Minuscule humans work in the land of the giants: a lily in London-/Derry and Larne’s crowning glory.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03775 X03760 Rossville St Circular Rd Roundabout
Gulliver’s Voyage To Brobdingnag
CNR
The Phoenix Dies And Then Is Born again
A stencilled phoenix in the Bogside, Derry’s, Meenan Square. The phoenix dies in flames and from its ashes rises another; a symbol of Irish republicanism.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03603
Doıre Colum Cılle 700 AD
The Christian missionary Colm Cılle (in Latin, Columba), born in Donegal, founded a monastic settlement on the banks of the Foyle (then still part of Donegal) around 540 AD. The “Doıre” part of the name means “oak grove” and perhaps refers (as the information panel suggests) to “a sacred grove of trees, which may have pre-dated the monastery.” The mural above shows a reconstruction of the Derry monastery c. 700 AD. The name “Londonderry” dates to 1662.
Columba moved on to Scotland circa 563 and founded an abbey on the island of Iona. Among his reputed miracles is the banishment of a great water beast from the River Ness in 565.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03592 X03593 X03594 U Bennett St
“This is a reconstruction of the early Christian monastery at Derry around 700 AD which was founded by St Colum Cille around 546 AD. Colum Cille left his community in Derry in 563 AD with twelve companions to found the great monastery of Iona. He only subsequently returned to Ireland once and died in 593 AD. Although St Colum Cille founded a number of Irish monasteries, it would appear that Derry was his principal residence until he left Ireland. The name itself, Doıre, (sometimes Doıre Colum Cılle) means ‘the oakgrove of Colum Cille’ a sacred grove of trees, which may have pre-dated the monastery.”
“Is athchuthú é seo ar an mhainistir luath-Chríostaí i nDoıre thart ar 700 AD a bhunaigh Naomh Cholm Cıille thart ar 546 AD. D’fhág Colm Cille a phobal ı nDoıre thart ar 563 AD le dáréag eıle le mómhaınıstır oıleán Í a chur ar bun. Níor fhill sé go hÉıreann ach uaır amháın agus fuaır sé bás in AD 593. Cé gur bhunaigh Naomh Cholm Cille roınnt maınıstreacha eıle ı nÉırınn, shocrıgh sé ı nDoıre de réır cosúlachta go dtí gut ımıgh sé. Déanann an t-aınm ‘Doıre Cholmcılle’ tagaırt do dhoıre naofa, a bhí ann roımh an mhaınıstir.”
Lıú Lúnasa
Lıú Lúnasa is an Irish language festival, held this year on 24-28 August. The mural above shows rocks taken from the wall separating Palestine and Israel being used to build a gaelscoıl (an Irish-language school). The mural was painted by Jımí Mac Fhlannchadha.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03817 Nansen St na habaır é, dean é. troıdımís. dearg le fearg.
Victory To The Prisoners
More ‘people should not inform’ PSNI posters (and a large board in Thames Street, shown below) from the IRPWA (Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association) including the arrest of Padraig McShane, along with one demanding “Political status now” with a raised fist grasping barbed wire.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03820 X03828 X03933 X03936 Divis St Thames St Divis St
I Am Proud To Be A Rebel
The third panel of three new paintings outside Casement Park continues the quote in the second, both coming from the end of Casement’s speech during his trial on charges of treason against the UK. “It is only from the convict these things [i.e. human rights] are withheld, for crime committed and proven and Ireland, that has wronged no man, has injured no land, that has sought no dominion over others — Ireland is being treated today among the nations of the world as if she were a convicted criminal. If it be treason to fight against such an unnatural fate as this, then I am proud to be a rebel, and shall cling to my “rebellion” with the last drop of my blood.”
The speech was unsuccessful; Casement was hanged in Pentonville prison, England on Augst 3rd, 1916.
The same image of Casement being led away was also painted on the recently repainted International Wall.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03725 X03727 X03726 Andersonstown Rd
RPG Avenue
Since 1982 (and perhaps earlier) Beechmount Avenue in west Belfast has been known as “RPG Avenue”, after the rocket-propelled grenade launchers used by the IRA. The tarpaulins shown in the first two images (from a recent dedication at the memorial garden across the street) here recall the 80s, with images of armed volunteers and of the support for the blanket men and hunger strikers from “Beechmount/Iveagh H Block-Armagh Committee”.
The first (above) was previously used in 2001 – see J1054. The final image, taken in June of this year, shows that the street still retains its unofficial name and also gives the names of various volunteers from A Coy, 2nd Battalion, including Pat McGeown, a hunger striker whose family intervened when he lapsed into a coma, and who was elected to Belfast City Council in 1993 and died in 1996 of a heart attack.
For the murals in the background see Free Tony Taylor and Bilal Kayed.
See also: RPG west Belfast 1981 | PLO-IRA RPG 1982 | RPG with phoenix north Belfast 1986 | RPG with ‘Vote Adams’ 1987 | RPG with phoenix west Belfast 1989 | RPG south Belfast 2002 | also surface-to-air missile launcher and SAM-7 Avenue in Strabane.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03826 X03825 X03463 roll of honour stan carberry frankie dodds paul fox sean bailey paul marlowe tony campbell albert kavanagh tom mcGoldrick fuaır sıad bás as son na héıreann ireland unfree will never be at peace ascaıll ard na bhfeá
No Excuse
As a comparison of the first and third images – taken six weeks apart – show, a count of the days in prison has been added to the Tony Taylor board on the green in front of the H-Block memorial in Derry, reminiscent of the counts that were kept of the hunger strikers in 1981 (see, for example, Day 55 | Day 61 on the Peter Moloney Collection blog).
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03776 X03810 Rossville St
End Internment – Free Tony Taylor
Tony Taylor, an RNU leader and former IRA man in Derry, remains in Maghaberry prison after having his license revoked in March of this year. (See Free Tony Taylor.) Sinn Féin last week again called for Taylor’s immediate release of Tony Taylor (youtube). The Cogús mural above is in Beechmount Avenue.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03470
Self-Government Is Our Right
Here is the second (of three) new paintings on the exterior wall of Casement Park in Andersonstown, west Belfast celebrating the life and death of Roger Casement. The words come from Casement’s speech from the dock at his trial on charges of treason. The quote in fact reads “Self-government is our right, a thing born in us at birth; a thing no more to be doled out to us or withheld from us by another people than the right to life itself — than the right to feel the sun or smell the flowers or to love our kind.” As the post on the first painting (see It Is Better For Men To Fight And Die) noted, Casement made his name (and was knighted) for his reports into abuses of “human rights” in Congo and Peru.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03724 Andersonstown Rd
Extramural Activity 