownabbey, and part of the fence has been cut away in order to afford a better view.
“Sorry it was all for nothing – It’s on each and every one of us to save what our forefathers fought and died for.”
According to this Facebook post, the perceived threat being warned against here is “Communistic Islamification”. The “Islamification” is represented by a partial flag of Pakistan (an Islamic republic) being carried by yelling Caucasian figures in long black robes, advancing through a graveyard, in which an elderly man – perhaps King Charles – kneels in front of a headstone bearing a red Christian cross. That the cemetery is a military one is indicated by the medals on the mourner’s chest and the line from Binyon’s ‘For The Fallen’, which provides a referent for the apology and the word “forefathers”.
How the “communistic” threat is conveyed is less clear.
Two men were cautioned by the police for displaying offensive material (Sunday Life). The Cloughfern Young Conquerors declined to play at the launch and family fun-day (Sunday Life), but the event went ahead (on May 8th) (youtube).
These are images of a tribute wall to eleven year-old Mason Keilhauer, who died after being struck by a car on the evening of March 7th (BBC | News Letter). In addition to the large piece of graffiti, photographs and several Rangers shirts have also been pinned to the constuction hoarding, which also bears the signatures of many friends and neighbours.
Shankill Road, west Belfast, near the spot where the collision occurred, between Dover and North Boundary streets.
“Saoırse go deo – RSYM” [Freedom forever – Republican Socialist Youth Movement (Fb)] – graffiti below the windows of Clonard House (where the West Belfast Partnership is) on the Falls Road.
The campaign urging the GAA to sever its ties to sponsor Allianz (web) began in August 25th, after an update to a 2024 report by the UN urged businesses – including Allianz – to end their ties with Israel (UN | youtube). In response, a letter of protest, signed by 800 former and current players, was delivered to the GAA (RTÉ) but a vote in December retained the sponsorship (BBC | Irish Examiner). Protests have continued (e.g. at the GAA congress), among which is this message written in posters on the hoarding around Casement Park (for which, see Build Casement Now).
The UVF’s James Reid was arrested in 2022 (Crime World) and is currently awaiting trial on charges of blackmail and cocaine possession and distribution. His attempt to have the charges thrown out was rejected at the start of February (BelTel).
These graffiti are on North Boundary Street (in the lower Shankill, west Belfast) and the Ballysillan Road (north Belfast).
“Free Maduro! Free Flores! Prisoners of war.” Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores have been held in a Brooklyn (New York) detention centre since they entered “not guilty” pleas on January 5th. The next hearing has been moved from March 17th to March 26th (Roya).
This is a Lasaır Dhearg (web) banner in the railings of the Falls Park, next to the Ógra Shınn Féın (web) banner shown in Hands Off Venezuela.
“Patrick Joseph Quail, 37 years old, murdered at this spot 24th January 1976, beloved father, husband, grandfather. Deeply missed by his family.” A plaque to Patrick Quail was unveiled at the end of January, on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. Quail was shot while walking along Clifton Street, between Henry Place and (what was at the time) Glenravel Street. Soldiers from the Argyll And Sutherland Highlanders are suspected in the execution (RN | Relatives For Justice pdf).
On the anniversary of David Ervine’s death, January 8th, a new board was launched in his memory, with images of Ervine “yearning for peace” in the cages of Long Kesh, where he met Gusty Spence (the pair can be seen together in the middle of the first column of photographs).
After his release, Ervine turned to politics, running unsuccessfully as a PUP candidate for Pottinger in the Belfast City Council elections of 1985 (WP); he would eventually be successful in 1997. In 1998 he was returned by Belfast East in the Assembly election (ARK). He helped bring about the loyalist ceasefire in 1994 – which was read aloud by Spence (youtube) – and was pro-Agreement in 1998 (DIB | Guardian | Slugger).
The information about the Memory Chair sculpture makes mention of Ervine’s boots but it seems they have not survived the mothballing of the sculpture which was last seen on site – boots included – in 2014.
“Israel is still a genocidal hole”. The peace plan for Gaza was signed on October 9th. Since then, 442 Palestinians have been killed, according to Al Jazeera’s tracker. The amount of food aid being allowed into the strip has improved in January, with 100% of the “minimum caloric need” being met for the first time since October 2023 (UN) but the humanitarian crisis remains “extremely serious” (UN).
This graffiti is at Camberwell Terrace just off the Antrim Road, north Belfast.
Extramural Activity 