In the lower Shankill during the 1990s, C company of 2nd battalion of the UDA/UFF rose to prominence under the leadership of Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Adair. During that time, the company was responsible for killing as many as 40 Catholics (Guardian | WP).
Two C company murals were painted in 1994 in Snugville Street; it’s not known if Adair was involved in their production.
Adair was convicted of directing terrorism in 1995 (Guardian) but released from prison in September 1999 under the Agreement. In 2000 an astonishing number of murals – at least 18 large pieces and several smaller ones – were painted in Adair’s lower Shankill stronghold, and a few more were added in 2001 and 2002.
As might be expected given the circumstances – the tensions between the UDA and UVF, the tensions between the UDA brigades, the recent signing of and referendum on the Agreement, the pressures to decommission – many showed the symbols and the potential for violence of the UDA (a.k.a. UFF/Ulster Freedom Fighters, with UYM/Ulster Young Militants as a youth wing):
there was a version of Eddie The Trooper
there was one with Spike (the dog from Tom & Jerry) brandishing an assault rifle and chasing Gerry Adams out of Belfast and towards Dublin, past the murals at and behind the KFC (both included below).
one was historical, linking the current UDA to the UDU, though it centrally depicted a hooded gunman who always seemed to be aiming directly at the viewer
The following used only words and symbols. A large electrical box/sub-station on the Shankill Road side of the estate was painted on two sides:
together with …
While a box on the Hammer side of the estate got a Union Flag:
one tied together “Scotland – Ulster” using only flags and emblems
These armed men were painted on the Shankill Road KFC:
Behind the KFC, in Dover Place, a pre-existing mural (T00139) was touched up (and emblems added) and the lower wall was repainted to include a list of mass killings (of Catholics) with the tourist-board slogan “Wouldn’t it be great if it was like this all the time!”.
and this pair of volunteers standing at attention was on the estate side of the Shankill Road.
A few were to deceased volunteers:
Billy Wright of the LVF, with which Adair was forging connections (see below the 2002 joint UDA-LVF mural)
Stevie McKeag, the primary hit-man in C Company
Bucky McCullough
and to loyalist prisoners
A few were on traditional/-ish cultural themes:
King Billy and the Duke of Schomberg
the Siege Of Derry
Drumcree
there was also a mural making novel historical reference for PUL muraling, commemorating the persecution of Protestants in “1600” (probably the Irish Rebellion of 1641)
This homage to Princess Diana is highly unusual; UK royalty is a common theme in PUL muraling, but only kings and queens have been painted previously
A more traditional Queen Elizabeth II ‘golden jubilee’ mural replaced the ‘UFF A C B Coy’ in 2002 (see J1251). A and B companies did not join Adair in the feud with the UVF.
2001-2002
Adair’s ambitions brought him into conflict with the UVF, whom he tried to drive out of the lower Shankill (and Highfield). At least seven died in the feud, including the UDA’s Jackie Coulter (see below) and the UVF’s Sam Rockett (X07011). (Various of Adair’s gang relocated to Glenbryn and were a cause of the Holy Cross dispute in 2001 and 2002 (BelTel).) Adair was returned to prison in August, 2000. While imprisoned, several “Free J Adair” murals appeared (in various parts of Belfast and in the LVF’s strongholds in Lurgan) and some more new murals. He remained in prison until May 2002.
Appeals For Adair’s Release
In the lower Shankill estate:
Off Dover St (south of the Shankill Rd)
“Free J Adair Now” in Cliftonpark Avenue, north Belfast
Additional Murals
Lower Shankill UFF
Jackie Coulter
Oliver Cromwell
2002 Onward
Upon his release in May 2002, Adair tried to take over the UDA and push out other UDA commanders. He was expelled from the organisation in September 2002 and the UDA feuded with the LVF and with Adair’s C Company. Adair had a joint UDA-LVF mural painted in the estate, declaring the two organisations “brothers in arms” and promising that “together we will stand to defend our native land”.
Adair was returned to prison in January 2003. This did not stop the killing of South East Antrim’s John Gregg on February 1st, 2003 (M05978 | M05224 | M05807). To evade the backlash from a (temporarily) unified UDA, Adair’s friends and family fled for Scotland. (Adair himself could not flee until his release from prison in January 2005. (Guardian article on the UDA feud and killing of Gregg.))
With Adair’s allies gone from the lower Shankill estate, seven (according the the Belfast Telegraph) or more of the murals were painted over. All of the following appear (from the photographic record) to have been removed: Diana, Spike & Gerry, Billy Wright (though McCormick & Jarman (2005) claim this was preserved), Eddie, the low “UFF 2nd Batt C Coy” wall, the red-backgrounded hooded gunmen in jeans, along with the “Free J Adair with his arms crossed, and the joint UDA-LVF mural from 2002. (Here is a table of the changes across time.)
Re-imaging in the sense of state-sponsored murals on less-sectarian themes would come to the lower Shankill in 2009 as part of the Re-Imaging Communities project – see Visual History 10.
References in parentheses to mural collections:
D = squire93@hotmail.com collection
J = Jonathan McCormick Collection
M = Peter Moloney Collection
X = Seosamh Mac Coılle Collection
Back to the index of Visual History pages.
Written material copyright © 2018-2024 Extramural Activity. Images are copyright of their respective photographers.
Extramural Activity 