Newtownabbey

I Never Felt More Like Singing The Blues

2026-07-132026-07-26Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The German Reichskriegsflagge of 1935 to 1945 placed the Nazi swastika in the circle of the imperial German war flag, replacing the Prussian eagle which stood at the circular junction of a black Nordic (St Olaf’s) Cross (Pete Loeser). The flag is illegal to fly in Germany. The flag shown above changes the swastika to a Star Of David and the background colour to blue (and removes the Iron Cross from the canton).

Seen in Northern Ireland, we might at first suppose it to be a criticism of Israel but in fact – flying in loyalist Rathcoole – it appears to be an unabashed (though bizarre) endorsement of Israel’s invasion of Gaza. More typical is the scene in the second image – though without the Elvis statue – the Israeli national flag flying alongside Union Flags. (To be clear, Elvis did not cover “Singing The Blues”; it was a hit for Guy Mitchell.) (For Israeli and Christian flags together, see Sorry It Was All For Nothing.)

The third image shows the flag of the United States flying below an Ulster Banner. Until now, whenever the United States has been placed along side the UK or Israeli flags, is has been in the form of some sort of Confederate Flag (2014 | 2016 | 2025). This has indicated that the contemporary USA as a whole has not been perceived as a supporter of (Northern Irish) loyalism or in a similar position to loyalists, but that the spirit of the Confederate South is akin to that of loyalism: a once-dominant ethnos, which held its position by institutionalised violence, besieged by the forces of expanded suffrage and mediocrity (as they would see it). (See the Visual History page on Ulster-Scots murals.)

Donald Trump’s rhetoric and agenda has found favour with Northern Irish loyalists, and a few Trump flags and graffiti were seen previously – see Take America Back for an example and further references. Trump’s victory in November, 2024, gave him a second term as President of the United States Of America. Freeing himself from anyone associated with the conservative/neoliberal Republican party that restrained him in his first term and instead installing (Trump) loyalists in the cabinet and other key positions, Trump has been able to erode the USA’s character as a liberal democracy and move it instead towards authoritarianism (Guardian | Varieties Of Democracy). The shift has been sufficiently profound that the USA is now seen as simpatico with (NI) loyalism, and the Flag Of The United States – not a Trump flag or a Confederate flag – now flies alongside the flags of the United Kingdom and Israel.

For the US and Israeli flags flying together, see Old Glory in the Paddy Duffy Collection. For ‘Jesus’ flags, see What Would Jesus Do?

(first and third) Belmore Gardens/Barna Square, Rathcoole, Newtownabbey, and (second) O’Neill Road, Rathfern, Newtownabbey

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Union Is Strength

2026-06-042026-06-11Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Colonel Edward Saunderson MP, UDU founder, leader of the Irish Unionist Party. 1837-1906. Union is strength. ‘We must be prepared for every possible eventuality’ – on the issue of Home Rule 1893.”

The dates given are the span of Saunderson’s life, not his political career, which began in 1865 as MP for his home county of Cavan.

The bill under consideration in 1893 was the second Home Rule bill, which the UDU was formed to resist. The UDU initially met in Belfast in March; the manifesto of the meeting can be read on page 5 of the [Sydney] Freeman’s for 1893-04-29.

On June 8th, 1893, the Westminster government asked the police for a report on the Union, fearing its goal was armed resistance to Home Rule, and considering declaring it an illegal organisation ([Sydney] Daily Telegraph, 1893-06-10 page 5).

In September, the bill was passed in the Commons but defeated in the Lords. An account of the October meeting quotes Saunderson saying that the organisation should maintain itself by “if the necessity arose” “proving – not by words, but by deeds – that they meant what they said.” (Gympie Times & Mary River Mining Gazette, 1893-12-07 page 3).

Saunderson at the time was (also) leader of the Irish Unionist Alliance (here called the “Irish Unionist Party”) and he went on to be the first leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, from 1905 to 1906 (WP), when he died of pneumonia (WP).

The Ulster Defence Union is employed as an origin-story by the Troubles-era UDA as the UDU formed an ‘Ulster Defence Association’ – see UDU-UFF-UDA and UDU-WDA-UDA-UFF – and the name is used by the post-Agreement UDA – see Daffodil Days.

Next to Saunderson are boards mounted to celebrate the seventieth (platinum) jubilee of Queen Elizabeth in June 2022. Similar paintings were produced by schoolchildren in west Belfast – see The People’s Monarch.

“This artwork was designed and created by pupils from Abbots Cross Primary School in partnership with the local children from Rathcoole Community Hub to commemorate the platinum jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

“From Rathcoole to the house of Windsor – happy platinum jubilee 1952-2022. God save the Queen.”

Owenreagh Drive, Newtownabbey

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A New Evil

2026-06-022026-06-09Extramural Activity1 Comment

“”Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic”, “Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell”, “A new evil has arisen”. Churchill was right in 1899, Enoch Powell was right in 1968, Pastor McConnell was right in 2014.”

