James Connolly – Extramural Activity

A Panorama Of Republicanism

2025-08-022025-09-19Extramural Activity1 Comment

Féıle An Phobaıl (web) is now headquartered in the renovated (BCC) St Comgall’s on Divis Street in Ionad Eileen Howell, and during this year’s (2025) festival is home to an exhibition called “Vibrant Colours, Violent Past”, the centrepiece of which is a 20-foot-long panoramic history of republicanism, with Wolfe Tone, James Connolly, and Martin McGuinness as pivotal figures.

A full legend of who’s who is given in the leaflet at the bottom of this entry. It also explains the genesis of the project, as follows:

“A few years ago I met a great friend of Ireland and art collector Darius Anderson from California who was here on a trip with his wife Wendy and hoping to see some new work by Irish artists, not only work destined for gallery walls but having been fortunate to be included on one of local guide Dee Morgan’s tours he developed a love for and focus on our world-recognised mural art tradition.

“Then last year on another trip here I was able to introduce Darius to my life-long friends and probably the most prolific contributors to our local landscape.

“From a casual meeting alongside Marty and Micky at work repainting the Vol. Kieran Doherty mural in Andersonstown came an inspired suggestion that we accept a challenge from him to tell our story graphically on a canvas rather than the usual brick wall, not just on canvas to hang on a wall in his gallery in L.A. but a canvas to cover the entire wall 20ft x 7ft!

“Excited by our positive response Darius wondered could we invite some loyalist artist/activist to contribute a similar large canvas celebrating the history of the British, Unionist, Loyalist community here.

“That was last July. This exhibition is a result of that meeting but also a chance for the public to remind themselves of our often colourful and unfortunately violent past. – Danny D, Muralist/Activist”

“History is like a rearview mirror! You must always check back but you must keep focused on the road ahead, otherwise you are going to crash!” (Similar wording was used in a piece – Painting From The Same Palette – painted by Danny D and Mark Ervine in 2008.)

The exhibition was launched on August 1st and also included four display boards featuring murals by Danny D (CNR) and Dee Craig (PUL) (Fb).

Display boards:

Images from the launch on August 1st, along with the two-sided leaflet:

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Displays: [X15633] X15634 X15635 X15636 X15637
Launch & Leaflet: X15638 [X15639] [X15640] X15641 X15642 [X15643] [X15644] [X15645] X15646 X15647

Our Allegiance Is To The Working Class

2025-05-292025-06-08Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

These two images are from outside the IRSP offices on the Falls Road at Donegall Road. The idea of painting electrical and other utility boxes (Visual History) started with street art on boxes in the city centre and has now spread into CNR areas. This one (above) appears to have been left incomplete, at least compared to the one around the corner in St James’s Park – see the Paddy Duffy Collection.

Below is a familiar ICA-INLA board, seen previously on Northumberland Street.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Committees Of The Rich

2024-05-212025-12-12Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Governments in capitalist society are but committees of the rich to manage the affairs of the capitalist class.” So wrote James Connolly in an August 1914 piece in the Irish Worker entitled ‘The War Upon The German nation’ (marxists.org), in which he contended that Britain was using its remaining area of superiority – military might – in order to crush the now-superior German capitalism, science, and labour. (It’s not clear whether, for Connolly’s purposes, Germany’s is a capitalist society.)

“Big” Jim Larkin is also shown, with his arms outstretched, as seen in the photograph included in We Only Want The Earth.

Nik Purdy/Blow Designs (ig), on the Mall, Sligo, next to The Model.

Also in Sligo: Maud Gonne | Westlife

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Time For A Socialist Republic

2023-09-022025-01-08Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The waste ground at Corrib Avenue (in the curve between Rossnareen and Lenadoon) is being developed with new houses by Choice (Belfast Media) and Lasaır Dhearg have taken advantage of the hoarding mounted around the construction site to display the messages above — “Remember the hunger strikers” — and below, with an image of James Connolly — “Time for a socialist republic”.

Neither King Nor Nato

2023-05-262025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“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”.

The Derry mural in the background is The Runner, part of The People’s Gallery.