An Dream Dearg (Fb) takes its campaign for an Irish-Language Act (Acht Na Gaeılge) to the streets of Ardoyne after a deal to introduce such an act collapsed in February (BBC-NI | Irish Times).
Balholm Drive; there is an identical mural on the International Wall on Divis Street.
Previously: An Dream Dearg | An Lá Dearg
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The 36th (Ulster) Division fought in the Battle Of Albert at the beginning of the Battle Of The Somme (July 1st-13th), and the 16th (Irish) in the battles of Guillemont and Ginchy in September (WP). The 10th (Irish) served at Gallipoli (and later in Macedonia and Palestine). The scene above shows soldiers from the 36th and 16th hand-in-hand at “The Somme 1916” – both division took part in the Battle – which lasted four and half months – but not at the same time; such scenes were instead reported of the battle at Messines in 1917 (see previously: Messines 1917).
Of the icons along the top, we see from left to right: Scrabo Tower; the red hand of the 36th; the green bar badge of the 10th (Irish) Division; the harp of the Connaught Rangers (battalions of which served in 10th and 16th Divisions); the emblem of the Black Watch – Royal Highlanders (the piping soldier right of centre wears a tartan patch of the Black Watch); the shamrock of the 16th (Irish) Division; the Maid Of Erin harp of the Royal Irish Rifles; Helen’s Tower/Thiepval Tower. It’s not clear why the Black Watch is included, as its battalions do not seem to have served with any of the 10th, 16th, or 36th and is a Scottish regiment rather than an Irish one. Please comment/get in touch if you can explain.
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Dee Stitt of the UDA resigned last week as chair of Charter NI citing the strain on his family caused by negative media attention (BBC-NI | Irish News). At the end of 2016, Stitt was criticised for remarks describing his North Down Defenders (tw | Fb) as the “homeland security” of the area and describing working-class estates as “jungles” in which there is always a “big guy” (Guardian video 8 min mark ff.| BelTel | ITV) . The mural above does not directly indicate ties to the UDA/UFF, except for the red fist. For a more explicit NDD board further down the estate, with UDA, UFF, UYM, and LPA flags, see North Down Defenders.
For the recent tension between UDA factions in north Down, see Ulster Defence Unions.
Replaces the mural to VC winner Sir Edward Bingham.
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This mural at the bottom of Kilcooley estate in Bangor has recently been repainted, with the main alteration being the “North Down UVF” replaces “1st July 1916”, focusing attention on the locals from battalion that joined the 36th and away from the Somme. (See the previous mural in 1st July 1916.)
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Two panels commemorate the Battle Of Messines in 1917 and the role of nurses in attending to the wounded. This NIHE article says that the two nurses depicted are Annie Colhoun from London-/Derry and Margaret Dewar from Glasgow. “Margaret Dewar lost her life during the battle whilst Annie Colhoun survived and was decorated for her work during the war by the French, Serbian and British Governments.” (This presumably makes her the decorated nurse in the right-hand panel.) An Army Nursing Service page says, however, that they were nurses at Monastir in Macedonia.
“Sub cruce candida” (“under a white cross”) is the motto of the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, though at the time of WWI it was Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service. “VAD” stands for “voluntary aid detachment” of the British Red Cross.
The soldiers wear red hands or shamrocks on their arms. The red hand is for the 36th (Ulster) Division and the cap badge in the left panel is of the 36th. The shamrock is the symbol of the 16th (Irish) Division, and the right panel shows the cap badge of the Connaught Rangers whose battalions served in both the 10th (Irish) and 16th (Irish) Divisions in WWI. Both the 36th and 16th fought at the Somme and at Messines (WP).
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The Ulster Tower at Thiepval, France, is a replica of Helen’s Tower in Clandeboye, around which the 36th (Ulster) Brigade, formed in August 1914 from the Ulster Volunteers and Young Citizen Volunteers, began their training (see this gallery of images from North Down Museum at BBC-NI). After a year of training in Ireland and England, the Division was deployed to France in September 1915.
In the top corners are two views of the local Scrabo Tower, which can be seen to the right in the wide shot, below. Produced by muraltec.
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Dozens of boards to local soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division (by the 2016 Committee) have been added to the Mount Vernon memorial garden to the soldiers of the Great War (the mural) and contemporary UVF volunteers (the garden). For the mural, memorial stones, and outside plaque, see At Home And On The Mainland.
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The Pride Of Ballymacash flute band, formed in 2011 from the Pride Of Prince William (bottom left) and Ballymacash Young Conquerors (bottom right), uses the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division, in the centre of the mural. In the background on the left is the Thiepval Memorial and, on the right, the UDR memorial statue in Market Square, Lisburn. To the left (in the second image) is a UDA plaque “In memory of fallen comrades Ballymacash B coy D battaltion, South Belfast Brigade. Quis separabit.” For a close-up of the memorial on the ground, see Death & Life.
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The skull-and-crossbones is the emblem of the Ballymacash Young Conquerors, which merged with the Pride Of Prince William in 2011 to form the Pride Of Ballymacash. (Fb) The symbol is a potent one, however, and still used by the new band in addition to its own. In the mural in its memorial garden, it is surrounded by poppies, thistles, and orange lilies. If you know the name of the young man in the memorial display (second image), please comment/get in touch.
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The Milltown bonfire will be lit tonight during “11th night” celebrations. It’s not clear if the teddy-bear who was on guard last week goes with it.
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Extramural Activity 