Belfast

A True Red

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2014-08-21 MarketsCliftonville+

Here is a mural in the Markets area of south Belfast celebrating the achievements of local boy George McMullen, who played youth football for St. Malachy’s and St. Matthew’s before joining Cliftonville in 2011 age 20.

On the left is the familiar Cliftonville huddle (see previously: The Red Army). The two poses in the centre and on the left are reproductions of Belfast Telegraph images. The first is from Cliftonville’s 2013 Dankse Bank Irish League-clinching win over Linfield, which the Reds won with a McMullen penalty in the dying seconds; the second in from the same moment in the 2014 campaign: Chris Curran has just scored to put the Reds two-nil up in a game against Portadown that would win them the League for the second year in succession.

Other Cliftonville players have been featured in murals: Joe The Goal in Ardyone and Rory Donnelly in the Bone.

Below is a shot of the piece in development and below that is a wide shot showing the mural’s location adjacent to the End The Siege On Gaza mural.

2014-08-08 MarketsCliftonville+

2014-08-08 MarketsWide+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02102 X02056 X02060 mallachy’s mcnally o’kane murray boyce gormley stats to date 2014 485 first team appearances 96 goals scored the penalty against linfield to win the irish league

Everyone’s An Artist On Culture Night

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2014-10-13 EveryonesAnArtist+

In Belfast, we like to get our kids started early with drawing in the street – see the gallery of images from Jacqueline Wylie’s CNB14 Rainbow Crossing – and one of them even took to the wall in North Street.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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At The Centre Of Health & Well-Being

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2014-10-11 CentreWellBeing2+

Images of Padre Pio, the Capuchin friar, and Our Lady with a sacred heart adorn the outside of the Centre For Health & Well-Being in Ballymurphy’s bullring. Wide shot below.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02283 X02282 blessed virgin mary corpus christi rosary

Grasping The Barb

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2014-09-01 GazaFist+

Above is another piece of the multi-panel work by Gerard Kelly (“Mo Chara”) at the top of Springhill, showing a forearm in the colours of the Palestinian flag with a fist clenched around a strand of barbed wire, causing blood to drip down.

Previously from the same set: Hellfire | Palestine Abú | David & Goliath | Man Against Machine

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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JFTC2 x2

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2014-10-24 EndInternJFTC2Lig+

Ligoniel (above) and New Lodge (below) copies of a JFTC2 (Justice for the Craigavon Two) stencil by Damian Walker of GaelForce. The Ligoniel location is proving controversial: Walker’s previous attempts have been painted over three times, according to an image in this 32 County Sovereignty post, which also alleges that Sınn Féın has been behind the removals. According to the Tele, a housing executive van was burnt out in response to one of the white-washings. There has been no such controversy in the New Lodge.

Previously: JFTC2 on the mountain | Justice in Hugo Street

2014-09-19 NLodgeJFTC2+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02307 X02208 john-paul wootton brendan mcconville end british internment

Aoife & The Owl

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2014-11-15 CNBAoifeOwl+

Above is the current version, and below is the original version (done for CNB14), of Aoife & The Owl by JMK (Jonny McKerr – Fb).

Previously by JMK: The Look Of Love | The Belfast Blitz

Below is a wide shot of the four new CNB14/Hit The North pieces; in addition to this piece, they are (from left-to-right) Fill Up On Colour by Conzo Throb | Tony Alva Soul Sailor by Psychonautes | The Imaginarium by Elph; also new is the ‘banner’ above the writing, by DMC. At the extreme left (across the street) can be seen DMC’s Long Runs The Fox.

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2014-09-21 CNBGarfieldWide+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Return To Loyalist Tiger’s Bay

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2014-11-13 LoyalistTigersBay+

The previous board in this location said “‘yes’ to a better future” beneath a tiger, a rainbow, and a DJ at his turntables (see an image at CCDL). That future, it seems, is to go back to a mural similar to the one prior to 2009 – You’re entering Loyalist Tiger’s Bay – though the explicit UDA/UFF insignia are gone, leaving only the clenched fist.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Look Behind You!

