Thomas “Bootsey” Begley died when a bomb he was carrying into a fish shop on the Shankill Road exploded. The bomb killed Begley and nine others. The plaque above was unveiled in Ardoyne on October 20th, 2013 – twenty years after the event – to protests from relatives of the deceased (BBC-NI).
This mural and its accompanying plaques, at the mouth of Canada Street, commemorate WWI and celebrate the Victoria Crosses won by members of the 36th (Ulster) Division “For valour”: Cather, McFadzean, Bell, Quigg, Emerson, De Wind, Seaman, Knox, and Harvey. The main mural features insignia of more than thirty units of types ranging from machine gunners to vets. Repainted version of East Belfast Volunteers.
Graffiti next to a mural commemorating various battles of WWI reads “Prejudice is all in your head!” The Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV) were formed in 1912 and in 1914 became a battalion of the UVF.
As part of the preparations for the centenary celebrations of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Fernhill House, in Glencairn Park to the west of the Ballygomartin Road, was refurbished. The house and park served as headquarters and training ground for the Ulster Volunteers. For images and video of the parade, which included people dressed in period costume, see the Tele. The name and insignia of the Volunteers — a red hand and the phrase ‘For God and Ulster’ — were re-used in the mid-nineteen-sixties, when the modern UVF was established.
In the course of its history, the UDA has flirted with the idea of an independent Northern Ireland and of a repartitioned Northern Ireland. This mural in Avoniel Street, just off Albertbridge Road in east Belfast, shows a Northern Irish island, supporting two masked gunmen, beneath a red fist. The Ulster Freedom Fighters (and its youth organisation, the Ulster Young Militants) was formed in 1973 to give legal cover to the UDA; the UFF was banned immediately, the UDA in 1992.
The image above shows the centre of a mural in Canada Street depicting Protestant women and children on-board a steamer, the Ulster Queen, leaving Belfast because of rioting and headed for Liverpool, where they were hosted by local Orange families. A shot of the whole is below, as well as a close-up of the laminated letter of thanks to Elsie (Allen) Doyle, one of the organisers in Liverpool.
A very similar mural was in this spot several years ago (though not immediately prior to this one – the wall was blank), featuring three youngsters on the boat, rather than a mother and children. The panel to the right began “In August 1971 many Protestants fled their homes as the IRA launched a bitter sectarian attack on Protestant communities throughout Belfast.” (See M04069.)
“JFTC2” stands for “Justice for the Craigavon 2” and is the latest Black Mountain project from the GaelForce Art group. Above is a view from Ballymurphy, over the Cú Chulaınn mural on Glenalina Road, and the image below is the view from the Slıabh Dubh estate (off Springfield Road, opposite the barracks), where a new series of super-hero murals (including Spiderman) are currently being painted. The “2” are Brendan McConville and John-Paul Wootton and appeals for the innocence (in the death of PSNI Constable Stephen Carroll), are ongoing. (Video from U.tv.)
Two more images from inside the Clifton Street Orange Lodge, one of Britannia and a lion by the shore, between the army and the navy, and the other (below) of the victory of William of Orange over James in 1690.
Extramural Activity 