The quotations above the AI-generated image come from a sermon by Pastor James McConnell in May, 2014, at the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle on the Shore Road. The sermon was alleged to be “grossly offensive” and McConnell was charged. The key portion of the sermon read, “Today we see powerful evidence that more and more Moslems are putting the Koran’s hatred of Christians and Jews alike into practice. Now, people say there are good Moslems in Britain; that may be so but I don’t trust them, Enoch Powell was right and he lost his career because of it; Enoch Powell was a prophet and he told us that blood would flow in the streets and it has happened. … Islam’s ideas about God about humanity, about salvation, are vastly different from the teaching of the Holy Scriptures. Islam is heathen, Islam is satanic, Islam is a doctrine spawned in hell.”

In the penultimate paragraph of the ruling (pdf), Judge McNally concluded, “Having considered all these matters and the particular facts of this case I have come to the conclusion that the words upon which the charges are based, whilst offensive, do not reach the high threshold required of being “grossly offensive”. I find myself in agreement with Lord Justice Laws in the “Chambers” case when he said that the courts need to be very careful not to criminalise speech which, however contemptible, is no more than offensive. It is not the task of the criminal law to censor offensive utterances. Accordingly I find Pastor McConnell not guilty of both charges.” (In the ultimate paragraph, the judge cited the poet Rumi: “Silence is the language of God; all else is poor translation”.) A small board on the fence below presents this judgment.

The reference to “Churchill in 1899” is probably to volume 2 of The River War, in which Churchill wrote, “Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen – all know how to die – but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world.

The reference to “Powell in 1968” is to Powell’s infamous “Rivers of blood” speech (pdf) against immigration to the UK from the Commonwealth. As McConnell notes, Powell was dismissed from Ted Heath’s shadow cabinet the following day.

The PSNI is investigating the display as a “hate incident” rather than a “hate crime”, as there is no underlying crime if the home-owner agrees to the board being mounted. The relevant statute deems it a crime “to use, or to display in writing, words that are threatening, abusive or insulting, where the intention or likely effect is to stir up hatred or arouse fear”. (Slugger)

The piece is at the highly-visible junction of O’Neill Road and Knocknenagh Avenue, Rathfern, Newtownabbey, and part of the fence has been cut away in order to afford a better view.

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Sorry It Was All For Nothing

2026-05-302026-07-20Extramural Activity1 Comment

“Sorry it was all for nothing – It’s on each and every one of us to save what our forefathers fought and died for.”

According to this Facebook post, the perceived threat being warned against here is “Communistic Islamification”. The “Islamification” is represented by a partial flag of Pakistan (an Islamic republic) being carried by yelling Caucasian figures in long black robes, advancing through a graveyard, in which an elderly man – perhaps King Charles – kneels in front of a headstone bearing a red Christian cross. That the cemetery is a military one is indicated by the medals on the mourner’s chest and the line from Binyon’s ‘For The Fallen’, which provides a referent for the apology and the word “forefathers”.

How the “communistic” threat is conveyed is less clear.

For the “Jesus is king” flags, see What Would Jesus Do?

Two men were cautioned by the police for displaying offensive material (Sunday Life). The Cloughfern Young Conquerors declined to play at the launch and family fun-day (Sunday Life), but the event went ahead (on May 8th) (youtube).

Doagh Road, Cloughfern, Newtownabbey

Update: the board was paint-bombed; Concerned Parents accused “3 coloured immigrants in a silver Fiat 500 hatchback with tinted windows” of attacking the “war memorial” (Fb) but Lasaır Dhearg claimed responsibility (ig). The board was repaired.

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Booked

2025-10-282025-11-06Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Here are a pair of ‘booked’ notices for competing loyalist groups – UDA and UVF – on adjacent walls in Queen’s Parade, Glengormley. Above, “Booked UDA” where the panels of The Longest Reign have come down; this wall is next to South East Antrim Remembers – see the wide shot below. And in the last two images, “Booked UVF”, which has been in place since 2015, and is next to How Nobly They Fight And Die.

Elmfield Supports Palestine

2023-12-032025-01-08Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Israeli bombing of Gaza resumed on Friday, with bombing of southern Gaza and a demand that civilians move even further south, to the border city of Rafah (Al Jazeera). This graffiti and a simple painting of the Palestinian flag are in the Elmfield area of Glengormley, Newtownabbey.

GGRY

2023-10-072025-01-08Extramural Activity1 Comment

Here is a small piece of repbulican graffiti in the Elmfield area of Glengormley – a hammer and sickle.

See previously: Glengormley Republican Youth | Gleann Ghormlaithe Poblachtacht

Church Crescent, Glengormley, Newtownabbey.

Islamophobia is a distraction. The far right has always weaponised fear and scapegoating to divide communities while escaping accountability for…

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I doubt very much the old man is meant to represent King Charles, what does he care about the war…

Sr. Clare, please ask God to help me with my current difficulties, mental, financial, relationship wise and physical. Also, please…

The Ulaid werw Not Gaels. They were pre-Gaelic.

Extramural Activity

And The Seosamh Mac Coılle Collection

I Never Felt More Like Singing The Blues

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Union Is Strength

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Booked

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Elmfield Supports Palestine

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GGRY

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