Extramural Activity

As the Visual History page on the role of Cú Chulainn makes clear, in PUL muraling and iconography, Cú Chulainn serves as the “ancient defender of Ulster”, and the B Specials, UDR, and loyalist paramilitaries – originally the UDA but recently also the UVF – then fit into that tradition. Using Cú Chulainn as a precursor for service in the Ulster Division of WWI is unique to the panels on Highfield green, five of which are devoted to the hero Cú Chulainn and four – two on each end – refer to the Great War.

The five Cú Chulainn panels are (from left to right) Boy Warrior, Hound Of Ulster, Sheppard’s statue, Hero Warrior, and Defender Of Ulster – all shown individually in this post.

On the far left, there are two panels showing Messines tower and a few lines from a Ronald Lewis Carton poem Réveillé (though given a more ‘victorious’ ending) and on the far right, a few lines from Duncan Campbell Scott’s To A Canadian Lad Killed In The War and Thiepval tower. The words to I Vow To Thee My Country (lyrics) are along the bottom (see the wide shot, final image below).

The biographical panels focus on Cú Chulainn’s age – the sixth panel emphasises that Cuchulainn was only 17 when he held off Maeve’s forces – which is perhaps a similarity with those who joined the 36th Division, but how the “defender of Ulster” is connected to the defense of Europe is obscure.

In the background of the wide shot the Cú Chulainn mural can be glimpsed.

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Camera Settings: f3.5, 1/80, ISO 100, full size 3744 x 5616

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Camera Settings: f3.5, 1/100, ISO 100, full size 3744 x 5616

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Camera Settings: f3.5, 1/100, ISO 100, full size 3744 x 5616

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