community

Inspire, Uphold, And Make Happy

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The wall at the top of Springhill Avenue was knocked down to great acclaim in 2017 (Guardian) but the impact was merely cosmetic as a wire fence and substantial shrubbery continued to block the way. The removal of the wall also meant the removal of the pro-Palestinian murals painted on it: Palestine Abú | Man Against Machine | Hellfire. In its place has now been put a large board celebrating the history of the area and especially the contribution made by Des Wilson and Noelle Ryan who worked in Springhill House for over forty years. Both Des and Noelle were interviewed by NVTv in 2012. Des turned 93 in July (encomium by Gerry Adams); Noelle died in 2014 (An Phoblacht | BBC-NI).

The left hand side of the mural shows Mother Teresa, who lived and worked in the area with four nuns from 1971 to 1973 before being put out (allegedly) by the Catholic church (TripleVision documentary).

On the right, the old and new Springhills are contrasted, with images taken from the same spot approximately 30 years apart.

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Live Here, Love Here

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The entrance to Springhill now has two walls full of images of “community pride”. The northern side was featured previously (see The Past And The Present) and today we feature the southern side. In order from left to right (see the wide shot, last): Corpus Christi youth centre; Corpus Christi Church (“47 years at the heart of the community”, including photos of Hugh Mullan (killed in the Ballymurphy Massacre) and Noel Fitzpatrick (killed in the Springhill/Westrock Massacre); murals in Divismore, Springmadden, and the old Springhill; the garden at the top of Springhill park; and photographs of “Springhill, then and now”.

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Go West!

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As you head west along Falls Road, you will pass by the three landmark buildings depicted in the mural above: Clonard Monastery, Cultúrlann McAdam-Ó Fıaıch (opposite this mural and the offices of Fáılte Feırste Thıar), and the entrance to Milltown Cemetery at the edge of Andersonstown. For the parts of the mural in Brighton Street, see The Conlan Revolution and Fáılte Feırste Thıar.

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The Past And The Present

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“Fáılte go Cnoc na Foınse – Welcome to Springhill.” There are a dozen new boards on either side of the Ballymurphy entrance to Springhill, highlighting positive aspects of the community, such as the work of Mother Teresa and four Missionary Sisters Of Charity from 1971-1973, the Upper Springfield Festival of 1973 (later revived in 1988 and years following as the Springhill Festival), Tara Stores and The Craft Centre, set up as a form of local enterprise in an area of mass unemployment, and the Springhill Community House, still in operation today but going back to Des Wilson and Noelle Ryan. There is no explicit mention of the 1972 Springhill-Westrock Massacre, though there is a picture of Fr Noel Fitzpatrick on the south side of the street, which will be featured in a separate post.

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Community Activist Extraordinaire

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John Leathem, chairman of the Divis Tower Falls Residents’ Association, died in his flat on the 19th floor of Divis Tower in August last year (2017), after returning to the Tower four years previously when he was diagnosed with cancer (Irish News | Tele). He was described by Sınn Féın MLA Fra McCann as “a champion for the people of no property” (An Phoblacht). This new mural is outside his former office on the first floor.

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The Earl’s Thorn Bush

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The emblem on the flats at the mini-roundabout (where Glandore and Skegoneill avenues meet) depicts a tree and a face, perhaps a reference to the name “Skegoneill” or ‘the earl’s thorn bush” after the place at which Anglo-Norman earl William de Burgo was assassinated in 1333 (PlaceNamesNI).

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Belfast Taxis Community Interest Company

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“Serving the community for over fifty years.” BTCIC is the current name for what was previously the West Belfast Taxi Association. Black taxis have been running up and down the Falls since 1970, providing an alternative form of transportation to local people during the Troubles when buses were cancelled or, as in this picture, burnt out and used as barricades. They now, in addition, provide tours of the murals (such as the Bobby Sands mural in Sevastopol Street) and Belfast city. Taxi Trax has a web site but here provides a phone number for those already at the International Wall, where there has been a black taxi mural since 2003. There are other WBTA murals in Beechmount and Ardoyne. The painters have signed the mural: Doherty’s Coal Merchant and Lyons Tea.

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Today’s Local

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A UVF board covers up the diamond tiling in the gable wall of the ViVO supermarket in the Glen Estate, Newtownards.

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Community Notice Board

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The notice board for the Factory Community Forum in the Boyne Square/Ferris Park area of Larne has seen better days. The group’s web site is operational but advertising events from 2015.

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Like The Souk In An Hibernian Casablanca

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Here are two more images (in addition to yesterday’s) of the new mural of the old Smithfield Market in Gresham Street by KVLR and JMK. According to the Glenravel booklet on the market, its creation goes back to about 1770. The title of the post is how the market was described in when a cover was added in the late 1800s (CultureNI); the booklet contains a directory from 1880 that includes tinsmiths, a basket maker, a cooper, and a hackler (a flax-comber).

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