There are both UDA and UVF murals along Devenish Drive in Monkstown. Here we have a UDA hooded gunman, along with insignia and mottoes of the UFF/UDA/UYM. The UFF/UYM with a red hand closed into a fist, the open palm of the UDA; UFF – Feriens Tego; UYM – Terrae Filius; UDA – Quis Separabit.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02124 X02125 1st batt c coy ulster freedom fighters defense association young militants hooded gunman
A second plaque has been added to “The People’s Army” wall on the Shankill Road (at Moscow Street) by the LPWWA Scotland: “In everlasting memory of Volunteer Alastair Von (Ziff) 19th October 2009”. It joins a plaque to “A true soldier – Big Bill Campbell”, leader of the UVF’s 1st Scottich battalion. Campbell and Von were imprisoned for bombing Glasgow pubs in 1979 and Campbell is suspected of involvement of the McGurk’s Bar bombing in 1971. (See also: The Economist gives a brief history of Glasgow sectarianism.) Below are a close-up of the plaques and a shot of the wall last year. Song in honour of Bill Campbell. The Campbell plaque was originally on the Northland St mural of the Shankill West Belfast 1st Batt A Coy 5th Plat before it was reimaged as a Thiepval memorial mural.
See previously: Shankill Reflections
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Copyright © 2014 Extramural Activity
X02180 X02182 X02181 west belfast regiment uvf 1st battalion belfast died 8th january 1997 lest we forget no. 5 platoon no. 1 ‘a’ company for god and ulster
“They paid the ultimate sacrifice”. The UVF/YCV mural above on a Ballyduff electrical station shows WWI soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division in relief against an orange sky (perhaps “at the going down of the sun”), picking their way across the battlefields of Flanders. The Ulster Memorial at Thiepval, which commemorates the 5,000 lost lives and more specifically the role of Orange Order members, is shown in the top left corner of the smaller wall. A plaque, hidden behind the low wall to the right but shown below in close-up, indicates sponsorship from the UVF “1st East Antrim Battalion, Ballyduff & Glengormley”.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02111 X02113 at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them for god and ulster lest we forget 1914-1916 1918
The previous board in this location said “‘yes’ to a better future” beneath a tiger, a rainbow, and a DJ at his turntables (see an image at CCDL). That future, it seems, is to go back to a mural similar to the one prior to 2009 – You’re entering Loyalist Tiger’s Bay – though the explicit UDA/UFF insignia are gone, leaving only the clenched fist.
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Approximately 10 million military personnel and 7 million civilians died in WWI, with massive losses coming in August-September-October of 1914, as German forces invaded Belgium and northern France, before being stopped at the Marne and entrenching at the Aisne; both sides then attempted to out-flank one another in a “race to the sea” (WP – Invasion | WP – Casualties). The dead of those first months – including German forces (see third image, below) – are commemorated in a new monument, a granite stone with six sides, like a rock from the Giant’s Causeway, in Woodvale Park (BelTel | NewsLetter). A searchable database of 10,000 Irish soldiers who died in Belgium is now available at the In Flanders Fields Project.
Video of the launch on 2014-10-17
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X02337 X02338 X02339 the great war we shall not see them lit again in our time sir edward grey british expeditionary force 1914 lost generation armée française generation perdue mons 23 august le cateau 26 august marne 5 september aisne 13 spetember yser 17 october ypres 19 october kaiserliche deutsche armee gott mit uns verlorene generation belgish leger verloren generatie angel of mons belfast city coat of arms
This new work in the Somme memorial Garden Of Reflection (between the Shankill graveyard and the Mountainview Tavern), places two headstones (both reading “A soldier of the great war”) in a flower-bed, in front of a mural. The mural shows a soldier, presumably from the Ulster division, on the fields of Flanders: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 1914-2014”
Previously from the Garden: Reflections On The Somme | Somme Memorial; and from the graveyard: Queen Of Ireland, Empress Of India | Interment
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02301 that he lay down
Demolition work in the upper Ballysillan area makes for Mondrian-style artwork (WP).
In the shot below: anti-LVF graffiti on the same wall. See also the painted-over LVF mural in the street.
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November 11th is Remembrance Day or Armistice day, the anniversary of the cease-fire of the first world war, while 2014 is the centenary year of the beginning of the war in 1914. As part of this year’s commemoration, a very striking giant poppy has sprouted in the middle of the Manse Road roundabout. A close-up is included below: “We will remember them 1914-2014”.
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At the same time that the new David Ervine board was put in place, the existing board next to it, which dates to 2008, was spruced up. The image above is a wide shot of both boards, while the image below shows the commemorative casting in front. For the original board, see David Ervine; for explanations of the sculpture, including its pipe, prayer-book, ticket, and boots, see Memory Chair.
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“He had the courage to climb out of the traditional trenches, meet the enemy in no man’s land and play ball with him.” David Ervine was a UVF member, arrested in 1974 and served six years in the Maze before turning to politics. He first ran for office in 1985 and represented East Belfast in the NI Assembly from 1998 until his death in 2007. The new board, above, shows Ervine’s silhouette in a wreath of poppies along with pictures of and information about his life; the image below of the lower left-hand side includes a photograph of Ervine with Gusty Spence.
Video of the launch (on 2014-11-01) is available at U.tv
The info plaque on the right describes the Memory Chair sculpture in front of the first Ervine board.
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21st july 1953 8th january 2007 red hand comrades association progressive unionist party of northern ireland
“David Ervine was born in nearby Chamberlain Street, the youngest of five children. A lifelong supporter of Glentoran Football Club he was a true son of East Belfast. David attended Avoniel Primary School and Orangefield Boys High School. Leaving school before his fifteenth birthday he began his working life in an atmosphere of tension and violent confrontation. At nineteen he joined the UF. He was arrested in 1974 and served five years in Long Kesh, a wasteland that he and other prisoners transformed into a place of personal and political growth and development. A founding member of the Progressive Unionist Party and its most articulate spokesperson, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Forum, Belfast City Council and the Northern Ireland Assembly. David Ervine was a truly inspirational leader. With vision and courage he led his community from violence to peace, winning the respect of friend and foe alike. He gave voice to the common man and woman acting always in the interest of peace and his beloved Ulster.”
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