Belfast west

One In Design And Intention

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03246 2016-01-08 Cross Of Suffering 2+

Religion and military might are one in this giant (see the wide shot, below) cross in Belfast’s City Cemetery, which commemorates the dead of World War I. The base (shown below) reads: The cross of sacrifice is one in design and intention with those which have been set up in France and Belgium and other places throughout the world where our dead of this great war are laid to rest. Their name liveth for ever more.” There is a similar memorial in Dundonald Cemetery. According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, “There are now 296 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war and 274 of the 1939-1945 war commemorated here.”

Previously from the City Cemetery: The Depths Of Sectarianism

Previously on the same theme: And A Sword In The Other

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03245 2016-01-08 Cross Of Suffering 1+

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Revolution 1916

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03277 2016-02-19 Revolution 1916 Poster+

“Revolution 1916” is an exhibition of uniforms, weapons, medals, and other memorabilia from the 1916 Easter Rising. It will open in Dublin’s Ambassador Theatre on February 27th but before then it some of the items have been on tour, including stops in the Andersonstown Social Club (poster shown above | youtube video) and Gaelscoil Éanna in Glengormley (images). As a juxtaposition, “CIRA” (Continuity IRA) is on the electrical box to the left.

For the murals in the background see M02254 | M05150 | Mac Brádaigh

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03277 south link coiste uachtar na bhfal upper falls committee original authentic first public unveiling originalflags writings GPO rosie mccorley MLA proclamation

Ultras Celtic

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03276 2016-02-03 Ultras Celtic+

The Green Brigade, founded in 2006, (Web | WP) is an ultra-fanatical supporters club for Scottish football team Celtic. The poster above, which shows a supporter with scarf over the lower part of his face and aiming a slingshot, is in the Clonard area of west Belfast.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Stewart’s Yard

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02988 2015-09-03 Stewarts Yard+

As the sign says, the area of what is now an Iceland supermarket on the Shankill Road was, at the time of World War I, a training ground for the Ulster Volunteers. The sign was erected to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the force, which then became the Ulster Volunteer Force which served in the war. “On the first day of enlistment for the West Belfast UVF, volunteers assembled at Stewart’s Yard in the Shankill Road. They were addressed by Colonel T. E. Hickman, the Conservative MP for Wolverhampton and a senior UVF figure who had become the Recruiting Officer for the whole of Ulster. Joining Hickman were James Craig MP, plus Stewart Blacker Quin, who was the Unionist candidate for West Belfast and the commander of the 1st Battalion West Belfast UVF.” (Richard S. Grayson, Belfast Boys: How Unionists and Nationalists Fought and Died Together in First World War, p. 12) “The day following the opening of enlistment for the Division, 360 men assembled at the same yard, where after being presented with a box of cigarettes, they marched to the railway station to board trains for Donard Camp near Newcastle. These men became the corps of the 9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.” (Bygone Days)

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Mainspring

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03275 2016-02-03 MacDiarmada+

Seán Mac Dıarmada was born in Leitrim, left for Glasgow at age 15, and after two years returned to Belfast in 1905 and – according to the new mural above – spoke from the back of a coal lorry in Clonard Street, outside the Clonard branch of the Ancient Order Of Hibernians. Mac Dıarmada was for a short time an AOH member, before moving on to the Irish Republican Brotherhood and Irish Volunteers, which led to his participation in the 1916 Easter Rising and execution on May 12th of that year.

The title of today’s post is historian F.X. Martin’s assessment of Mac Dıarmada, quoted in a pamphlet on Mac Dıarmada from the National Library Of Ireland. The NLI made many letters from and to Mac Dıarmada available in 2016. (See also this Irish Times write-up).

Previously: A 2013 Mac Dıarmada mural in Ardoyne and a 2009 small board, also in Ardoyne.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03275 clonard st quigley’s coal merchants séan executed by the british for his role

Over A Barrel

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03228 2015-12-20 Orange Barrel+

Here is a snapshot from the protest camp at Twaddell Avenue, established in July 2013, which remains in place at the junction with the Crumlin Road. The most recent newspaper mention of the protest appears to be this December 29th report in the Newsletter.

For more, including the “civil rights” board behind the barrel, see Twaddell Protest Camp | Civil Rights Camp | Supporters Club | Let Them Home.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Doing Her Duty

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Here is a board from outside the Ulster Rangers Supporters Club (Fb) on the Shankill Road. It highlights the roles played by women during WWI as nurses and welders and in the Land Army. “She hasn’t a sword and she hasn’t a gun. But she’s doing her duty now fighting’s begun.”

The forces are shown gathered outside the West Belfast Orange Hall, on the Shankill at Brookmount Street.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Accordion Player

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02993 Aerosol Accordian+

Jef Aérosol (Jean-François Perroy) is a French stencil-artist who did (at least) three pieces in Belfast. Below is a crossed-legged boy that was in Islandbawn Street and above is an accordion-player in Sevastopol Street; for a third piece, on Northumberland Street, see C02031. When the nearby Bobby Sands mural was extended this past year (2015), the stencil was retained. (See also the Visual History page of the Bobby Sands wall.)

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Copyright © 2009 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The UDA Kill Kids

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03027 2015-09-06 The UDA Kill Kids+

Vintage graffiti still visible in Gardiner Street: “The UDA Kill Kids!” If you know what this refers to, please comment or send an e-mail.

See also: graffiti in the same street dating to 1971: God Bless Paisley, Fitt Never

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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History Carved In Stone

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03227 2015-12-18 Falls Garden 2+

The two images featured today are of carved panels in the Falls Garden Of Remembrance (with the gold-plated surround removed). The garden commemorates fallen members of (IRA) D company but the panels suggest a wider appreciation of lower Falls residents. The same is also true of the mural in the background of the wide shot (third image, below), for which see Cry “Havoc”.

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03242 2015-12-31 Divis Garden+

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03227 X03226 X03242 falls cultural society  the service and loss of its sons a daughters  in the pursuit of irish freedom