Four images of a new mural of the “Rathcoole Elite” unit (1st Batt., B. Coy) of the Red Hand Commando, complete with four masked men each bearing weapons. Founded in 1970, “To this day our principles remain the same: to protect the loyalist community, to retain our Britishness.”
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03398 X03399 X03397 X03396 derrycoole way it is not for glory or for riches that we fight but for our people lamh dearg abu
This notice is on the outside of the Belvoir Bar in east Belfast: “Property of east Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force – Not for sale” alongside a plaque to “fallen comrades” Robert Bennett, Roy Walker, Joseph Long, James Cordner, and Robert Seymour. It seems that the bar has been shuttered since 2011 (Belfast Telegraph | Irish Times).
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Copyright © 2020 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03367 X06980 newtownards rd
Nell (l) and Elizabeth (r) Corr from 107 Ormeau Road joined Cumann Na mBan in 1915 and travelled to Dublin in 1916 (with Nora Connolly, Ina Connolly, Bridie Farrell, Lizie Allen, Kathleen Murphy, and another girl called O’Neill (Treason Felony)) to serve as messengers in the preparations for April’s Easter Rising. They were in Liberty Hall (shown in the detail above) on the morning of the rising before heading north. Brother George, on the other hand, died at the Somme as a soldier in the Australian infantry, while another brother, Charles, fought in WWI with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. They are pictured on the left-hand side of the mural. (BBC | BBC video) There are two images of the work in-progress at the bottom of the post.
Elizabeth’s account of Easter Sunday and Monday is available at the Bureau Of Military History.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03424 X03468 X03469 X03422 X03423 X03425 Essex Grove Mickey Doherty the irishwomen’s council 206 great brunswick st. join the volunteer movement and become members of the above organisation first aid and ambulance classes reserve corps of trained nurses drill and rifle practices contribute to our equipment fund which has already bought rifles for the volunteers oglaigh na heireann public meeting large concert hall we serve neither king nor kaiser but ireland canadian armed forces
A lily and written ‘salute’ have been added to the Fıanna Éıreann wall at the top of Berwick Road/Paráıd An Ardghleanna for the centenary of the Easter Rising: “1916 – 2016 – We salute the memory of those who have given their lives in the cause of Irish freedom.”
For the plaque and the tarp to the right (both of which commemorate four local teenagers), see Purity In Our Hearts.
In the left-hand corner is an RNU sunburst in green, white, and orange.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03395
Here’s the left-hand end of the repainted ‘Freedom Corner’ on the Newtownards Road. It celebrates the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF), formed in 1973 as a cover-name for the UDA’s paramilitary activities. The mural features the red fist on a six-pointed star, a balaclava’ed volunteer with an assault rifle and (on the right) a pistol above a scroll which reads: “For as long as one hundred of us remain alive we shall never in anyway consent to submit to the Irish for it’s not for glory, honour or riches we fight but for freedom alone which no man loses but with his life – U.D.A./U.F.F”
From left to right: For Freedom Alone | As Long As 100 Of Us Remain Alive | Loyalist East Belfast | The Strangest Victory In All History | Ulster’s Past Defenders | Nationality is included in Loyalist East Belfast | Ulster’s Present Defenders | Freedom Corner
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03358 X04871
After a larger version of the poster on boards (Belfast Live | Belfast Telegraph) was taken down, the wall beneath — a mural to (now-released) Basque activist Arnaldo Otegi, featured previously in Free Otegi — has been plastered with these flyer-sized versions of an old (possibly 1970s) Provisional IRA poster warning the republican community about information-gathering by the security forces: “Loose-talk costs lives. In taxis, on the phone, at footbal[l] matches, at home with friends, anywhere! Whatever you say – say nothing.”
For a link to the 1975 Seamus Heaney poem “Whatever you say, say nothing” and a video of Colum Sands singing his song of the same name, see You Know Where.
Update: the flyers were removed on Wednesday 27th around lunchtime.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03387 X03386 divis st Thompson submachine-gun balaclava IRA the pathway to peace pake bidean spanish french jails
Two competing posters for two competing dates for two (competing?) Easter Rising parades: the People’s Parade (above) was held today, April 24th, the date of the Rising in 1916; the other was held on this year’s Easter Sunday, March 27th, as the parade is annually held on Easter Sunday.
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X03384 X03385 beechmount ave glen rd easter parade 1916 2016 assemble divis tower 11.30 am parade leaves 12.00 pm sharp speaker gerry adams TD honour ireland’s patriot dead wear an easter lily cumann uaigheann na laochra gael national graves assocition easter commemoration committee belfast leaving barrack street for milltown at 12 noon
The shutters are down on the Mill Diner on the upper Crumlin Road. Proprietor Tommy McAuley was shot by the UVF in 1987 in retaliation for the Enniskillen bombing. His case was examined by the Historical Enquiries Team (HET) who reported (in 2011) that the police did not question suspects identified by witnesses and the family lobbied the ombudsman to reopen the case (U.tv). In 2014 they did not have any success (North Belfast News) but the case was reopened in 2015 (BMG).
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X03348 luncheon club lost lives 2895
“Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues” — commentary on the “Brexit” vote, coming up on June 23rd, from the Tiger’s Bay community in north Belfast, likening the EU to Babylon — “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth”, “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird”, “that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth” — whose destruction is prophesied in the book of Revelation. Hence: “Vote Leave E.U.”.
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X03381 n. queen st bible revelation rev 18:4 whore of babylon sin corruption
The UVF mural dedicated to Colin Caldwell on Derry Hill in Rathcoole has been repainted and a mention added of “Marky” Mark Quail — who has a separate mural a short distance away — added on a (painted) ribbon. The mural shows two hooded volunteers — from the 3rd [north] Belfast battalion and 1st east Antrim battalion – aiming rifles; the previous mural (X00512) showed volunteers mourning beside a memorial stone. “We salute all volunteers at home and on the mainland who served with dignity and pride.”
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03379 X03380 in memory of colin ralph caldwell for god and ulster lest we forget
Extramural Activity 