The YCV WWI mural in Kitchener Drive has been removed and replaced with the modern weaponry above (with two small WWI boards on adjacent walls). For more on the UVF reasserting itself in the Village as it is redeveloped, see one | two | three | four | five | six.
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The UDA roll of honour mural (led by John McMichael) in Rowland Way was blacked out in the mid-2000s but has been gradually reappearing since then. (The steps painted on the wall in front read “In proud memory of our fallen comrades who lost their lives in the conflict – we forget them not.”) The banner was used for the “flag protests” surrounding the flying of the Union Flag on Belfast City Hall (in 2012-2013) and then was first hung next to the King Billy mural at the bottom of the Row.
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“Pretani” is the Brittonic version of the Greek term “Prettanoi”, possibly borrowed from the Gauls (WP), for the inhabitants of the two islands now known as Ireland and Britain, and “Cruthin” the Gaelic term. According to the eponymous web site, Dalaradia was “was a kingdom of the Cruthin in the north-east of Ireland and parts of Scotland in the first millennium” with the Cruthin being (more narrowly than above) a people in Antrim and Down with (in the middle of the mural) “the field of Crewe Hill, with the Ancient Crowning Stone of Ulster Kings” (REACH) in Glenavy (pretani.co.uk).
The WP page on the Cruthin notes, “The name Cruthin survives in the placenames Duncrun (Dún Cruithean, “fort of the Cruthin”) and Drumcroon (Droim Cruithean, “ridge of the Cruthin”) in County Londonderry, and Ballycrune (Bealach Cruithean, “pass of the Cruthin”) and Crown Mound (Áth Cruithean, “ford of the Cruthin”) in County Down. These placenames are believed to mark the edges of Cruthin territory.”
The towers of Rathcoole can be seen underneath the slogan “Respect, heritage, culture.” They also famously appear behind a trio of hooded gunmen in a Rathcoole mural.
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“For I, the Lord thy God, will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, “Fear not. I will help thee.” – Isaiah 41 v.13″ Jehovah’s promised protection for the people of Israel is invoked by his chosen people in the north of Ireland.
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“Gardiner Square” will be a new development at the junction of Gardiner and N King streets, where a Union Flag now flies. The promotional materials for the development tout Belfast’s business potential and promise that it is a “short walk” to the “highly anticipated Tribeca Project“. It’s not clear whether the flag will still be flying when the units open. (See previously: the plethora of UVF boards in the Village in response to the on-going redevelopment of the Village (from 2012 to the present).
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The “Ulster” street sign is partially obscured by all of the streamers but the decorations leave no doubt as to the allegiance of this householder to the UK.
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Kipling’s 1912 poem Ulster is not often quoted in loyalist muraling, despite it being an angry denunciation of Home Rule and the sacrifice of loyalists, as in the lines quote here: “The blood our fathers spilt/Our love, our toils, our pains/Are counted us for guilt/And only bind our chains./Before an Empire’s eyes/The traitor claims his price./What need of further lies?/We are the sacrifice. … The terror, threats, and dread/In market, hearth, and field/We know, when all is said./We perish if we yield.” Specifically, the sacrifice is six North Antrim/Londonderry UDA volunteers: Lindsay Mooney, Cecil McKnight, Ray Smallwoods, Benny Redfern, Gary Lynch, William Campbell. (See also: a RHC mural in the Shankill with a few lines from the poem.)
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This is the new ‘Welcome To The Shankill (Road)’ mural in Gardiner Street, which replaces the one that had been there since (at least) 2009 (see Welcome To The Shankill).
The mural is a version of the old Beverley Street ‘welcome’ mural (by Blaze FX), with the same four panels (parades/bonfire, blitz, sports, murals) and the same three hands. But instead of “Proud, Defiant, Welcoming” we now have “Proud, Resilient, Welcoming”. (I Am Not Resilient in the lower Shankill complains that the word is used to justify neglect and/or maltreatment.)
It escaped no one’s notice that, although the number of languages expressing a greeting is now much greater than the original ten, Irish is not included among them. Also Ulstèr Scots. (Also French, for some reason. Polish is included – “Witamy”). (See similarly “No Irish” in the lower Shankill estate but also All Flags Are Welcome in Divis, which omitted the Union Flag.)
The claim that the Shankill area dates back to AD 455 is used in The Original Belfast. The claim was made by the Greater Shankill Partnership.
Despite the appearance of bricks, the main panel is not in fact a mural but a board.
Held over from the old mural are the two strips of ‘famous faces’ on the left and right (see below).
Images of the July 10th launch from sponsors Alternatives.
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The UVF Regimental Band (tw) this year celebrates its 50 anniversary with a banner in My Lady’s Road. For the 50th anniversary mural, see They Said We’d Never Last. See previously: 40th anniversary banner at the site of the mural – Belvoir Bar. The view is from Roseberry Road.
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The North Antrim/Londonderry UDA has existed in the “Past, present, for all time”, or at least from 1972 to 2016 (and into 2019). “The blood our comrades shed shall not have been in vain. We honour Ulster’s dead and staunch we will remain.” The same quotation was used in Cloughfern.
Carnany estate, Ballymoney
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Extramural Activity 