other – N Ireland

Whitehead Temperance

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Benjamin West painted The Battle Of The Boyne in 1778 and his composition – with William moving from left to right on a white horse and Marshal Schomberg dying in the bottom-right corner – has become the standard representation in loyalist culture, perhaps due to versions of it appearing on the covers of songbooks for the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys soon after (Belinda Loftus 1982 Images In Conflict). It appears here on the wall of Whitehead Orange Hall, along with a board connecting service by Irish soldiers in British forces in WWI and Afghanistan (see previously: Time Changes in east Belfast).

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Fair Head

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Glentaisie Drive – site of this mural by Friz (web | tw | ig) – is named for Glentaisie, the glen – one of the nine Glens Of Antrim, at the foot of which lies Ballycastle – and Glentaisie is named for Taise Taobhgheal (Taise the bright-cheeked), daughter of King Donn of Rathlin island, renowned for her beauty, and who lived in the glen with her husband Congal, who had to kill the Norwegian king Nabghdon to prevent her being carried off (Archaeology Ireland). Or so they say. She also inspired the name “Fair Head” for the local cliffs. Or so they say.

In later years (1565), Sorley Boy MacDonnell was taken prisoner by the O’Neill’s after a battle in Glentaisie (WP).

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Quicker Than The Human Eye

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A blur of a hurler (or camóg) by Dublin artist Aches (web | tw) in Ballycastle, where the local GAA club is Mac Uilín/MacQuillan’s (web).

Previously by Aches in Belfast: Disruption | A Closer Look | Headaches

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If Our Shores Are Threatened

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“If our shores are threatened/We will take up arms/To defend our loyal cause/Our culture and our heritage/Our freedoms and our laws.” Moygashel’s own (William) Wesley Somerville, a member of both the UVF and UDR, was killed by a bomb prematurely exploding as he placed it on the minibus of the Miami Showband in July of 1975. Three members of the band died, one of them Protestant, along with volunteers Somerville and Harris Boyle from Portadown (WP). “He died for Ulster” (on the plaque).

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text: Moygashel Park when injustice becomes law resistance becomes duty mid-ulster brigade
X07879

We Are The People

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“The Glorious Revolution for civil and religious liberty.” King James II of England – a Catholic convert – had a son in 1688 that replaced his (Protestant) daughter Mary as first in line for the English throne. In order to prevent a Catholic succession, William of Orange, Protestant ruler of Holland and Mary’s cousin and husband set sail in October with 40,000 men in 463 ships (WP). He is shown in this new board in Main Street, Markethill leading his troops across the Boyne in Ireland. His success in deposing James would become known as the “Glorious Revolution.”

There are three Biblical references inside the band:
Psalm 60 v.4 “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth”;
Isaiah 13 v.2 “Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles”;
Psalm 95 v.7 “For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.” 
and a possible signature “RGm”

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Reflections

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A bird in one hand, wood and stone in the other. Work by emic (ig | tw | web) in Crossgar, Co Down.
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text: X06445 X06444

The Gravel Walks

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03931-2016-11-04-seamus-heaney-grave
Poet Seamus Heaney died on this day 2013 and the gravestone erected in St Mary’s, Ballaghy, on the same day the following year. The epitaph is “Walk on air against your better judgement” from the poem ‘The Gravel Walks” in The Spirit Level.
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text: X03931 1939-2013

Cousins

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03932-2016-11-04-hughes-mcelwee-grave
Cousins Francis Hughes (Ó hÁodha) and Thomas McElwee (Mac Giolla Bhuídhe) were the second and ninth of the 1981 hunger strikers to die. They share a grave in St. Mary’s churchyard in their hometown of Bellaghy, Co. London-/Derry. The image above shows their gravestone “erected by the people of Co. Derry and Co. Antrim”.
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text: X03932 i measc laochra na nGael go raibh a nanamacha oglaigh na heireann IRA

Race Of Legends

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03812-2016-08-30-race-of-legends
The town of Armoy, County Antrim, hosts an annual motorcycling road race, the Race Of Legends. The windows of the (closed) Victory Bar is filled with images of motorcyclists. Robert Dunlop is shown above and brother Joey is two windows to the left. Both brothers died as a result of racing accidents. Sons William and Michael are also featured.
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text: X03812 X03813 hillside rd mervyn robinson frank kennedy

Country Roads

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03769-2016-08-19-uvf-ycv
UVF-YCV mural on a stone wall in Magheramorne (south of Larne), repainted (see the version in 2008, below) and with three flags added.
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00291-magheramorneuffycv
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text: X03769 X03770 X00291 Ballylig Rd