Belfast west

The Centenary Of Oppression

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

‘Parliament Buildings’ were not opened until 1932 – 102 years after Stormont Castle and eleven years after partition and the formation of Northern Ireland – but it has largely taken over the meaning of “Stormont” and has become synonymous with the Northern Ireland government in all its forms over the century, a century of – as this Lasaır Dhearg (web) poster in CNR west Belfast has it – “pogroms, sectarianism, job discrimination, police brutality, imprisonment, collusion, housing discrimination, Orange supremacy, torture, internment, special powers, state sponsored death squads, language discrimination, gerrymandering, women’s rights denied, colonialism.”

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08107 [X08106]

Love Your Neighbour

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The water has turned into hand sanitiser outside St John’s Catholic church on the Falls Road, opposite the City Cemetery. Admission to services requires booking on-line in advance and wearing a face covering is “strongly recommended by Falls Pastoral Community”.

See also: Freedom Of Religion.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08115 X08116

Show Some Love

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Another World Belfast (web | Fb) collects toiletries and underwear for distribution – via local charities and community groups – in “Love Packs”. This ‘heart of hearts’ mural in support of the project is in the grounds of the Vault Artists (Fb | tw) in East Belfast.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07515

Night Taxi

Extramural Activity1 Comment

Free-hand sprayer Dan Kitchener’s (web | tw) latest mural in Belfast (in Enfield Street in the Woodvale) places a black taxi – a mainstay of transportation in West Belfast – in the streets of Tokyo. To our knowledge, this is the first piece of street art in PUL West Belfast other than on the “peace” line; it will be interesting to see how well it survives compared to both sectarian murals and street art in the city centre.

“The title of the piece is ‘You can go Anywhere’ to show that with hard work and determination, you can explore the world. The mural is Sponsored by local Butchers shop Hugh Linton Butchers and R City youth group which are an award-winning organization helping Communities Integrate Through Youth. With the help of Jonathan Hodge local community volunteer. The taxi’s number plate HWL 1970 is a nudge towards the establishment founder Hugh Linton” (Belfast Walking Tours Fb).

Dan released a video of the mural in progress. Previously by Dan for Culture Night: The Dream | Blurry Eyed.

Funded by Communities In Transition with support from Greater Shankill Partnership and youth group R-City (tw) whose ‘footprint’ logo appears in the top left of the first image, above.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08057 X08054 X08056 X08055 [X08058] [X08059] [X08060]

Reflections Of Divis

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The old streets of Divis, including St Peter’s (which goes back to the 1860s) are reflected in the head and shoulders of wide-collared youth.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04589 Milford Ct

Welcome To The Ulster Rangers

Extramural Activity1 Comment

The home of the Ulster Rangers supporters club (Fb) is on the Shankill below Tennent Street. The club has plenty to celebrate this spring, as Rangers are Scottish league champions this year, for the 55th time in club history – see  F*ck Your Ten In A Row | We’re Back | Respect Heritage Culture.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08024

Angels And Faces

Extramural Activity1 Comment

Street artist Emic (web | tw) was commissioned by Up! Culture And Arts (and SASH and the Shankill Somme Association) to produce a series of large portraits – based on photographs from the time – of soldiers from the Shankill who fought in WWI, including brothers William and James McKendry, and Richard Mussen, son of the Richard Mussen whose funeral cortège is painted as a mural lower down the Shankill. The portraits were placed in the Shankill and West Kirk graveyards (the West Kirk photographs include poppies). On March 16th, the photographs were lit up and an ‘Angel Of Mons’ was projected onto the Spectrum Centre (Up! Fb).

Video from the Somme Association set to The Bloody Road To The Somme.

Also from the Shankill graveyard: Reflections On The Somme | Somme Memorial; and from the graveyard: Queen Of Ireland, Empress Of India | Interment | The Great War

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08026 X08027 X08028 X08029 X08030 [X08031] X08032 X08033 X08034 [X08035] [X08036] [X08037] [X08038] [X08039] [X08040] [X08041] X08049 X08050

A Vision Of A Better Belfast

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

This is the latest iteration of the “Build Homes Now” mural in Northumberland Street, with an update to the central panel. Previously it was a space for visitors to sign their names in support but now it is a quote from (presumably) someone living in temporary accommodation: “When you’re in a hostel for so long, it starts to feel like a jail. It’s just so irritating and frustrating.”

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X07974

Fáılte Go Cabhsa Almóınne

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The new Bobby Sands mural is not the only recent addition in Twinbrook. Almond – the middle of the estate – has a ‘before and after’ of the pandemic: on the left, locals sit out in the street watching children play; on the right, frontline personnel.

For the ‘Victory To The IRA’ graffiti on the left, see Who.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08045 [X08046] X08044 X08047 Almond Dr

Victory To The NHS

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Almond Drive [Twinbrook] supports front line workers.” “Victory to the NHS” in the fight against coronavirus and Covid-19, rather than “Victory to the Provos“.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X08004