cultural

The Great Hunger

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2014-02-20 AntOcrasMor+

This New Lodge mural shows people on the coast, near abandoned buildings, trying to grow crops during the period of the Great Hunger 1845-1852.

“An tOcras Mór” (a literal translation of “the great hunger/famine”) is usually (in Irish) “An Gorta Mór” or “An Drochshaol”.

The left-most and right-most figures are from Searching For Potatoes In A Stubble Field in the Illustrated London News. ILN images are a staple of Belfast muraling on the Great Hunger: see the Visual History page on the Great Hunger. (Here is a list, with links, of all of the illustrations of Ireland in ILN from the period 1845-1852.)

The two central figures, and the composition of the three women together, come from Millet’s The Gleaners. (Thanks to Jeryn Mayer for this pointer.)

There is a Visual History page on the Hunger in murals.

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Come On The Mac

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2014-03-14 MacFootballFull+

This new Albert Street mural in the lower Falls celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Frank Gillen Centre and the 70th anniversary of Immaculata Football Club. The figure on the right is current Cliftonville player Liam Boyce who grew up in the area and played for Immaculata as a youth. The team’s logo appears to the right of Boyce’s outstretched hand. (If you know the local player on the left, please leave a comment or send an e-mail.)

The piece was painted by Mickey Doherty and Lucas Quigley. Detail of the players in the lower right below.

Previously: Immaculata boxing | Mysterious Ways (St. Peter’s)

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01732 X01731 fáılte go bóthar na bhfál st. peter’s cathedral providing a range of programmes both educational and recreational which meet the needs of young people in the Falls area.

Eıspéıreas Gaeılge/Irish Experience

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2014-02-28 Culturlann1991Glass+

The stained glass window above is in Cultúrlann McAdam – O’Fıaıch (cultural centre, named for two clergymen, Presbyterian Robert McAdam and Catholic Tomás Ó Fıaıch) on the Falls Road and features some of the spaces within the centre: An Ceathrú Póılí: Sıopa Leabhar Gaeılge Bhéal Feırste (Irish-language bookstore), Caıfé Feırste (café), Dánlann Dillon (Dillon Gallery).

More stained glass in the Cultúrlann: White Line

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X01715 ıs gael mıse 1991

The Jackal

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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.

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Hoop Cut

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2014-03-27 HoopsBarbers+

Martin O’Neill takes Neil Lennon home after his haircut at Hoops Barbers on the Falls Road. Both are from Northern Ireland – Lennon is originally from Lurgan, O’Neill from Kilrea. O’Neill was manager of Glasgow Celtic when Lennon was a player. O’Neill now manages the Republic of Ireland squad and Lennon is now (since 2010) manager of Celtic.

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Fluent Together/Líofa Le Chéıle

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2014-03-15 LiofaLeCheile+

Protestants and the Irish language (Gaeılge) have been in the news again this week, as UUP councillors walked out of a North Down Council meeting ahead of a presentation on Protestants and Irish on Tuesday (BBC). This follows remarks by a Grand Master of the Orange Order, George Chittick, that Protestants should not learn Irish (video at BBC) prompted by the construction of a floor of the Skainos Centre for Irish-language instruction (BelTel).

The hoarding shown above (this one on the Andersonstown Road) is for a 2011 NI Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure initiative which hopes to make 4,000 people fluent in Irish by 2015. It features three Gaelic words which have passed into English – craıc, smıdıríní (smithereens) and bróg.

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X01738 everybody speaks everyday now share more fragments shoe

Ulster’s Defence Force

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2014-03-10 CuchulainnCityHall+

In the Cattle Raid of Cooley/Táın Bó Cúaılnge, the hero Cú Chulaınn, the main figure in the stained glass above, single-handedly defends Ulster by engaging in series of Queen Medb’s men in hand-to-hand combat as they attempt to secure the famous Ulster bull, which Medb wants in order to match her husband in possessions. Cú Chulaınn is eventually vanquished and the bull taken but, as can be seen at the bottom of the glass, the bulls fight each other and both die.

The piece is by Martin Donlin from East Sussex (pictured here at the unveiling in March 2012). According to Donlin’s Fb page, the old Irish at the bottom (“bendachtar cech óen mebraıgfes go hındraıc táın amlaıd seo ‘s ná tuıllfe cruth aıle furrı”) can be translated as “a blessing be upon all such as faithfully keep the Táın in memory as it stands here and shall not add any other form to it”. Here is a Flickr set of the piece in development.

Previously-featured City Hall stained glass: One Big Union | Famine Window | Centenary Window

See also the Visual History page, In The Shadow Of Cú Chulaınn.

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Stadann An Bus Anseo/The Bus Stops Here

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2014-02-16 BusStop+

Gaelic/Gaeılge now appears (since 2011), alongside English/Béarla, on the bus-stop signs and buses in west Belfast. Above is the sign for Saint Comgall’s/Naomh Comhghall (the old school on the Falls) and below is the 10a, headed for Sruthán Na Bantıarna/Ladybrook. According to this BelTel article, there were no immediate plans to add Ulster Scots signage to any routes.

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Famine Window

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2014-02-19 CityHallEmDetail+

Above is a detail from, and below is the whole of, a stained glass window in Belfast City Hall commemorating emigration and the great hunger, commonly known as “the famine”. The piece is by Stephen Calderwood of GlassMarque. The window shows a sailing vessel and the coast of north America, scenes of destitution, Clifton House (home to the Belfast Charitable Society, on Clifton Street), and a potato harvest.

Friar’s Bush and Clifton Street graveyards both contain the remains of people in died in the famine (and in cholera epidemics).

Previously: One Big Union (stained glass in City Hall) | White Line (stained glass in the Cultúrlann)

2014-02-19 CityHallEm+

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Our Youth, Our Future

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2014-02-06 AntrimHurlingStraight+

“Our youth, out culture, our community, our future”. Above is a new Ross Road mural celebrating gaelic games (football, hurling, and handball) and in particular Michael Davitt’s (green, white, and gold strip) and Sean MacDermott’s (yellow with green stripe) GAA/CLG clubs. The banner on the low wall is bookended by images of St. Peter’s cathedral and the fountain in Dunville Park, which are detailed below.

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2014-02-05 AntrimHurlingRightWall+

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X01669 X01665 X01666 óıge na bhfal Falls youth est. 1932 aontroım