The bricked up first floor of the Tudor Lodge (formerly the Telstar) is still standing at the bottom of Gray’s Lane, with UFF graffiti that goes back a decade. For even earlier (2005) graffiti around the Tudor Lodge, see Sinn Féin Toadies.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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A new backdrop – of a field of poppies beneath a blue sky– has been added to the UFF memorial garden in Tigers Bay. The four stones/plaques in the garden are shown below in the order that they were added to the garden, starting with two to the North Belfast Brigade that were present in 2008 (see M04397). The third was a roll of honour of the “Scottish Brigade North Ayrshire”. The fourth is generically to “those we have loved and lost” but contains a strand of barbed wire, symbol of POWs.
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Copyright © 2023 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“20,000+ security personnel maintain Britain’s occupation of Ireland.” ‘End imperialism, End the occupation’ is a Lasair Dhearg (web | tw) campaign; the 20,000 includes the PSNI as well as troops in “multiple permanent British Army bases”; the stencil in the image below (from affiliated organisation, Red Section (tw)), from the Monagh Bypass, suggests that there are “700+ MI5 agents in Ireland”. The tarp shown above is on the railings at the Falls Road/Glen Road junction, site of the former RUC barracks; the stencil is on the Andersonstown Road.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison (here spelled “Gerarrd ‘Jock’ Davidson, 3rd Batt”) was an IRA volunteer who became a community worker in the Markets after the peace. He was shot dead in 2015 (BBC), probably by republicans, and the murder case is still open (Bel Tel | Irish Examiner). It drew publicity in 2021 because a date for the inquest into his alleged killer’s death (which occurred three months later, possibly at the hands of IRA members still holding weapons) has been set (Irish News), the arrest in Spain of a criminal wanted for questioning in connection with the gun used (Bel Tel), and because it was revealed that the PSNI warned him his life might be in danger a month before he was shot (Irish News).
This graffiti tribute is in Carrick Hill.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The “Craigavon 2” are Brendan McConville and John-Paul Wootton; they were convicted of the 2009 murder of PSNI constable Stephen Carroll. The “set up by MI5” and/or “appeals sabotaged” on the RNU board shown above is a reference to the claim that MI5 agent Dennis McFadden had infiltrated the campaign for justice for Brendan McConville (Irish News). Also at this site are graffiti about Noah Donohoe and an anti-drug-dealer board from Saoradh.
The earliest JFTC2 post on Extramural Activity is from 2013.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“The young and the old rallied around/To help fight the forces of the British crown/Unsung heroes too many to name/Defended Unity flats and never sought fame”. Unity flats were built in 1968 to replace the old Carrick Hill but immediately came under repeated attack by loyalists from the nearby Peter’s Hill and Shankill; by 1987 their demolition had been approved but because of difficulty in rehousing residents (Hansard), the new Carrick Hill was not completed until 2009 (BelTel). The flats have a Facebook page, Growing Up In Unity Flats. The plaques shown today are on the side of the newsagents in the new Carrick Hill.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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For his contribution to the ‘Art And The Great Hunger’ exhibition in 2019, OMIN (ig | web) drew inspiration from the battering rams used to evict people from their homes – for a photograph see History Today – and the Gabriel Rosenstock poem “Dóıbh Sıúd A Dúnmharaíodh 1845-1850” [To The Murdered Of 1845-1850], which ends “A réaltaí, féachaıg’ anuas/Go dtí nach mbeıdh sa ghrıan/Ach abhac dubh” [Stars, look down/Until the sun is nothing/But a black dwarf] (ig).
With support from UV Arts. The van is part of the piece.
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Copyright © 2022 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Like the eternal flame your memory will never die.” “Unbowed, unbroken – this garden is dedicated to all our fallen dead from Ardoyne, Bone, and Ligoniel who lost their lives as a direct result of the conflict. We also honour all those people who played an active part in our struggle for Irish freedom. ‘It is not those who inflict the most, but those that endure the most, that shall prevail’ [Terence McSwiney]”. The central plaque shows the pediment and statues on “ard-oıfıg an phoıst” (the GPO in Dublin, 1916) and the Maid Of Erin harp (of 1798). The celtic cross was previously in the memorial garden at the corner of Berwick Road – see Freedom Hath Arisen.
In the distance of the final image is the Sean Mac Dıarmada mural.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Taigs” of course are Catholics but targets apparently also include Muslim women and LGBTQ supporters (the skeleton on the right is wearing a “rainbow” gansey).
The images are from Larne (attempting to reach its potential) but the stickers appear to originate in Scotland (e.g. Daily Record).
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Update: a shot of the sticker in better condition
Copyright © 2022 Grahame Morrison
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This is the third mural (see 2014 The Maze Ablaze and 2018 The Battle Of Long Kesh) on the International Wall on Divis Street about the ‘Battle Of Long Kesh’, when republican prisoners tried to burn down the cages in protest at living conditions in the camp. CR gas had recently been developed by the British MoD at a lab in Porton Down and is alleged to have been “used against Irish POWs”.
Brady & Faul wrote an 80-page report on the conditions at the camp following the event, entitled The Flames Of Long Kesh. “Telegram to International Red Cross: ‘ … Visited Long Kesh today with others … request immediate investigation into use of “CR gas” … sub-human conditions … SOS … come immed[i]ately’ – 20 Oct 1974, Brian Brady & Fr. Denis Faul”.
The photograph which the central part of the mural reproduces is HU 70205 from the Imperial War Museum’s collection.
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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Extramural Activity 