PUL

C. Coy Street

Extramural Activity2 Comments
2014-09-10 CCoyFive+

UVF volunteers (l-r) Thomas Chapman, James McGregor, Robert McIntyre, William Hannah, and Robert Wadsworth, who were killed between 1973 and 1978, are commemorated in a new mural in Carnan (or “C. Coy”) Street. The mural is unusual in that it shows bare-faced full figures; loyalist murals sometimes include head-shots (at the top of the mural, in the apex of a gable wall, e.g. Standing Guard) but only masked men appear as full figures. There is a similarity in composition and style (and perhaps even palette) to existing Republican murals such as this one of five B. Coy IRA volunteers in Ballymurphy.

The wide shot (below) is taken from the main road: the fish-and-chip shop on the Shankill is called “A Salt And Battered”. For a straight-on image of the red-and-black mural to the left, see We Were Young. Still shots of the mural in progress are included in this video of the bands parading at the launch.

2014-11-10 ASaltAndBattered+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02175 X02353 c.coy 1st Belfast battalion Ulster Volunteers for god and ulster

Yes Scotland/Viva Ireland

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2014-09-08 YesScotlandBarracks+

Black Mountain/Slıabh Dubh’s ‘Viva Palestine‘ became ‘Viva Ireland’ – shown below – which in turn was quickly replaced with ‘Yes Scotland’, shown above as seen over the wall of the Springfield PSNI barracks from the (Protestant) Springmartin Road: a union flag and a St. Andrew’s (Scottish) saltire fly from houses in the foreground. These two flags are being used in the media to represent the opposing sides: the Saltire for ‘Yes’ and the Union flag for ‘No’. Scots go to the polls on Thursday the 18th; the two polls of the past week (You-Gov | TNS) suggest that the sides are running neck-and-neck.

Previously: A message To The People Of Scotland

See also: the Slıabh Dubh Visual History page.

2014-09-01 VivaIreland+

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Absent Friends

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2014-08-25 AbsentFriends+

David Lee was a founder, in 1985, of Pride Of The Hill Flute Band in Carnmoney/Ballyduff. Kris Muckle – now deceased – was a long-time member. (Band Parades) Both are commemorated in this mural. If you know what territory is outlined around the red hand in the centre, please comment/e-mail. Our best guess is that it is Carnmoney Hill.

2014-08-25 AbsentFriendsWide+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Veni, Vidi, Vici

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2014-08-09 DonPassFluteBand2+

New Young Conquerors Flute Band mural in Pine Street, south Belfast, connecting the band to local soldiers who died in WWI.

Video of the launch at the Young Conquerors Fb page.

2014-08-09 DonPassWide+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02064 X02067 est. 1976 2014 somme ypres beaumont-hamel messines thiepval st. quentin grandcourt fricourt beaucourt albert rosieres cambrai langmark bailleul courtrai flanders schwaben-redoubt passchendaele

Men In Black

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2014-08-25 SEAntrimUFF+

Two masked men with assault rifles flank the red fist and white star emblem of the Ulster Freedom Fighters. The figure on the left is shown in detail below. The South East Antrim UDA’s tumultuous history is substantial enough to warrant its own WP page.

2014-08-25 SEAntrimUFFDetail+

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X02115 X02116 South East Antrim uff ballyduff

Real Loyalists Will Never Be Bought

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2014-08-13 RealLoyalists+

Loyalist graffiti on the topic of money for regulated bonfires and community celebrations (for more, see Culture Before Cash), atop a piece of spray-paint writing by Noka, one of the FA Krew.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Changing Hands

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2014-08-09 AllDayParty+

An ad for an “All Day Loyalist Party” on the 11th of July is pasted on top of an anti-drugs board showing two pairs of hands making a drug deal. The flags and bunting on Woodvale Road are reflected in the plastic surface.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02061 famous the blues crimea street 2014 young conway vol. flute band shankill road ally dunn tommy mckeown ricky dean

Hard Hats Must Be Worn

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2014-08-17 CluanConfederate+

Below the “peace” line, a confederate flag flies alongside the union jack over a new board in Cluan Place reading “Unbowed, Unbroken” and “east Belfast UVF” graffiti.

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X02085 camlachie royal star flue band welcome to uvf

Anthem For Doomed Youth

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2014-08-18 LindsayArmistice+

“But in their eyes shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes … Their flower the tenderness of patient minds, and each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds.” Lines from Wilfred Owens’ (1893-1918) ‘Anthem For Doomed Youth‘ on a new board in Lindsay Street.

The text at the bottom reads: “The last three month of WWI became known as the hundred days. Realising they were defeated an armistice was signed by the Germans. Germany finally surrendered and WWI ended on November 11th 1918. The terms of the agreement called for the end of fighting along the entire Western Front to begin a precisely 11 am that morning. Records show that the last British soldier killed in WWI was Private George Edwin Allison of the 5th Royal Irish Lancers. He was killed at Mons at 09:30 am, just 90 minutes before the ceasefire.”

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X02088 the war is over germans accept allies’ terms armistice day

Third-Class Citizens

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2014-08-05 HughSmyth+

Hugh Smyth OBE was born in the Woodvale area and represented the upper Shankill as an Independent Unionist and then a Progressive Unionist in Belfast City Council for forty-one years, until the year before his death in May 2014, including a term as Lord mayor in 1994-1995 – he is pictured in the main image (above) in his mayoral robes.

The portrait on the right (shown solo below) was taken by Bobbie Hanvey and is kept in a Boston College archive; more from the archive of 50,000 images can be seen at BC.edu and on Flickr.

As the quote (shown in the final image below) indicates, his politics were oriented towards the working class: “Historically, Unionist politicians fed their electorate the myth that they were first class citizens…  and without question people believed them. Historically, Republican/Nationalist politicians fed their electorate the myth that they were second class citizens… and without question the people believed them. In reality, the truth of the matter was that we all, Protestant and Catholic, were third class citizen, and none of us realised it!” The board was officially launched on June 19th.

Replaces 90 Years Of Resistance.

2014-08-05 HughSmythPhoto+

2014-08-05 HughSmythQuote+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02044 X02045 X02046 canmore st 40 years’ service to the people of the shankill 1939-2014