PUL

Andrew Murphy Memorial

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-05 MurphyDetail+

The close-up above is from the ‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ mural at the top of Grange Drive, Ballyclare, showing King Billy crossing the Boyne. (full mural below)

‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ is a flute band from Carluke, Scotland. According to the band’s Fb page, the band was formed in 1988 and named after a member of the Carluke Orange Lodge (LOL 190). Here is video of the band  parading in Belfast, at the UVF centenary celebrations last year (2013).

2014-05-05 MurphyWide+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01826 X01827

It Was Gerry

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-02 RathcooleItWasGerry2+

Graffiti in the Rathcoole estate, in Newtownabbey just north of Belfast, “It was Gerry [Adams]”, next to “RHC” – “Red Hand Commandos”.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01812

Ballyclare Through The Ages

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

This is the ‘yesteryear’ portion of the hoarding around waste ground on The Square, encouraging people to “Shop, live, enjoy – Ballyclare”. There are photographs of ‘McIlroy’s shop 1867’, ‘Main Street 1907’, and ‘Square in the 50’s’.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X05316

The Lord Has Made Room For Us

Extramural Activity1 Comment
2014-04-03 Rehoboth+

This vintage grocer’s signage and “Rehoboth, The Well” shopfronts are in North Queen Street, north Belfast. “Rehoboth” was the name of the well dug by Isaac after several others which got him into disputes with other land-owners. When this one proved uncontroversial he rejoiced, saying “At last the Lord has made room for us and we will flourish in the land.” (Genesis 26:22) Demolition on the site began last week.

Click image enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Extramural Activity
X01761

Harland & Why

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-04-08 LocalJobsFlyer+

The poster above – seen in east and south Belfast – has been called “racist” by the Alliance party. “What happened to local jobs for local people? Why are local skilled workers denied job opportunities? Why is outside labour being used in their place? Why are hundreds of overseas workers employed at present on higher wages? Why are they not paying UK tax? Why are they not paying national insurance?”

The poster concerns the 600 temporary jobs at H&W refurbishing the oil rig ‘Blackford Dolphin‘. According to the BBC (video) only one third of the jobs could be filled from the Northern Irish workforce. A BelTel article from November 2013 specifies that another third came from Britain and the final third from “Poland and Lithuania”.

Below: Some posters with the H&W cranes in the background, just off the Newtownards Road.

See also: Inspiring Belfast.

2014-04-08 LocalJobs+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01767 X01766

Tiger’s Bay

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-04-01 TigersBay+

“Community. Pride. Culture.” As part of a 2009-2010 re-imaging program, the UDA mural on Cultra Street in Tiger’s Bay was replaced with this “cut-out” tiger.

More information about the project, see tigers-bay.com.

For a picture of the former, UDA, mural, see the Peter Moloney Collection.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01759

The Jackal

Extramural Activity1 Comment
2014-03-31 MidlandBoxing+

Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton fights tomorrow night (2014-04-04) against Hugo Cazarez for the opportunity to fight Leo Santa Cruz for the WBC super-bantamweight title. He is managed and promoted by Barry McGuigan. Here is a 2013 video profile of Frampton by The Guardian. As he mentions in the video, Frampton (who is Protestant) married a Catholic, while McGuigan (who is Catholic, from Clones) married a Protestant.

He is featured here in the apex of the ‘Midland Boxing Club’ board in Cultra Street in Tiger’s Bay, alongside his Irish featherweight title. The board is unusual in that it is tailored to the full size of the gable wall.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01757

2nd Class Citizens

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-02-17 CuparWay2ndClass+

Recent work around Conway and Canmore Streets on Cupar Way has revealed this old piece of graffiti: “We will never be 2nd class citizens to you scum[m]y bastards – L/S C/Coy” [Lower Shankill C Company]. C Company (2nd battalion) was Johnny Adair’s UDA unit and the location is just inside UVF territory (west of Agnes/Northumberland Street); this graffiti might thus date to the feud with the UVF in 2000. Alternatively, the intended audience might be residents in Bombay Street and St. Galls Avenue. If you have more definite information, please leave a comment or send an e-mail.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01691

A Changing Face

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-02-17 ChangingFaces+

This board on the Cupar Way “peace” line is a project young people in the Impact Training train (part of the Greater Shankill Partnership) concerning murals over the years. Its face has been changed by hundreds of messages and signatures of visitors from all over the world.

“The Changing Faces artwork is a project that has been undertaken by a group of young people from Impact Training . They looked to their surrounding area where they explored and documented how it appears in 2010. What is the Shankill? What does it look like and what does it mean to youth culture now? Murals have been something that has been prevalent in the community for many years. Times change, opinions soften and people can begin to build a changing face.”

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01690

Defending The Community

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

This (ninth) panel shows UDA paramilitaries (the UVF was formed in 1965, the UDA in 1971) standing guard in front of a barricade of sand-bags.

One of fourteen panels in Thorndyke Street, east Belfast. For a list of entries for each panel, see East Belfast Historical And Cultural Society.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01642 ulster news people take stand against republican tyranny july 1972 bloody friday 9 killed 130 injured by pira bombs june 1970 2 dead 28 injured people shot like flies by provo gunmen the city is saved civil and religious liberty for all better the grave than slavery their sacrifice our freedom united kingdom ulster to britain hitler attacks belfast unity solidarity their loyalty betrayed out of the ashes new life