CNR

Teach Ghráınne

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“Óglach Tony ‘TC’ Campbell was shot dead by the British Army as he walked along Edlingham Street on February 4th 1973 as he returned home from celebrating his 19th birthday. TC was one [of] six New Lodge residents murdered which was later referred to as the “New Lodge Six Massacre. … Tony lived in 13D Artillery House [now Teach Ghráınne].” Campbell was hit 17 times (BBC).

“Óglach Seamus McCusker was murdered by members of the Workers Party [as part of the PIRA-OIRA feud] on this spot [New Lodge Road outside Artillery House] on the 31st October [1975]. At the time of Seamus’s killing he was on his way to deal with a local resident’s complaint.” McCusker was killed two days after the PIRA shot Robert Elliman in the Markets; a few hours after McCusker’s death, Tom Berry of the OIRA was killed in Short Strand.

See also: a map and list of all of the old and new names for the New Lodge Flats.

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Clonard Remembers

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“Is cuimhin linn.” Last week saw a series of events, organised by the Belfast 1969 Pogroms Commemoration Committee, in Clonard, Falls, and Ardoyne, including a photographic exhibition, documentary screenings, panel discussions, a play, a mass, and murals (Irish News), including The Pogrom Of August 1969 and the one above, in Bombay Street, which used to run between the Shankill and Falls but after the riots and burnings of August 1969 was split in two by a so-called “peace” line (see the wide shot, below).

“These are terrible days … but some good has already come from these attacks on our communities. You have young people and elderly people all closely knit together and that is a grand thing. We must not allow hatred to spring up in our hearts. For what we are aiming for now is justice. We demand justice. We are not begging for it – we are demanding it. It is our right and we will keep on demanding it until we get it. We don’t ask for anything more – just a fair deal … that we will soon have a community where everybody, irrespective of religious belief or irrespective of political ideology will be able to lead a normal life and will not be unjustly discriminated against.” – Fr Patrick Egan, sermon in Clonard Monastery, August 1969 (youtube).

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X06748 Xo6749 X06750 X06746 [X06747] [X06751]

We Have Hit Five

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The Westrock bungalows were aluminium prefab houses built in 1949 during the post-war housing shortage next to Springhill and Ballymurphy. British troops fired on the area from the high position of Corry’s timber yard in the summer of 1972; their bullets could go through the walls. Five people were shot dead, including a priest. The plaques shown are new additions to the memorial garden in Westrock Drive.

“On the evening of July 9th 1972 British marksmen mounted an unprovoked and sustained attack on this community. Among the snipers[‘] victims lay five dead. Gunned down during efforts to bring aid an succour to the wounded. Still waiting for justice to their memory and for freedom of the truth.”

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Pogrom Of August 1969

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This August marks the 50th anniversary of what are euphemistically called “The Troubles”. The Battle Of The Bogside (Derry) began on August 12th; in Belfast, fighting began on the night of August 14th and before dawn three people in the Divis Street area were dead: Protestant Herbert Roy and Catholics Patrick Rooney and Hugh McCabe, both shot in the Divis flats complex by the RUC’s Shorland armoured cars. (Two other Catholics were killed in rioting in Ardoyne.) This new board is on Divis tower, next to the plaque commemorating Rooney and McCabe.

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X06744 X06745 “Ar eagla go ndéanfadh muıd dearmad” [for fear we would forget/lest we forget] “erected by the falls commemoration committee” ‘time for truth” “malone road fiddles”  “barricades stay until demands are met”

Active Service

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“In memory of IRA volunteers Gerard Crossan, Tom McCann, Tony Lewis, John [Sean] Johnston, who died while on active service on the 9th March 1972 at 32 Clonard St. Erected by the Greater Clonard Ex-Prisoners Association.” The four died in a premature explosion (“active service”) presumably at the home of Lewis, who lived in Clonard Street. Crossan and Johnston were 19, McCann and Lewis were 20 (The Troubles 11).

