PUL

RIC At Celtic Park

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03185 2015-11-12 RIC At Celtic Park+

The image above shows three members of the Royal Irish Constabulary outside Belfast’s Celtic Park in 1912. The event is perhaps a visit by Lord Pirrie, Winston Churchill, and John Redmond to speak in favour of the Home Rule bill at a meeting of the Ulster Liberal Association on February 8th. (You can see at ticket for the event at Decade Of Centenaries.) The meeting was originally to be held in the Ulster Hall, but this was blockaded by Unionist protesters (Irish History). According to one site, Churchill was “nearly lynched” by angry Protestants outside the grounds.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03185 donegall rd

Your Patronising Slogans

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03202 2015-12-01 Fuck You And Your Patronising Slogans+

Included in the black taxi tours of the murals of west Belfast is a stop along the Cupar Way “peace” line and an invitation to take a black marker and leave one’s mark. A designated name-tag with “Hello my name is …” was even painted for the purpose – see the image below. Many sign their names while others leave an inspiring slogan. In the image above alone you can read “Build legacies, not walls”; “It is easier to take a life than protect a life – decide you for peace!”; “A wish for peace, a hope for understanding, a belief in love”; “Don’t let the darkness consume you”; “Love lives longer than hate”; and so on. Bromides such as these have elicited the commentary in white from a local graffitist.

03203 2015-12-01 Hello My Name Is+

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X03202 X03203 fuck you NOTA none of the above TMN

Ulster’s Fighting Men

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03282 2016-02-26 Ulsters Fighting Men+

This new mural in Ballyduff commemorates the sacrifice of the Ulster Volunteers and Young Citizen Volunteers who fought in WWI and in particular their action in 1916; 2016 is the centenary of the Battle Of The Somme. The flag of (modern) UVF 1st East Antrim battalion flies on either side of the mural.

In the second image: the other new mural on this box was featured in If Needed, We Shall Rise Again

In the third image: The Ultimate Sacrifice

03229 2015-12-26 Somme 1stEA Purple+

03283 2016-02-26 Ulsters Fighting Men w+

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03282 X03283 X03229 fairview ave lest we forget YCV they paid the ultimate sacrifice present peace now still our hand death no longer stalks the land our weapons are silent and shall remain but if needed we shall rise again hooded gunmen world war one

The Blood Of Heroes Never Dies

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03236 2015-12-30 We Cherish Too mid+

Five images of a new, multi-wall, mural in Ballyduff. The main panel shows WWI soldiers bowed over graves in Flanders surrounded by poppies. This is accompanied by the red-hand emblem of the Ulster Volunteers and the shamrock of the YCV.

On a side wall (see the fourth image) is a verse from American professor Moina Michael’s poem We Shall Keep The Faith: “We cherish too the poppy red that grows in fields where valour led; it seems to signal to the skies the blood of heroes never dies”. It was Michael who began to raise funds for servicemen by selling (silk) poppies, also adopted by the British Legion in 1921 (WP).

03239 2015-12-30 We Cherish Too+

03237 2015-12-30 We Cherish Too d+

03238 2015-12-30 We Cherish Too text+

03240 2015-12-30 We Cherish Too w+

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X03236 X03239 X03237 X03238 X03240 ballyduff gdns East Antrim volunteers UVF For God and Ulster At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them. YCV Lest we forget. Newtownabbey

The Belle Of Belfast

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03161 2015-11-06 Belfast Belle+

This Lesley Cherry mural in the Village area of Donegall Road shows a female figure sitting on a drum and holding one of the Harland & Wolff cranes in her hand.

Previously by Lesley Cherry: In The Crowd Of Thousands | Nothing About Us | I Am Not Resilient | Women’s Voices Matter | Only In The Movies | Coming Of Age In The Lower Shankill

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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If Needed, We Shall Rise Again

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03228 2015-12-26 1stEA Purple+

The years of operation of the UVF in this new Ballyduff mural are given as 1966-1994. The main loyalist paramilitaries began what was to be a lasting ceasefire on 13th of October, 1994. The ceasefire was announced by Gusty Spence, who was the organisation’s original leader in 1966.

“Present peace now, stills our hand, death no longer stalks our land, our weapons are silent, and shall remain, but if needed, we shall rise again.”

03284 2016-02-15 1stEA Purple w+

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X03282 X03284 fairview ave

Stewart’s Yard

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02988 2015-09-03 Stewarts Yard+

As the sign says, the area of what is now an Iceland supermarket on the Shankill Road was, at the time of World War I, a training ground for the Ulster Volunteers. The sign was erected to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the force, which then became the Ulster Volunteer Force which served in the war. “On the first day of enlistment for the West Belfast UVF, volunteers assembled at Stewart’s Yard in the Shankill Road. They were addressed by Colonel T. E. Hickman, the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton and a senior UVF figure who had become the Recruiting Officer for the whole of Ulster. Joining Hickman were James Craig MP, plus Stewart Blacker Quin, who was the Unionist candidate for West Belfast and the commander of the 1st Battalion West Belfast UVF.” (Richard S. Grayson, Belfast Boys: How Unionists and Nationalists Fought and Died Together in First World War, p. 12) “The day following the opening of enlistment for the Division, 360 men assembled at the same yard, where after being presented with a box of cigarettes, they marched to the railway station to board trains for Donard Camp near Newcastle. These men became the corps of the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.” (Bygone Days)

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X02988

The Garland Of Victory

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03087 2015-08-03 UFF Garland+

The UFF mural shown above – with a red fist on a yellow six-pointed star, surrounded by a garland – is in the Lincoln Court area of Londonderry.

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We Must Share The Responsibility

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03247 2015-12-20 Common Sense+

UDA commander John McMichael was also secretary of the New Ulster Political Research Group (NUPRG), a think tank of the UDA/UFF. The group argued for an independent Northern Ireland (based in part on beliefs about a separate Ulster ethnic identity – see the Visual History page on Cú Chulainn) in two documents, 1979’s Beyond the Religious Divide and 1987’s Common Sense (available at CAIN), promoting the philosophy of ‘Ulster nationalism’, depicted here by the free-floating Northern Ireland. McMichael ran unsuccessfully for the Belfast South seat after the murder of Robert Bradford (see To Bathe The Sharp Sword Of My Word In Heaven).

“As John McMichael stated before his untimely death, we must share the responsibility for finding a settlement and share the responsibility of maintaining good government. He left us hope.”

Here’s a link to an image (from @conflictNI) of McMichael at the launch of Common Sense in 1987.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03247 X01585 [X01583] [X01584] [X01586] [X01587] lemberg st

Over A Barrel

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03228 2015-12-20 Orange Barrel+

Here is a snapshot from the protest camp at Twaddell Avenue, established in July 2013, which remains in place at the junction with the Crumlin Road. The most recent newspaper mention of the protest appears to be this December 29th report in the Newsletter.

For more, including the “civil rights” board behind the barrel, see Twaddell Protest Camp | Civil Rights Camp | Supporters Club | Let Them Home.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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