Two small pieces side by side on the Ballysillan Road in north Belfast. First a “Mural done by Carly and the boys …” showing the IFA’s crest over a banner reading “our wee country”. (Previously: Our Wee Country 1 | 2 )
A few words of Irish – “Lamh Dearg Abu” – in a loyalist mural in Glenwood Street, just off the Shankill Road, through strictly it should be “Lámh Dhearg Abú”. “Lámh dhearg” means “red hand”, and this is a Red Hand Commando mural.
The same motto was on the mural that this one replaced, which can be seen at M02433.
The title of the post is the headline of a recent article in the Irish Times, giving an account of Irish language classes in (loyalist) east Belfast. “Tá” is Irish for “yes”.
A third piece of Thatcher-related graffiti (one | two), this time in the loyalist Tiger’s Bay area: “If Mr. Sands wants to act like an animal, he can live like one.” Although it is attributed to Mrs. Thatcher here, there does not appear to be any reputable source for the quote. Thatcher’s funeral is tomorrow, Wednesday 17th.
Note the freshly painted kerb stones. Eithne House, one of the New Lodge tower blocks, can be seen in the background of the picture, with a board to hunger-striker Patsy O’Hara on the left-hand side.
The mural of the Mountjoy, taking part in the Breaking of the Boom that ended the Siege of Derry in 1689, has seen better days, in part because of the replacement of the original two-line street sign with a modern single-line one which does not fit into the mural.
An Ulster Freedom Fighters mural in Bangor, to the northeast of Belfast. The mural is at the edge of a Loyalist estate which is on high ground; it (and its companion) overlook and dominate a major junction on a network of roads around the town.
A mural in Emerson Street, Londonderry, featuring UFF/UDA volunteer Cecil McKnight and additionally naming Lindsay Mooney, Ray Smallwoods, Gary Lynch, Ben Redfern, and William Campbell. McKnight is shown standing in front of a mural in the adjacent Bond’s place circa 1990 (facing the Trooper mural). The Londonderry crest (left of centre, over McKnight’s right shoulder,) is featured in the mural in Vita, Veritas, Victoria.
“Welcome To The Shankill Road. We are Proud, Defiant, Welcoming” with images of Belfast in the blitz, the Orange Order and bonfires on July 12th, boxing and soccer, and contemporary murals in the local area. The mural is above the security gates on Northumberland Street.
Red Hand Commando volunteer Stevie McCrea was sentenced to 16 years for the murder of James Kerr in 1972 (Behind The Mask) and was subsequently “murdered by the enemies of Ulster” on February 18th, 1989 in an IPLO attack on the Orange Cross (see M00560 | WP).
“For he shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary him nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him.”
McCrea is included on murals in south Belfast’s Frenchpark Street and Broadway (dating back to at least 1993).
Extramural Activity 