Ulster typically says “no” (going back to 1985, at least) but this Ballysillan Road graffitist is not so sure.
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Copyright © 2006 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Ulster Says ?
Belfast north
20th Century Northern Ireland
This is an in-progress set of images of the original “Wheatfield Project” panels on the Ballysillan Road, depicting the 20th century in loyalism. The crown on the YCV symbol and the tombstones and Ulster tower have not been finished and Carson’s statue will be added to the foreground of Stormont.
Later on, an info board would replace the first two panels, and the order after it would be Ulster Day, then Carson signing the covenant, then a new double-sized panel of Fernhill House, and then the rest as above, but with the order of the Sunningdale and UWC strike panels reversed.
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Copyright © 2005 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Build My Gallows High
This is the scene as Glenbryn Park was being rebuilt. The “peace” line separates Protestant Glenbryn from Catholic Ardoyne. “Build My Gallows” is a Rangers football song, but the last line here is “Build my gallows, build them high … for I’m not in Eire”.
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Cláraıgh Anoıs
This is the scene in Ardoyne Avenue, looking west towards Berwick Avenue (with the Birth Of The Irish Republic mural PMC | Extramural) and Divis mountain. In the middle ground, Sınn Féın urge people to get on the electoral rolls: “British government guilty of electoral fraud. 211,000 denied their vote [see also in Linden St]. Are you one of them? An bhfuıl tusa ına measc? Register now. Cláraıgh anoıs. Sınn Féın.”
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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Hedge Row School
“Labhaır an teanga Ghaeılge lıom.” Catholic (and Presbyterian) education was prohibited by the penal laws (WP) and particularly the Education Act of 1695 (WP) – this is probably what’s on the notice on the left-hand tree. Schooling by Catholics (in Irish) nonetheless took place, in covert houses and outhouses, as well as in fields and hedge-rows. The Act was repealed in 1782, provided the teacher took an oath of allegiance to the Crown.
The mural is in Ardoyne Avenue, alongside the Mass Rock mural. See also the Cromwell mural in the lower Shankill.
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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
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The Great Hunger
Board remembering An Gorta Mór, The Great Hunger, The Famine/Genocide (WP) with an (actual) old-fashioned plough in front. There is a Visual History page on The Great Hunger.
“They buried us without shroud or coffin” is a line from an unrelated Seamus Heaney poem Requiem For The Croppies. The imagery comes from the Illustrated London News: (from left to right) The Ejectment, The Day After The Ejectment, The Embarkation, Waterloo Docks Liverpool.
Update: Replaced in 2012 by Staır Na Gaeılge.
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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
X00046 eviction, emmigration, ardoyne art & environment project
Easter Lilies
Easter lilies, starry plough (WP), Irish tricolour, black beret and gloves, commemorating dead IRA volunteers from the third battalion of the Belfast brigade.
The plaque on the stone in the corner thanks local residents for their contribution to the struggle. There’s a close-up of the stone in Peter Moloney’s collection (M02420).
“This mural is dedicated to the memory of those local republican activists [34 portraits of volunteers from “A, D, F foıreannacha, cathlann 3rú, Brıogáıd mBéal Feırste”] who devoted their lives to the cause of Irish freedom. Ar son na c[ú]ıse. Óglaıgh na hÉıreann. Unveiled by Sınn Féın councillors Martin Meehan and Margaret McClenaghan.”
“Many suffer so that some day future generations may live in justice and peace – Bobby Sands MP.”
“Dedicated to those friends and neighbours from Ardoyne, the Bone and Ligoniel whose contribution and support to our struggle was and remains invaluable. Aıthníonn muıd a gcrógacht. Óglaıgh na hÉıreann. Meán Fómhaır 2003.”
Ardoyne Avenue, north Belfast.
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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
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Under Ben Madigan
“Is beo ár cheoıl fós” [our music still lives] The Blind Piper is a painting (original) by Joseph Haverty (WP), here placed in the context of North Belfast’s Cave Hill.
Sponsored by North Belfast Cultural Society (“NBCS” in the apex).
Update: The Blind Piper was also featured in a 2012 board over the West Belfast Taxi terminal.
Brompton Park, Ardoyne.
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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
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Arkansas ’57 – Ardoyne ’01
This Ardoyne mural connects the Holy Cross blockade (WP | Scannal RTÉ) to desegregation in the U.S.A. in the wake of Brown v. Board Of Education (WP).
The left panel is a rendition of an iconic image of Hazel Bryan hectoring Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine (WP), in Little Rock, Arkansas.
In the central panel, red sweaters on b&w background might be a reference to Schindler’s List.
The right panel is a reproduction of a photograph of the terrified Eirinn Flood on her way to Holy Cross (Belfast Media).
This mural was later (2009) imitated on the International Wall, Divis Street.
Estoril Park, Ardoyne, north Belfast
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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
X00044 everyone has the right to live free of sectarian harassment, it’s black and white, arkansas ’57, ardoyne ’01
Collusion Is Not An Illusion
“Collusion is not an illusion, it is state murder.” “10 people from Ardoyne were murdered with weapons imported by the British government from South Africa by their agent Brian Nelson in January 1988 until 1994. The consignment of weapons smuggled in by Nelson: 200 AK47 rifles, 90 Browning 9mm pistols, 500 grenades, 30,000 rounds of ammunition, 1 dozen RPG7 rocket launchers and warheads.”
Ardoyne Avenue, north Belfast.
See also another ‘collusion is not an illusion’ mural, on the Whiterock.
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Copyright © 2004 Ronan Woods
X00040 collusion is not an illusion, it is state murder, 10 people from ardoyne were murdered by weapons imported by the british government from south africa by their agent brian nelson in january 1988 until 1994, the consignment of weapons smuggled in by nelson 200 AK47 rifles 90 browning 9mm pistols 500 grenades 30,000 rounds of ammunition 1 dozen rpg7 rocket launchers and warheads
Extramural Activity 