Clonard Street, Belfast.

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Michael McCartan

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“Michael was born 4th March 1964 to parents Charlie and Molly. Charlie was originally from Raglan Street and Molly was from Stanfield Street and they move to 13 Artana Street in February 1963. They had seven children: Michael, Sean, Dermot, Martin, Conor, Marie and Roisin. Michael was educated at Holy Rosary PS and St Augustine’s Secondary School and was due to start an apprenticeship in joinery and plastering. Michael was a typical teenager. He loved spending time with his mates but as the eldest child he was very helpful to his parents. On the day of his murder he had been helping his father paint the house. On 23rd July 1980 Michael, aged 16, was playing cards with his mates in the ‘nook’ at Ormeau Bridge. Getting bored, Michael got some paint and painted a slogan on the adjacent wall. He was seen by two plainclothes RUC men in an unmarked van. Without warning, Michael was shot by one of the RUC men and died shortly after. Nobody was ever convicted of Michael’s murder. Unveiled by his mother Molly 4th March 2019.” Father Raymond Murray, who with Fr Dennis Faul wrote a report on McCartan’s death, was also at the launch.

The killing of Michael McCartan by an RUC officer named McKeown was long ago (in the 1980s) depicted in a mural in Oakman Street: They Murder The People And Have No Shame.

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X06563 Dromara St

Can The Centre Hold?

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In 2017 the New Lodge anti-internment bonfire was removed by the Housing Executive based on concerns that it was too close to buildings (BBC-NI) and in 2018 community negotiations arranged for it not to be built at all, in exchange for tickets to a Féıle concert (Republican News | IRSP). But the bonfire is back this year, built directly on Queens Parade, and with it the anti-social behaviour that is thought by some (e.g. Alex Maskey) to be the real reason for the bonfire. “Such is the lawlessness,” reports the Irish News (one | two), that youths minding the fire have been seen powering an Xbox from a lamppost. Also, four nights of rioting (NewsLetter | iTV). In response to the growing attention, the graffiti above (“Our wood goes, this centre goes”) has appeared on a wall of the North Belfast Family Centre, along with graffiti threatening Sinn Féin councillor JJ Magee (see image below; Magee commented on the 2016 bonfire dispute in this Slugger article) and against any contractors who might be hired to remove the materials. As of 7 p.m. last night, the bonfire was still in place. If it has not been removed (by the Department Of Infrastructure) it will be lit tonight.

For the phrasing, see previously: Our Wood Goes Your Windows Go in Longlands.
For threats against contractors, see previously: Masked Republican Mercenaries.

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X06739 X06743 X06740 [X06741] [X06742] “JJ we know your address”

Groves – Reilly Corner

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“Coırnéal Groves Reilly”. Throughout the Troubles the junction of the Glen and Falls Road was home to an intensely fortified RUC barracks. The barracks was demolished in 2005 and gradually redeveloped over the years. In January (2019) it was renamed in honour of activists Emma Groves and Clara Reilly who campaigned for decades against plastic bullets (Groves was blinded in 1972 by a plastic bullet fire by a Paratrooper) and founder members of Relatives For Justice (web). For images from the launch, see Irish Examiner.

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Time For Irish Unity

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Sınn Féın joined the IRSP ‘Yes For Unity’ campaign (Fb | tw) for a vote on Irish reunification with a shared meeting in late 2018 (Irish News). The two campaign boards shown here (at the Glen Road-Falls Road junction and at the top of the New Lodge) are in the same style of these two IRSP ‘Yes For Unity’ boards from 2018.

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Make Your Mama Cry

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“It’s no lie – drugs will make your mama cry!” Sisters Bridget and Geraldine McKay died within three weeks of each other, one from heroin and the other from prescription dugs (iTV | BelfastLive | BelTel). Between them, they leave nine children behind. The graffiti above is at the Colin transport hub, not far from Geraldine’s Suffolk Road home; Bridget lived in the New Lodge flats.

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Copyright © 2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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