Paying The Piper

If you’re willing to pay, this piper will take you and yours out of town. This is the centre segment of a large board adorning the front of the West Belfast Taxi Terminal (next to Castle Court), copying The Limerick Piper by John Patrick Haverty (1794-1854) and this Ardoyne mural, which placed the piper under Cave Hill. In this version, the attending girl is smiling. In all three versions, the piper has no visible means of support. On each side are Jim-Fitzpatrick-style Celtic heroes – Nuada on the left (though perhaps meant to be Fıonn Mac Cumhaıll and the salmon of knowledge) and Sadb on the right, though a fawn blocks the view of her shorter-than-short skirt.