We Bleed That The Nation May Live

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Arrayed against the forces of the British Army (which are shown in armoured cars and in sniping positions in the foreground of the mural, along the whole length of the wall) are various symbols of Irish nationalism: Oliver Sheppard‘s 1911 statue of Cú Chulaınn dying; the pikemen of the 1798 Rebellion (featured yesterday: Éırí Amach 1798); the four provinces of Ireland; Érıu the mythological queen of Ireland/Éıre as designed by Richard J King/Rísteard Ó Cíonga; Easter lilies; the emblems of Na Fıanna Évreann and Cumann Na mBan on either side of a quote from (The Mainspring) Sean MacDiarmada “We bleed that the nation may live; I die that the nation may live. Damn your concessions, England: we want our country”; a phoenix rising from the flames of the burning Dublin GPO (inspired by Norman Teeling’s 1998 painting The GPO Burns In Dublin); the GPO flying an ‘Irish Republic’ flag; portraits of signatories and other rebels — (left) Padraig H. Pearse, Thomas J Clarke, Eamonn Ceannt, Thomas MacDonagh, (right) Countess Markievicz, James Connolly, Sean MacDiarmada, Thomas Plunkett; the declaration of independence, placed over the advertising box of AA Accountants – see the in-progress shot below. For more work-in-progess images, see yesterday’s post, Éırí Amach 1798. At the very bottom is a quote from the mother of Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly, Harriet Kelly: “We want the freedom of our country and your soldiers out.”

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1916 soldiers

1916-2016

For the centenary of the Easter Rising – a plaque featuring James Connolly with the plough in the stars hovering over the GPO.

Queen’s Parade, Belfast

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Brotherhoods

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Two visions of brotherhood: The Lady Boys Of Bangkok compete for poster space with the Irish Republican Brotherhood’s proclamation of an Irish Republic.

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X03197 beauties and beats custom house november belfast an bhreataın amach as éırınn saoırse anoıs http://www.eirigi.org poblacht na heıreann the provisional government of the irish republic to the people of ireland Irishmen and Irishwomen: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom. Having organised and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organisation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open military organisations, the Irish Volunteers, and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory. We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish republic as a sovereign independent state, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations. The Irish republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past. Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent national government, representative of the whole people of Ireland, and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the republic in trust for the people. We place the cause of the Irish republic under the protection of the Most High God, whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, inhumanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline, and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called. Signed on behalf of the provisional government, Thomas J Clarke, Sean MacDiarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, P H Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett

The Birth Of The Irish Republic

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Walter Paget’s Birth Of The Irish Republic shows James Connolly lying injured on a stretcher, being tended to by Elizabeth O’Farrell (? WP), while Pearse, Clarke, and Plunkett (and Ceannt?) stand by. Detail (taken in 2004) just below …

The Birth Of The Irish Republic has its own Visual History page.

See previously: Easter Rising – Whiterock Road mural depicting Countess Markievicz outside the GPO during the Rising.

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The Birth Of The Republic

In addition to the seven signatories of the Proclamation of an Irish Republic, 9 other leaders of the Easter Rising were executed in the wake of the rebellion. The portraits of all 16 are part of this new mural (on boards) of Walter Paget’s painting The Birth Of The Irish Republic. (For Paget’s painting, see the painting’s Visual History page.) In order of appearance, the 16 (with links to their WP pages) are …

             (Left-hand side)

  1. John MacBride
  2. Roger Casement
  3. Thomas MacDonagh
  4. Éamonn Ceannt
  5. Thomas Kent
  6. Con Colbert
  7. Michael Mallin
  8. Edward Daly
  9. Michael O’Hanrahan
  10. Willie Pearse
  11. Seán Heuston

    (Right-hand side)
  12. James Connolly
  13. Joseph Plunkett
  14. Patrick Pearse
  15. Tom Clarke 
  16. Seán Mac Diarmada

In Lake Glen Drive, on the side of the Felons’ Club.

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Those Who Can Endure The Most

A tarp has been added to the Ardoyne memorial garden (seen previously in 2008) putting the 12 deceased hunger strikers from the modern Troubles alongside those who were executed for their part in the Easter Rising.

Berwick Road, Ardoyne, Belfast

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No Right In Ireland

“The British government has no right in Ireland, never had any right in Ireland, and never can have any right in Ireland.” (Last Statement, 1916)

“James Connolly 1868-1916 James Connolly was born in June 5th 1868. In 1810 he became organiser for the Irish Transport And General Workers Union in Belfast. In 1913 he co-founded the Irish Citizen Army. He was one of the signatories of the 1916 Proclamation and commanded HQ in the GPO during the 1916 Rising. He was executed by the British on May 12th 1916.”

“Nora Connolly O’Brien 1893-1981 Nora Connolly was the 2nd daughter of James Connolly. Nora was a member of Cumann Na mBan and the Gaelic League in Belfast. She played an organisational role in the ICA in the run up to the 1916 Rising. She was a trade unionist and remained so throughout her life.”

The mural was launched on May 3rd.

For the gallery above the mural, see On The Brink Of Sectarian Disaster.

Clondara St, west Belfast.

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Our Demands Most Moderate Are

The sixteen-year old Sınn Féın Trade Union Dept mural has been replaced (though the plaque remains in the top right-hand corner) with another mural featuring James Connolly but with a new quote, from his 1907 poem: “Our demands most moderate are/We only want the earth.” The Irish Worker headline reads “Belfast ITGWU organiser Connolly gets 905 votes municipal elections” referring to the municipal elections of 1913 – Connolly stood in the Dock Ward (SIPTU).

For the board above, see Women in Struggle.

Rockmount Street, Belfast.

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O’Neill-Allsopp Memorial Flute Band

Jim O’Neill was killed in February 1976 during an IRA arson attack on a furniture warehouse on the Antrim Road near the New Lodge – Gerry Fitt’s house next door might have been the ultimate target (Belfast Child); Robert Allsopp appears to have accidentally shot himself in March 1975 (Irish Peace Process). Both were members of Na Fıanna. The flute band (Fb) is named in their memory.

Below the portraits of Jim O’Neill and Robert Allsopp is written “Glaıne ınár gcroí, neart ınár ngéaga, beart de reír [réır] ar [ár] mbrıathar.” [Purity in our hearts, strength in our limbs, action consistent with our words]

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Women In Struggle

“Generations shall remember them and call them blessed.” This is a 2009 repaint of a 2002 mural. It continues to feature Máıre Drumm, Maıréad Farrell and (in the centre) Countess Markievicz outside the GPO, but “Sınn Féın” has disappeared from behind Drumm and there is now only one binlid banger.

The mural is above the Sınn Féın Trade Union Department mural.

Rockmount Street, Belfast.

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