25 Years – Completed

2013-02-28 Milltown+

March 2013 is the 25th anniversary of the Michael Stone’s attack on mourners attending the burials of the Gibraltar 3 in Milltown cemetery. Stone killed three people. The mural combines images of mourners taking shelter from Stone’s attack with the civil war memorial in Ballyseedy, Co. Kerry (WP) which was famously connected to the Gibraltar 3 in a mural prepared for the return of the coffins to Belfast – see A Legitimate Right To Take Up Arms. (Here is a copy of Tragedies In Kerry.) Images of the mural in progress were presented in a previous entry. (See that post for the photographs on which the mural is based.) The Gibraltar 3 are portrayed on the left; Stone’s victims are on the right. In the top right is an IRA volunteer who had been shot two days earlier, on the night that the coffins of the Gibraltar 3 arrived in Belfast.

25 years ago – 1988 – puts us firmly in the era of video, and so you can see footage on youtube relating to each of these events:

Death On The Rock, a famous Thames Television production about the SAS killings of IRA members Maıréad Farrell, Danny McCann and Seán Savage on March 6th in Gibraltar.

Michael Stone’s attack on mourners at their funerals in Milltown cemetery, March 16th, which killed Thomas McErlean, John Murray, and Caoımhín Mac Brádaıgh (Kevin Brady).

Kevin McCracken funeral, March 17th (died on March 14th) at which British Army corporals Wood and Howes were killed.

The memorial depicted in the background of the mural is a civil war memorial in Ballyseedy, Co. Kerry (WP) which was famously connected to the Gibraltar 3 in a mural prepared for the return of the coffins to Belfast – see A Legitimate Right To Take Up Arms. Here is a copy of Tragedies In Kerry.

These pieces replace the Relatives Action Committee mural, later with Marian Price poster.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00979 maıréad dan seán kevin thomas caoımhín john milltown gibraltar free marian price another victim of british justice ı ndíl [ndıl] chuımhne

The Village Songbird

“Born in Moltke Street, Belfast, on 29 March 1935. A child singer who became one of the most popular stars in the 1950s. Her first single reached the Top 3 in 1954 followed by her No 1 hit ‘Softly, Softly’. In 1955 she had five singles in the Top 20 at the same time, an extraordinary record that lasted until the emergence of Madonna in the 1980s. She had her own television show, starred many times at the London Palladium including a Royal Command Performance. She toured worldwide and was performing up to her death on 17th December, 1996” ‘Softly, softly, come to me/Touch my lips so tenderly/Softly, softly, turn the key/And open up my heart.’ (youtube).

Maldon Street, south Belfast

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Banquet

Here is a close-up of the first three panels (out of 7.5) of Rita Duffy’s Banquet, (mentioned yesterday as having preceded the 2012 Covenant board in Argyle St.). It was originally produced for International Women’s Day 2011 and was launched on March 11th (Greater Shankill Partnership | Newsletter). There’s an excellent set of pictures, taken by the Shankill Women’s Center, of the boards being erected over a 2002 mural celebrating the Queen’s 50th anniversary, and a video by NVTv.

A wide shot and a close-up of the info board are below … This is a difficult piece to photograph in its new location (Cupar Way): it is long and there’s a tree on the pavement; it is also highly reflective. Unlike other pieces on Cupar Way, it has (so far) largely escaped the plague of locusts that is the signatures of tourists.

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X00646 X00644 X00642 Banquet by rita duffy, this mural is presented by the shankill women’s centre to celebrate the centenary of international women’s day 2011. it was funded by the arts council of northern ireland. the picture is the artist’s response to research carried out by local women into the women’s suffrage movement in belfast. the campaign to get the vote precipitated a change in the lives of women living in the shankill throughout the 20th century and beyond. banquet celebrates the ongoing process of that change. 1911 international women day 2011, swc, mary-ann mccraken helen crickard caroline mccorin linda walker

Marian Price – Whiterock Rd

Marian Price (WP) mural, Whiterock Rd. Launched May 13, 2012. Owen Paterson (with one “t”) was replaced last week as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland after five months in office. Charges against Price were reinstated on September 5th (Slugger). See also Marian Price poster .

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X00629 free marian price is owen patterson’s political hostage, end internment

Falls Curfew 1970

This is a 2010 mural of Máıre Drumm and the women of West Belfast breaking the British Army curfew of the lower Falls in 1970 (youtube). Drumm was later shot dead in her bed in the Mater hospital where she was a patient (WP).

The mural was unveiled July 4th on the 40th anniversary of the curfew’s end – see p. 28 of An Phoblacht. This version incorporates two of the ‘Free Marian Price’ (painted) “posters” that have been added to most of the murals – see the Visual History page on the International wall. The original can be seen in M05636. A shot of this mural being painted can be found here.

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X00597 oppression breeds resistance, resistance brings freedom, falls curfew july 1970, dedicated to all those women who faced up to military aggression, free marian price, i ndil chuimhne william burns 3-7-70 charles o’neill 3-7-70, zbigniew uglik 4-7-70, patrick elliman 11-7-70, murdered by the british army during the falls curfew of july 3-5 1970. the curfew was finally broken by the courage and determination of the women of belfast

Our Demands Most Moderate Are

The sixteen-year old Sınn Féın Trade Union Dept mural has been replaced (though the plaque remains in the top right-hand corner) with another mural featuring James Connolly but with a new quote, from his 1907 poem: “Our demands most moderate are/We only want the earth.” The Irish Worker headline reads “Belfast ITGWU organiser Connolly gets 905 votes municipal elections” referring to the municipal elections of 1913 – Connolly stood in the Dock Ward (SIPTU).

For the board above, see Women in Struggle.

Rockmount Street, Belfast.

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Lenadoon Women In Struggle

“Strong is what we make each other until we are strong together.” Women in struggle, (clockwise) banging binlids, undergoing strip searches, protesting internment, victims of plastic bullets (Julie Livingstone), fighting in Cumann Na mBan. On the right are the astrological symbol for woman and the republican symbol of “Saoirse” with the green star and fist. With “Free Marian Price” graffiti.

Dungloe Crescent, Lenadoon, Belfast

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Women In Struggle

“Generations shall remember them and call them blessed.” This is a 2009 repaint of a 2002 mural. It continues to feature Máıre Drumm, Maıréad Farrell and (in the centre) Countess Markievicz outside the GPO, but “Sınn Féın” has disappeared from behind Drumm and there is now only one binlid banger.

The mural is above the Sınn Féın Trade Union Department mural.

Rockmount Street, Belfast.

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Free The POWs

2011 image of the historical republican POW mural in Ludlow Square, New Lodge, Belfast, seen previously in 1997 and 2010.

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Women Through The Ages

A good part of this Enfield Street, Belfast, mural is in fact dedicated to Edward Carson – in the top left are “Sir Edward Carson’s family”, “Sir Edward Carson’s wife”, and “Sir Edward Carson’s mother” and below them is a photograph of Carson presenting colours to the South Belfast Volunteers (see We Won’t Have Home Rule) and another (to the middle) of “Sir Edward Carson being introduced to woman nurses”. In the centre are “Local women preparaing food during UWC strike 1974”. Other images include English monarchs Victoria (Queen Of Ireland, Empress Of India) and ElizabethUlster 1914, and the signing of the Ulster Covenant by women.

“This project is part of Belfast City Council’s Cultural Networks programme. It is funded by the EU Programme For Peace & Reconciliation In Northern Ireland And The Border Region Of Ireland (Peace III).”

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