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2014-11-09 LookOutBehindYou+

The Disney princesses (Snow White and Princess Anna, the younger sister from Frozen) are being watched, not just by the wicked witch, but by the communications tower on the Springfield Road barracks. There are two close-ups below, one of Ariel and Snow White, the second of Anna. The mural is new work by a local artist and local children in the Slıabh Dubh estate.

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2014-11-19 PrincessesFrozen+

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The Lamps Are Going Out All Over Europe

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2014-11-08 WoodvaleMon1+

Approximately 10 million military personnel and 7 million civilians died in WWI, with massive losses coming in August-September-October of 1914, as German forces invaded Belgium and northern France, before being stopped at the Marne and entrenching at the Aisne; both sides then attempted to out-flank one another in a “race to the sea” (WP – Invasion | WP – Casualties). The dead of those first months – including German forces (see third image, below) – are commemorated in a new monument, a granite stone with six sides, like a rock from the Giant’s Causeway, in Woodvale Park (BelTel | NewsLetter). A searchable database of 10,000 Irish soldiers who died in Belgium is now available at the In Flanders Fields Project.

Video of the launch on 2014-10-17

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2014-11-08 WoodvaleMon2+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02337 X02338 X02339 the great war we shall not see them lit again in our time sir edward grey british expeditionary force 1914 lost generation armée française generation perdue mons 23 august le cateau 26 august marne 5 september aisne 13 spetember yser 17 october ypres 19 october kaiserliche deutsche armee gott mit uns verlorene generation belgish leger verloren generatie angel of mons belfast city coat of arms

Working Class Heroes

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2014-11-08 WorkingClassHeroes+

Last Saturday (2014-11-08) saw the launch of a new mural in Ballymurphy Crescent, celebrating local IRA volunteers and community workers.

The doves at the top of the mural are in the style of Robert Ballagh’s “Legacy Of The Hunger Strikes” though there are 12 doves here rather than 10. Marty Lyons holds a copy of Ballagh’s piece in an image below, along with an image on which the halberd and pistol around the beret and gloves in the bottom of the mural are based – the rifles of the original are absent. (Possibly by Patrick Magee, the Brighton bomber (WP) – please confirm by e-mail or comment.)

Left-hand portraits (counter-clockwise from top): Eileen Gray, Margaret Campbell, Annie Adams, Kathleen Moore, Lizzie McGivern, Joe Reid, Rosaleen Russell, Mary Armstrong, Agnes Robinson, Eileen Reid.

Standing (l-r): Fra Toner, Gerry Campbell, Liam Mulholland, Paddy Tier, Sean Connolly, Michael Kane, Liam McParland, Sean Doyle, Cllr. Sean Keenan, Pat McGeown.

Squatting/Kneeling (l-r): Jim McGrillen, Francis Toner, Jr., Jimmy Duffy, Tony McAlister, Billy Carson, Cormac McArt.

The main figure is (and remains from the previous mural) Tommy “Toddler” Tolan, who escaped from the Maidstone in 1972 and served time in the cages at Long Kesh. (See Lost Lives entry #1956 and An Phoblacht.) In the original (2001) version of the ‘Safe House’ mural, he was dressed in fatigues (image at CAIN), but this was changed within 18 months to a brown suit (image at CAIN | detail at ExtrAct), similar to the way he is portrayed here.

The mural took some time to complete — the fifth image, below, shows one of the artists on a scaffold with #stoptorycuts on Slıabh Dubh in mid-October — partly because more and more figures were added.

Update 2014-11-26: In an unusual move, the launch of the mural was advertised by a board (rather than flyers), in this case at Dorothy Maguire Corner on the Whiterock Road – see the final image, below.

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2014-11-08 WorkingClassPlaque+

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2014-11-26 MuralUnveiling1+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02348 X02401 X02349 X02290 X02287 X02288 X02289 X02403 the mural was unveiled by johnny doc 8th november 2014 remember our volunteers committee an trá ghearr abú