“Realising the Republic”. This is the first of three new murals side-by-side in Andersonstown. It celebrates the centenary (“Céad Blıaın 1916 – 2016”) of the Easter Rising and shows a copy of the proclamation of the republic and an Easter lily.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Here’s a patronising slogan from the Cupar Way “peace” line, complete with peace/anti-nuclear symbol. Also visible: “Be kind; don’t hurt”, “United, all win”, “Praying for peace in Belfast”, “Love one another”, “Trust and compromise” and so on.
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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While taking part in the Easter Rising centenary parade, members of the James Connolly 1st Republican Flute Band from Glasgow (tw) pause on the Falls Road during a squall. Embroidered on the rear of their shirts are the words “We serve neither king nor kaiser, but Ireland”, the slogan which hung outside the ITGWU’s Liberty Hall during the first world war. Image courtesy of Bronagh Bowerman.
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Copyright © 2016 Bronagh Bowerman
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The images in the windows of the McLean’s bookies on the Shankill Road suggest that betting on sports – even on George Best – is like playing roulette. The gate to the left (with barbed wire on top) is marked with the letters “U” and “R” of the nearby Ulster Rangers supporters club. (For two murals there, see previously: Save The Shankill | Doing Her Duty).
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Anti-Óglaıgh Na hÉıreann graffiti in Beechmount Street beneath a Sınn Féın banner using Martin Luther King to advocate for non-violent protest (featured previously in Always Avoid Violence).
See also: The F-Bomb.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Arrayed against the forces of the British Army (which are shown in armoured cars and in sniping positions in the foreground of the mural, along the whole length of the wall) are various symbols of Irish nationalism: Oliver Sheppard‘s 1911 statue of Cú Chulaınn dying; the pikemen of the 1798 Rebellion (featured yesterday: Éırí Amach 1798); the four provinces of Ireland; Érıu the mythological queen of Ireland/Éıre as designed by Richard J King/Rísteard Ó Cíonga; Easter lilies; the emblems of Na Fıanna Évreann and Cumann Na mBan on either side of a quote from (The Mainspring) Sean MacDiarmada “We bleed that the nation may live; I die that the nation may live. Damn your concessions, England: we want our country”; a phoenix rising from the flames of the burning Dublin GPO (inspired by Norman Teeling’s 1998 painting The GPO Burns In Dublin); the GPO flying an ‘Irish Republic’ flag; portraits of signatories and other rebels — (left) Padraig H. Pearse, Thomas J Clarke, Eamonn Ceannt, Thomas MacDonagh, (right) Countess Markievicz, James Connolly, Sean MacDiarmada, Thomas Plunkett; the declaration of independence, placed over the advertising box of AA Accountants – see the in-progress shot below. For more work-in-progess images, see yesterday’s post, Éırí Amach 1798. At the very bottom is a quote from the mother of Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly, Harriet Kelly: “We want the freedom of our country and your soldiers out.”
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The pikemen of 1798 go into battle under the flag of the United Irishmen in a detail from a new mural on the Falls Road for the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising. Below are work-in-progress images showing artists Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly and Bill Bradley.
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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At the corner of the Falls Road and Northumberland Street, consumerism and republicanism collide.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Immaculata amateur boxing club (Fb) (or simply “The Mac”) in the Lower Falls will celebrate its 70th birthday in May this year. This long mural, painted in 2015 and featuring boxing past and present, is in Servia Street, near the club’s Albert Street home.
Previously: Come On The Mac
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The plaque above is a new one outside the Andersonstown Social Club, mounted for the centenary of the Easter Rising: 1916-2016 – We serve neither king nor kaiser but Ireland. This plaque was erected to the memory of the men and women who give their lives in the fight for Irish freedom. “Apostles of freedom are ever idolised when dead but crucified when alive” – James Connolly (These are the opening lives of ‘The Men We Honour‘ 1898)
The plaque below is a previously existing one to volunteers from the First Battalion of the IRA’s Belfast Brigade and various other republicans and “also in memory of the civilians who died at the hands of the UDR, RUC, and loyalist extremists”.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03280 X03279 south link an chéad chathlán de bhrıogáıd bhéal feırste óglaıgh na héıreann ı ndílchuımhne [ndılchuımhne] ar henderson mcdermott forsythe jordan finucan hall burke fennell rooney fox kane lennon o’callaghan mccartan sands mcdonnell doherty turley magill mckernan mcardle farrell mccracken macbrádaıgh twomey o’rawe mcdonagh ryan black roe mcairt dolan crawford mcauley dempsey best drumm keenan
Extramural Activity 