Beechmount–Falls Corner

Introduction

The heart of CNR muraling in Belfast is perhaps the middle Falls. Included in this stretch are the wall at Fallswater Street (next to what is now Cultúrlann), the two walls at Beechmount Avenue, and about eight walls in or near the Rock streets (for which see the Map).

For a long time the wall at the top of Fallswater Street was the most prominent wall on the Falls; it was the site of Smash H Block (1981); We Must Grow Tough (1981); Women In Armed Struggle (1983); Freedom-Justice-Peace (1987); Ballyseedy-Gibraltar (1988); Féıle An Phobaıl (19??); Foundation Stones (1994); An Gorta Mór along with There Was No Famine (1995); Llibertat-Saoırse along with Biko – Mandela (1997); Trimble The Waster (1999). The wall next to it (at the top of Iveagh Parade) was the site of Stop The Torture In H-Block (1981?-1986); 8531 Unemployed; Free The POWs; Beechmount POWs (1996-1997), Fáılte Á La West Belfast Fiesta (1997). Both walls were then obscured by new buildings and were no longer used for murals.

The other Falls-Beechmount corner, across the street from the one we focus on here, is a two-storey gable which, apart from the first mural in 1981 James Connolly, has always had impressively large murals that have changed only a few times over the decades – For A New Ireland (1983); Revolution (~1986); 1916-1990 Free Ireland (1990, repainted 1993); Éırí Amach na Cásca (2006, repainted 2009). These have been reproduced in countless photographs and easily catch the eye of tourists.

The smaller wall lacks the scale and the fame and the fixedness of its big brother but is all the more interesting for that. The art is crammed between a window and a side door; the art has often had to compete with election posters and commercial billboards; not all of the works have been murals – sometimes it has been the site of graffiti for memorial rallies and electoral candidates; the art has changed frequently to suit the topic of the moment or year. It thus presents a more detailed view of republican issues and anniversaries, with a more internal audience, namely the people of Beechmount and Iveagh.

The wall has been painted at least 22 times (between 1981 and 2019) and is the most frequently painted wall in Belfast and therefore probably in the world (putting aside Free Derry Corner‘s modifications).

Images

Three Flags
1981

Cross & Flags
1981

(M00220. As C00648 shows there were posters – mostly of hunger strikers – in the cross.)

PLO-IRA
1982

Vote Maskey + “Parliament Is Political Wing of British Army”
1983
C00434

IRA Unit In Action, based on a poster “Guerilla Days In Ireland” by a Short Strand artist.
“Painted by Beechmount & Iveagh Sınn Féın Youth Dept”. “MASKEY” is visible beneath.
c. 1983.

(1984 X05534 Image by Bill Rolston, used by permission.)

“6th May Hunger Strike [Commemoration Assemble 2 PM Dunville Park]” in progress — the SDLP’s Joe Hendron walks by with European Parliament candidate John Hume.
1984

X05535 HS Commemoration Hendron Hume — (X05535 video still)

Vote Morrison (with “6th May Hunger strike commemoration” rally visible beneath)
1984
C00409 (who incorrectly gives 1989 as the date — Morrison (also) ran in the 1984 European Parliament elections, which took place on June 14th, 1984)

“Warning: Touting can seriously damage your health”