physical force

The Typist With The Webley

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Lasaır Dhearg (web) poster for the “2021 Winifred Carney Commemoration, 1 pm, Saturday, 20th November. Speaker: Alannagh Doherty, Lasair Dhearg Derry. Assemble: Gates of Milltown Cemetery, Belfast.”

Winifred Carney, from Belfast, was a member of Cumann Na mBan, assistant to James Connolly from 1912 until the Rising, and part of the occupying forces in the GPO during the rising, “armed with a typewriter and a Webley” (according to her WP page). She is also included in Sister Soldiers | Mothers, Sisters, Daughters | Naming Our Streets | Building An Ireland Of Equals | Is Féıdır Lınn! | Raising The Flag

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Young Gun

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This is the new memorial for Glen “Spacer” Branagh, on the 20th anniversary of his death, at the junction of Canning Street and Orchard Street, north Belfast. For information and the earlier plaque on N Queen St, see Forever Young.

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X08639 [X08638] [X08640] X08636 [X08637] X08641 tiger’s bay first flute 16-11-1984 11-11-2001

Forever Young

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On this date twenty years ago (November 11th, 2001 – Remembrance Sunday) sixteen year-old Glen “Spacer” Branagh was killed by the premature blast of a pipe bomb he was carrying during a riot with New Lodge nationalists. He was affiliated with Tiger’s Bay First flute band – which held a memorial parade for him on October 16th (youtube) – and the UDA/UYM – for which see the old “Young Guns” mural on the site of the current Duncairn community garden. Distant relative Kenneth Branagh was also born in Tiger’s Bay (An Phoblacht), before leaving at age nine with his family in 1969 (WP); his film Belfast will be released in the USA tomorrow.

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Stop PSNI Harassment

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“Stop PSNI harassment of the loyalist community” The PSNI were attacked on Wednesday by youths who blocked Lanark Way (site of this sticker), following a small protest against the NI Protocol. Belfast Live ran a live-blog of the events. Police later suggested that the young people were organised by older people in the community in an attempt to increase tension over the Protocol (Belfast Live) and the threatened collapsing of Stormont by the DUP (BelTel). They were also attacked from the Springfield Road side (BelTel).

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Reject The Crown

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“Commander in chief of British armed forces not welcome in Ireland – Irish blood on Englands’ [sic] hands. Reject the crown in Ireland.” 32CCSM (web | tw) launched a poster campaign to protest the visit by Queen Elizabeth on October 21st to celebrate the centenary of Northern Ireland. She did not end up attending as she was advised to rest (BBC) (and was in fact hospitalised – BBC); Boris Johnson attended (BelTel). The poster includes the Ballymurphy Massacre mural (originally on the Whiterock Rd and later on the Springfield Rd) and the front page of the Daily Mirror after Bloody Sunday in Derry, 1972.

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A Place For Everyone

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“I loved it here, and still miss it. The characters that came into the shop … and I miss the craic!” The advertising hoardings at the corner of Ligoniel and Crumlin roads have been replaced with this community alcove with pavers and a space for “sharing positive stories together” at “the turn of the road” from Ballysillan towards Ligoniel village. The plaque to the UDA’s Bill Reynolds, which stood on the building where he was killed until the building was demolished (see the old plaque) and then replaced with a new plaque next to the hoarding, has been included.

“In loving memory [UDA] Lt. Col. Bill Reynolds murdered [by the IRA] 7-7-87. Always remembered by his family, friends and comrades. Quis separabit.”

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X08578 X08575 [X08576] X08577 Ligoniel Road

McKelvey & Steele

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This tarp, above the office of Sınn Féın Poblachtach and the Happy House on the Falls Road, celebrates two previous generations of IRA leadership. Joe McKelvey was commander of the Belfast Brigade of the IRA in the War Of Independence but against the Treaty; he was executed in December, 1922, for occupying the Four Courts in June (WP). Jimmy Steele was a leader in the Belfast IRA from the 1920s to 1960s and the first editor of Republican News; he died shortly after the split (WP).

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From The Plough To The Stars

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“A free Ireland will control its own destiny from the plough to the stars.” So James Connolly is said to have explained the significance of “the plough in the stars” (Ursa Major) as a symbol of Irish revolutionary socialism. (Though no source is given for the remark. See the Paddy Duffy Collection for more.)

Connolly and Seamus Costello, heroes of the IRSP (web) are painted on James Connolly house in Chamberlain Street, Derry, which is also home to Teach Na Fáılte, the Republican Socialist Ex-Prisoners group.

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Genocide In Ireland

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Photography was still in its infancy in 1850 and would not appear in newspapers until the 1880s (LoC). Instead, newspapers used illustrations to bring their stories to life. This board in Ard An Lao (Ardoyne/Bone) – “An Gorta Mór [The Great Hunger] 1845-1851 – The Great Irish Famine” – combines three of them to serve as a background for other images and information.

On the left is Family Being Evicted From Their Home In Rural Ireland.

At the centre is Searching For Potatoes In A Stubble Field from the Illustrated London News. ILN images are a staple of Belfast muraling on the Great Hunger: they were previously used in 1995 (An tOcras Mór in the New Lodge), 1999 (Ireland’s Holocaust on the Whiterock Rd), 2002 (An Gorta Mór in Ardoyne). (Here is a list, with links, of all of the illustrations of Ireland in ILN from the period 1845-1852.)

On the right is food arriving from the USA in the famine of 1879-1880.

See also The Mass Graves Of Ireland.

See also the Visual History page on the Great Hunger in muraling.

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Loyalist Monarch Celebrates 100 Years Of Northern Ireland

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The Village (specifically the Monarch Street/Parade area, above Donegall Road) “celebrates 100 years of Northern Ireland, 1921-2021”.

The Village Team (“VT”) is still on tour (“OT”), trying to kill all Taigs (“KAT”) – all Taigs are targets (“ATAT”). See previously: Taigs Will Be Dealt With | Concerned Loyalists | Loyalist Monarch

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