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Daffodil Days

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2013-07-29 SEA UDU+

Shamrock, thistle, and rose are shown in this South East Antrim Ulster Defence Union mural but the daffodil is not, even though the Welsh “Red Dragon” is included alongside the Scottish Saltire, the flag of Northern Ireland, and Queen Elizabeth II’s royal standard.

The Ulster Defence Union was a loyalist organization founded to fight against Home Rule, launched on 17 March 1893. The name is now used by the post-ceasefire UDA (beginning in 2007: Newsletter | Remembrance Day Statement at CAIN).

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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For Club And Country

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2013-02-01 LinfieldSC+

Sport and politics intersect in this mural at the junction of Broadway and Donegall Avenue in south Belfast. Northern Irish flags provide a backdrop for the shields of Linfield football club and the Northern Ireland football association.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Young Newtown

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Young Newtown (more typically “Young Newton” – see e.g. 1989 and 2005) is the Newtownards Road division of the Ulster Young Militants (UYM) and formerly a Tartan Gang (History Ireland). 

UDA shield in McMaster Street, east Belfast.

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Always British

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Cluan Place is a single street in east Belfast separated from (nationalist) Short Strand by a “peace” line. For a history of Cluan Place, see Out Of The Ashes. “5 people shot – houses burnt – houses bombed. 20 families intimidated out by Sinn Fein/IRA. Still loyalist. No surrender.”

The mural – to make the point that Northern Ireland is British – features an unusual combination of Union Flag and Ulster Banner.

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Civil And Religious Liberty For All

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The ‘Civil and religious liberty for all’ mural in Cambrai street was ‘in progress’ for a long time. These images are from October 20th (first two) and November 7th (last two), 2011. The mural, showing parades, bonfires, and Northern Ireland football, would eventually be completed in 2012 – see M08228.

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Copyright © 2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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HM Queen Elizabeth II

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“HM Queen Elizabeth II 1952-2012”. Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor acceded to the throne of the United Kingdom in 1952 (she was crowned in 1953). 2002 was her golden jubilee year. She is surrounded by the flags of the four constituents of the UK: Northern Ireland, Wales, England, Scotland.

There was previously a “scroll” below the portrait reading “This mural was commissioned by 1st batt A coy South East Antrim UDA UFF UYM.” This has been painted over in black but the UFF and UDA emblems remain.

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Copyright © 2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Ballybeen UFF

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The emblem of the UFF is flanked by Ulster Banner and Union Flag.

Strone Park, Ballybeen.

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Copyright © 2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Rev Robert Bradford

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South Belfast MP Robert Bradford was assassinated by the Provisional IRA in Finaghy at a meeting with constituents; the caretaker of the community centre, Ken Campbell, was also killed by the fleeing attackers. In late 1981, with the hunger strikes having ended only a month before, the killing was noted around the world and raised fears of broad civil unrest (BBC | NYTimes).

“Vita, veritas, victoria” [life, truth, victory] is the motto of Londonderry. Here we have “vita, veritas, victa” [life, truth, conquered; perhaps the intended meaning was “conquering” rather than the passive]. The crest is also not quite the crest of the Apprentice Boys, with a ship in the bottom right rather than a skeleton. Get in touch if you can resolve either discrepancy.

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Copyright © 2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Welcome To Loyalist Linfield Road

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“2009: Welcome To Loyalist Linfield Road. Celebrating Our Culture 1690.” The central panel is a combination Union Flag, Ulster Banner, and free-floating Northern Ireland.

The banner hung on the railings in Linfield Road from 2009 until it was stolen and placed on a 2013 Republican bonfire (see Bonfire Flags) which then elicited a comment on the wall just east of this location (see They May Have Stole Our Banner).

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Copyright © 2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The War Of Northern Aggression

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The confederate attempt to secede from the United States is here put in parallel with loyalist resistance to Home Rule. The page on Ulster-Scots Murals contains an attempt to understand the logic of this mural.

Various “sons of Ulster who led the confederate army” “during the War of Northern Aggression” [a.k.a. the Civil War] are quoted in the mural:

  • “Do your duty as I have done mine – General [James Ewell Brown] Jeb Stuart”
  • “It is history that teaches us to hope – General Robert E Lee”
  • “All that I am and all that I have is at the service of my country – General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson”
  • “The government at Washington denying our right to self-government, refused even to listen to any proposals for peaceful separation. Nothing was then left to do but prepare for war – President Jefferson Davis, inaugural address at Richmond, Virginia, February 22nd 1862”.
  • “My Ulster blood is my most priceless heritage” on the left-most panel is from James Buchanan.

The sons of Ulster who wrote and signed the Ulster Covenant during the Home Rule crisis of 1912 are described in this quote:

“Being convinced in our consciences that Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom … – The Ulster Covenant, written by Thomas Sinclair, Ulster Day, September 1912 inspired by Scotland’s Solemn League and Covenant, Greyfriar’s Churchyard, Edinburgh 1638.”

The right-most panel reads, “From pioneers to Presidents”. Murals under this theme – including two of Buchanan – were painted in 1999 (Belfast | Londonderry). This mural dates back to 2005 and perhaps earlier, part of a second wave of Ulster Scots murals that included Davy Crockett in Ballymena (2002), a gallery of famous famous faces in Newtownards (2005), and Andrew Jackson in the Shankill (c. 2007). See Visual History 08.

See also: the Confederate flag flying in Cluan Place | a confederate battle flag in Ballymacarett.

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Copyright © 2008 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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