“Waiting for storytime – Carnegie library – Donegall Road. There is always a moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.” A panel from the Donegall Road bridge (south).
Previously: Another Carnegie library, on the Falls Road.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Windsor Women’s Centre in the Village area of south Belfast has been providing support services for women and families since 1990. This black and white but multicultural mural on the Kilburn Street side of the building by Joanne Vance includes images of women who use the centre.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01872 spiral hope peace opportunity spirit feminism unity love dreams fears aspirations confidence education growth development belonging faith energy skills knowledge learning activity drive life power spirit strength home vitality work recreation conversation comfort helping together coffee support understanding health sharing worth well being warmth trust
UDA/UFF/UYM (Ulster Young Militants) board in Grange Drive, Ballyclare, with red hand and red fist.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01818 quis separabit terrae filius feriens tego
Four generations of headgear and rifles, from 1912 to the present, are featured in this new UVF board in Glenwood Street. A portion of the previous No. 4 Platoon ‘graveyard scene’ mural it replaces can be seen in the top right, with black figures superimposed. The title of the post, which comes from Ecclesiasticus 44, appears on the accompanying info panel along with a verse from Laurence Binyon’s poem For The Fallen. The fourth verse of Binyon’s poem is more often quoted, as in What Do We Forget When We Remember and At The Going Down Of The Sun.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01860 X01859 for god and ulster dedicated to the memory of fall officers NCOs volunteers number 4 platoon a company 1st belfast battalion ulster volunteer force names and deeds are eternally venerated by their comrades in arms who continue to serve humbly in their honour they went with songs to battle they were young straight of limb true of eyes steady and aglow they remained staunch to the end against odds uncounted they fell with their faces to the foe their name liveth for
UVF/YCV mural in Ballyclare celebrating and commemorating soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division in WWI and in particular at the Somme. The central panel, shown above, shows soldiers bearing the Division’s standard (painted in colour in an otherwise black-and-white mural and in the style of the (US) Marines ‘Iwo Jima’ Memorial (WP)) which comprises the Union flag, harp insignia of the Royal Irish Rifles, and the red hand of Ulster on a field of shamrocks.
The other panels, shown in the full shot, below, show (clockwise from top left) uniforms of the Ulster Volunteers, a Protestant woman defending the fields (see Deserted! Well, I Can Stand Alone), soldiers going over the top, and soldiers bowed at a UVF memorial.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01830 X01831 we band of brothers Henry V shakespeare
Materials intended for an Eleventh Night bonfire in Rathcoole were set alight early on Tuesday morning (0200 May 13th, 2014, according to Proud To Be A Protestant – Banter) and still smoldered in the morning. Nolan’s radio show last week had a segment on this bonfire, following up on an Irish News report (article behind a paywall) that the bonfire might be moved or covered for the Giro d’Italia. “Culture before cash” means that locals would prefer bonfires to the funds available (here is the Belfast City Council ‘Bonfire Management’ page; Rathcoole is in Newtownabbey) to put on a street party with a willow-wood beacon in its place. According to this Irish News report, in 2013 45 Loyalist and 12 Republican bonfires part of the scheme. Here is the DOE’s Bonfire Report (pdf).
Previously: Bonfire Flags (images of (nearly) finished bonfires) | Everyone Has The Right To Participate (pallets in the lower Shankill estate)
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Graffiti in The Village area (south Belfast). The precise reason for the graffiti is unknown (leave a comment/e-mail if you know). Romanians were in the first wave of European immigration to Northern Ireland and came under attack especially in 2009. More recently, a Romanian had faeces thrown at him last week (BelTel) and attacks against immigrants, Poles in particular, have been on the rise in recent months. The latest is this attack (Tele) on a family in Templemore Avenue and an attack by a gang of fifteen people (Guardian). Last week saw “Locals only/Get out!” graffiti in east Belfast (U.tv – includes video| The Journal) and south Belfast (NewsLetter). Last year, “No blacks” graffiti was directed at two Nigerians, also in east Belfast (BBC). The Polish envoy has expressed his concerns to the PSNI (Guardian | IrishNews).
Previously: Never Actually Existed
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The close-up above is from the ‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ mural at the top of Grange Drive, Ballyclare, showing King Billy crossing the Boyne. (full mural below)
‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ is a flute band from Carluke, Scotland. According to the band’s Fb page, the band was formed in 1988 and named after a member of the Carluke Orange Lodge (LOL 190). Here is video of the band parading in Belfast, at the UVF centenary celebrations last year (2013).
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Graffiti in the Rathcoole estate, in Newtownabbey just north of Belfast, “It was Gerry [Adams]”, next to “RHC” – “Red Hand Commandos”.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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This is the ‘yesteryear’ portion of the hoarding around waste ground on The Square, encouraging people to “Shop, live, enjoy – Ballyclare”. There are photographs of ‘McIlroy’s shop 1867’, ‘Main Street 1907’, and ‘Square in the 50’s’.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Extramural Activity 