Some of the children’s mural in Boyne Court (off Sandy Row) is still hanging on, though quite faded and with about half the panels missing. The first two images (from 2017) show children playing on a lamp-post swing in the middle of the street (panel 4); the latter two (from 2012) show a broader view (panels 4-5-6) of Sandy Row buildings and (on the last of the ten panels) an alien landing.
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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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This is a tarp from republican party Saoradh (“liberation” web | tw | Fb), alleging that the “supposed police service in the north of Ireland” is engaged in “the brutal militarised suppression of a civilian population”. “The uniform may be different but the brutal tactics are the same.” “End human rights abuses in Ireland now”. Replaces the Resistance tarp (previously seen in Ardoyne).
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Thomas Ashe was born on January 12th, 1885, in County Kerry, into a bi-lingual household. He became an Irish teacher in Lusk and joined the Gaelic League and the Irish Volunteers, commanding the Fingal battalion during the Easter Rising. His death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, which in fact lasted only a year. He was released but soon charged and convicted with sedition, and died on hunger strike on September 25th, 1917, after an “inhuman and dangerous” attempt at force-feeding by the authorities (WP). See also Tomás Ághas.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“This memorial is in honour of the men from our neighbourhood who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War. The handmade ceramic poppies were created by the GVRT [Greater Village Regeneration Trust] Well Women’s Group.”
The Poppy Trail: 1914 | 1915 | 1916 | 1917
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The first blanket man, Kieran Nugent (obituary at An Phoblacht), is back in the first spot of the Divis Street wall, where he has resided, with brief interruptions, since 2005. Most recently, a board with the same image as this one was replaced by part of the 1916 centenary mural (see Young Ireland); before that, he was moved further down the wall to the hunger striker mural (along with Mairéad Farrell) to make way for a pro-Catalan mural.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“First round” Brexit negotiations between Europe and the UK required an agreement in principle on the land border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland (a member of the EU). President of the European Council Donald Tusk went to Dublin at the beginning of December to declare that as a member Ireland (and prime minister Leo Varadkar) would have a veto over whether “sufficient progress” had been made (Irish Times), which the the Sınn Féın board above urged him to use. The DUP objected to any “special status/stádas speısıalta” for NI, rejecting the wording proposed on December 4th. An agreement was reached on December 8th which would (somehow) both preserve Northern Ireland’s similarity to the rest of the UK without requiring a “hard border” with the Republic.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Reflections on culture from (probably) TLO in the form of a statue with the eyes sprayed blue and red (Culture?) and from ANCO (Culture is a disease).
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Two pieces of UDA on the shop shutters on Sandy Row. Above, “S[andy]/Row – Quis Separabit” (who will separate us?) and “UDA”. See also: Wee Ruby’s from 2013.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The UVF mural to number 4 platoon, A company, 1st Belfast battalion has been augmented with a plaque (shown below) that includes Shankill Butchers “L[enny] Murphy” d. 1982 (who lived in the adjacent Brookmount Street), his brother “J[ohn] Murphy” d. 1998, “A[rchie] Waller” d. 1975, “J[ohn] Townsley”, and “R[obert] Bates” d. 1997 (also known as “Basher Bates”); William Moore, Sam McAllister, Arthur McClay (from Antrim), David Bell, Eddie McIlwaine (still alive), Norman Waugh, and Benny Edwards do not appear to be included. Small wooden crosses in a fenced-in box bear the names of various volunteers.
Glenwood St, Shankill, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Extramural Activity 