London-/Derry

Vol. Eamonn Lafferty

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02863 2015-08-26 Lafferty+

19 year-old Provisional IRA volunteer Eamonn Lafferty was killed on August 18th, 1971, in a gun-battle with British Army forces who were attempting to dismantle barricades in republican “Free Derry”. The mural and plaque shown (and a headstone) are situated—as the mural states—in the location where he was killed, in Creggan’s Kildrum area. (His body is buried in City Cemetery.)

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02863 killed on active service at this spot on by crown forces whilst defending his community was just 19 years old fuaır sé bás ar son na héıreann derry brigade óglaıgh na héıreann beırıgí bua song in Lafferty’s honourimages from Lafferty’s funeral commanding officer 1st battalion

Relief Of Derry Fry

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02846 2015-08-25 ReliefOfDerryFry+

This is the notice-board outside Cathedral Youth Club in Londonderry’s Fountain area (in August), inviting passers-by to express their loyalty in a ‘Relief of Derry fry’ – an Ulster fry with tea, coffee, or juice – to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02846 it’s a knockout summer activities big breakfast

Like The Foam From The Fountain, Like The Mist From The Mountain

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02867 2015-08-26 MacFadzean+

Twenty-year-old William Frederick McFadzean from Lurgan won the Victoria Cross for throwing himself on top of a crate of hand grenades that fell into his trench on July 1st (WP), the first day of the battle of the Somme; July 1st and 2nd would see 5,000 of his comrades from the 36th (Ulster) Division killed or wounded. The portrait on which the image is based can be seen at CultureNI.

Here’s a recording of the song composed in his honour:

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02867 36th Ulster Division (109 Brigade) 9th October 1895 – 1st July 1916 for valour for god and ulster UVF YCV ulster volunteer force young citizen volunteers

Maghaberry Torture Camp

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02822 2015-08-24 MaghaberryTortureCamp+

Here are three boards in Derry focused on HMP Maghaberry. The high security prison holds 1,000 prisoners and segregates loyalists and republicans, a situation described as “a festering sore” in a recent inspection. (Tele) Republicans say that the current crisis overlooks existing issues such as controlled movement and strip searches. (Irish News)

02821 2015-08-24 MaghaberryDurrow+

02819 2015-08-24 JFPoliticalPrisonersLecky+

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X02822 X02821 X02819 justice for political prisoners end forced strip search  in defence of the nation 32 county sovereignty movement IRPWA irish republican prisoner welfare association barbed wire

Socialist Volunteers

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02757 2015-08-08 IRSPBoard+

The board above, on Derry’s Racecourse Road, commemorates two hunger-strikers from Derry, Patsy O’Hara and Michael Devine, both members of the INLA; the third INLA hunger-striker was Kevin Lynch, from nearby Dungiven. The seven others who died were members of the IRA, whose political wing was Sınn Féın, while the Irish Republican Socialist Party, who sponsored this board, serves as the political face of the INLA.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02757 irish republican army IRSP páırtí poblachtach sóısıalach na héıreann plough stars red star raised Armalite vol bobby sands francis hughes ray mccreesh joe mcdonnell martin hurson kieran doherty tom mcelwee belfast armagh tyrone

The F-Bomb

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03158 2015-11-06 FTPSNIRA+

Three F-bombs today in a concentrated package. Above we have the PSNI and the IRA combined into one (and next to a swastika, not shown) in Maladon Street, south Belfast. Below, we have “Fuck the TV man, part 3” in Roulston Street in Londonderry’s Waterside. And finally, there is is “Fuck DAAD fags” on the New Lodge Road in north Belfast. “DAAD” stands for “direct action against drugs”, a group which counted Kevin McGuigan and Jock Davison as members (both of whom were killed in a feud this summer) and now goes by “AAD”. (For AAD and the murders of Davison and McGuigan see Irish News | Belfast Telegraph | Guardian.)

02858 2015-08-26 FuckTheTvMan+

03152 2015-10-19 Fuck DAAD Fags+

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Red Mick

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02856 2015-08-26 DevineShantallow+

Michael “Mickey” (though here “Micky”) Devine was red-headed and was a founder member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (IRSP) in his native Derry (The Plough & The Stars) and also of the INLA (IRSP Derry). The mural on the gable shown above includes the socialist symbols of the red star and the plough, great bear (ursa major), or “big dipper” shining over the towers of Long Kesh, where Devine died on the 21st of August, 1981, after 60 days on hunger strike, the tenth and final striker to die.

The writing that can be seen faintly in the lower third (from a previous version of the mural) reads “They have served their British masters, the poor pathetic fools. They think that inhumanity and cruelty can break us. Haven’t they learnt anything? It strengthens us, it drives us on, for then more than ever we know that our cause is just. INLA Vol. Micky Devine, Long Kesh 1981”

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X02856 shantallow derry

Roll Of Honour

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02870 2015-08-26 RollOfHonour2009+

Mural in Derry commemorating members of Na Fıanna Éıreann, the youth wing of the IRA. The names are listed in the order of death, from earliest to latest, beginning with fifteen-year-old Gerald McAuley who was shot dead in Clonard (Belfast) in 1969, and ending with John Dempsey shot on the Falls Road (Belfast) in 1981.

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X02870 michael sloan eamonn mccormick gerard donaghey david mcauley sean oriordan michael magee joseph campbell john dougal tobias molloy joseph comiskey bernard fox sean hughes michael marley neal mccrory robert allsop james templeton kevin mccauley james o’neill paul mcwilliams brıogaid dhoıre 1909-2009 oglaıgh na héıreann fuaır sıad bás ar son saoırse na héıreann sunburst ógra shınn féın

Pick Us Up If We Fall Down

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02833 2015-08-25 BrandywellPanel+

This mural featuring the rights of children was painted in Derry’s Brandywell area in 2014; it puts images alongside parts of Caroline Castle’s rendering of the UN’s Rights of the Child. The one above reads “Understand that all children are precious. Pick us up if we fall down and if we are lost lend us your hand. Give us things we need to make us happy and strong and always do your best for us whenever we are in your care. Right no. 3”.

02832 2015-08-25 BrandywellFull+

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02833 X03154 X03155 X03156 X03157 X02832 whoever we are wherever we live these are the rights of every child under the moon and the stars gallagher and sons oil and coal all children shall have time to play and time to rest when we are tired right no 31 watch over us wrap us up against the cold and rain and give us shade from the hot sun make sure we have enough to eat and drink and if we are sick nurse us and comfort us right no 24 if we are disable either in body or mind treasure us especially and give us the care we need to live happily in the world right no 23 no one on earth has the right to hurt us not even our mums and dads protect us always from anyone who would be cruel right no 19 all children should be allowed to live and to grow and grow and grow until we are grown up and and can decide things for ourselves right no 6 keep our families together and if we have no family look after us and love us just the same right no 9 faılte go dtí welcome to

The Trenches Have Vanished Under The Ploughs

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02847 2015-08-25 StruleWWIFull+

This WWI mural is fading somewhat after at least eight years on a wall in Strule Gardens, Londonderry. It shows soldiers going over the top, as depicted in JP Beadle’s Attack Of The Ulster Division (belfastsomme.com).

The title comes from the Eric Bogle song No Man’s Land (better known as “The Green Fields Of France” or “Willie McBride”. Here (youtube) is the recording by Tommy Makem and Liam Clancy.)

02849 2015-08-25 StruleWWIRight+

02848 2015-08-25 StruleWWILeft+

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