The inspiration for this new street art by emic (ig | web) – perhaps in both pose and pallette – was Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Blackberry Picking’ (Derry Journal). A young person appears to be searching intently: “You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet/Like thickened wine: summer’s blood was in it/Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for/Picking.” (Full poem)
The official title is “Younger Days”; in Creggan, Derry, for Gasyard Féıle; with support from the Communities In Transition programme.
Replaces Creggan 75; there is still republican graffiti on the adjacent wall (final image): “Stop normalisation of RUC/PSNI”.
That is, king or queen “by the grace of God” or divine right. The first UK monarch to use the phrase was Henry V in the early 1400s and it has been used as a royal motto since then, up to and including the present-day monarchs shown on this board in the Caw, Londonderry.
On the left, the past – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; in the centre, the present – His Majesty King Charles III; on the right, the future – William Prince Of Wales, Baron Of [sic] Carrickfergus.
The Welsh dragon is included alongside the three flags/crests that make up the Union Flag – St George’s Cross for England, St Andrew’s Saltire for Scotland, and St Patrick’s Saltire for Ireland.
“Est 1913 Irish Citizen Army / Irish National Liberation Army Est. 1974”. The Irish Citizen Army was founded in Dublin in 1913 to protect striking workers from police violence. After taking part in the Easter Rising of 1916, however, the ICA did not participate in the War Of Independence and the Civil War. In 1974, some founding members considered reviving the “ICA” name to reflect the organisation’s “allegiance to the working class” while Costello (pictured on the right) suggested “National Liberation Army”, which was then amended to include “Irish” (History Ireland | WP | WP). MNI includes an “ICA-INLA” Starry Plough on the stairs into the New Lodge from 1989 (C00105).
The banner raised over the Liberty Hall headquarters of the ICA read “We serve neither king nor kaiser but Ireland” – the famous photograph is included in the post of the same name – but this has been updated. The Belfast version of the board, above, reads “nor Nato”, while a Derry version, below, reads “nor quisling”.
This is the second mural in Derry to Sister Clare Crockett – the first was in her Brandywell home (see All Or Northing!) while this one is in Shantallow.
Crockett became a nun in 2001 and died in 2016 at the age of 33 in an earthquake in Ecuador – the mass for the seventh anniversary of her death was held last month (youtube).
(Update, Jan 2025: Crockett is to be beatified – Irish Times)
Painted by Razer (ig) in Racecourse Road, Shantallow, Derry.
The info board reads:
“Sr Clare Crockett was born in Derry 14th November 1982. The daughter of Gerard and Margaret Crockett. During a Holy Week Retreat in Spain in the year 2000 she experienced the intensity of the Lord’s Death and Resurrection that led to a deep conversion of her life. Sr Clare entered the Servant Sisters of the House of the Mother 11th August 2001. She went to found a new community in Jacksonville, Florida in October 2006. Sr Clare took Perpetual vows 8th September 2010. In 2014, Sr Clare undertook the mission in Ecuador. She died in an Earthquake, protecting her pupils 16th April 2016. She was buried in Derry 2nd May 2016.”
“Sister Clare’s Prayer: Heavenly Father, for your Glory, that or [of] your beloved Son, that of the Holy Spirit and that of the Mother Of God, we ask that grant us the grace (mention your request in the silence of your heart) … as a sign that the life of our Sister Clare Theresa Crockett has been pleasing to you on this earth and that she is now rejoicing with you in Heaven. We ask this through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
“Ireland – Palestine – one struggle!” Carlos Latuff’s Belfast piece with Rısteard Ó Murchú about Palestinian hunger-striker Khader Adnan was featured yesterday in They Hungered For Justice And Freedom. Here is the piece Latuff did on Free Derry Corner with local artist Razer (Fb), showing Irish and Palestinian hands together throwing a Molotov cocktail.
Here are two more responses to the coronation of King Charles last weekend: (above and last) a Lasaır Dhearg (web) tarp in north Belfast reading “Fuck King Charles”; immediately below, an Éıstıgí (web) sheet/flag reading “Ní Mo Rí [Ní hé mo rí é/[he is] not my king]. Not our king.” in Strand Road, Derry.
A new UK monarch, Charles III, formerly the Prince Of Wales, will be crowned today (see May The King Live Forever). Charles has been colonel-in-chief of the Parachute Regiment since 1977 (BBC). He is shown above with General Mike Jackson – see From The Top Down | Jail Jackson.
The list of areas listed above as sites of British Army atrocities includes the (Protestant) Shankill in Belfast where, on the same night of September 1972, two local men – Richie McKinney and Robert Johnston – were shot and killed by the parachute regiment (Eamon McCann | Irish News | AP video of the public protests and UDA statement on the killings).
The killings resurfaced recently when flyers in support of the regiment’s “Soldier F” – accused in connection with Bloody Sunday in Derry in January that same year – that had been posted on the Shankill were torn down – see Stop The Witch Hunt.
After the May, 2022, elections that resulted in Sinn Féin being the largest party, the Assembly met twice but on both occasions the DUP refused to participate in a vote for speaker after which Stormont could not function. The DUP explained its boycott of the Assembly as a form of protest at the NI Protocol and voted against the “Windsor Framework” intended to resolve those problems (Sky News). Various deadlines have passed, a pay-cut is threatened (Belfast Live), but, as it stands currently, there will not be a new Assembly election under January, 2024 (Guardian | BBC).
A Belfast Live poll three weeks ago found that 75% of respondents thought the rules should be changed to allow Stormont to be restored without DUP co-operation.
Queen’s University’s “Agreement 25” conference wrapped up yesterday with speeches from Bill Clinton, Hilary Clinton, Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel, Joe Kennedy III, Leo Varadkar, and Rishi Sunak. The anniversary is commemorated slightly differently on Free Derry Corner: “GFA25 – partition is injustice. ‘In the ashes of our broken dreams we’ve lost sight of our goal’, the republic!”
The quotation is from Liam Weldon’s song ‘Dark Horse On The Wind’ (youtube).
“Why did you do it? Have you not the guts to say?” The question is for David Holden, who in 1988 was an 18-year-old Grenadier Guardsman, manning a checkpoint in Aughnacloy, Co. Tyrone. On February 21st, Holden shot Aidan McAnespie as he was walking to the nearby GAA club. Holden was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence (BBC | Belfast Live) and was sentenced in February to three years, suspended for three years. The family expressed disappointment, saying that Holden did give a clear account of what happened nor express remorse (Sky News | Journal). Holden has now decided to appeal his conviction (BBC | RTÉ).
The lark in barbed wire is used here not as a symbol of political prisoners but of the struggle for justice in the UK system. (See the Visual History page on the lark and the dove.)
Extramural Activity 