The king of the jungle is wearing a wide-brimmed purple fedora, in the middle of a long, three shop-front piece by Twitch (Fb) – wide shot below. The sunflowers are for the Sunflower bar, on the other side of the street.
Highland Fusiliers John McCaig (17), Joseph McCaig (18), and Dougald McCaughey (23) were lured by the IRA from a city-centre pub to their deaths in Ligoniel in 1971 (WP). The memorial above is at the top of Ballysillan – a wide shot and close-up of the plaque are shown below.
A smaller stone is at the White Brae/Squire’s Hill site – shown below along with a wide shot of the area. The stone is frequently vandalised (BelTel | BBC | STV | BBC).
Update: 2018 video of a ceremony at the Ballysillan site.
“It is needful that we knit together as one man, each strengthening the other, and not holding back of counting the cost” – Ulster [Unionist] Council Resolution 1912. The Council met on September 23rd and 471,000 people signed the covenant (figures here) on or around the 28th – Ulster Day – led by Sir Edward Carson.
The Morrígan (the phantom queen or the great queen) is a character from Irish mythology, appearing prominently in the story of Cú Chulaınn. She takes various forms – crow, cow, wolf, eel, as shown on the right-hand side of the mural above – in addition to appearing as a young and old woman and as a trio of women. (For more info, consult WP.) This is new work by Friz (Web | Fb | Tw) for Culture Night Belfast 2014.
The Maze/Long Kesh was set ablaze by Republican inmates 40 years ago, on the night of October 15th, 1974. Above is a picture by Matt Kelly, who was held in Cage 18. The picture is in the Eileen Hickey Republican Museum on Conway Street.
If it’s good enough to paint with, it’s good enough to drink. Two characters colour themselves by drinking paint through straws (the male is “Taps Aff“?, with little Terror Cheb in the corner) – work by Glasgow artist Conzo Throb (web | Fb) on the shutters of the old Tivoli barbers in Lower Garfield Street for Culture Night Belfast 2014.
The (UK) Conservative Party has proposed a series of cuts, including a freeze of child benefit, income support, tax credits, dole, and housing benefit. These are opposed by various parties and advocacy groups in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The mural above is on the Divis Street international wall, while Black Mountain/Slıabh Dubh currently carries the same message: #stoptorycuts. Protest rallies were held today (2014-10-11) in both Belfast and Dublin.
Pastor James McConnell, who denounced Muslims as “satanists” back in May at the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle, is finally seeking help, attending “Despots Anonymous” in the company of a Muslim, a Jew, and a Sikh. The group meets next door to 1690, home to a football-loving boy from a family of immigrants who are under attack because the housing is for “locals only” – see the final image for just such a graffito in Pine Way. The bottle of Buckfast preaches “Love thy neighbour as thyself”.
This is another part of Ciaran Gallagher’s (web) “Belfast Stripped Bare” piece in the Duke of York/Dark Horse courtyard. The wide shot, below, shows Carl “The Jackal” Frampton in an upstairs window. There’s also, above the piece, an accompanying poem by Alice McCullough, “Belfast You’re Melting My Head”, which you can watch her recite in front of the piece.