painted board

Stad An Slad/Stop The Slaughter

Extramural Activity1 Comment
2014-08-07 StadAnSlad+

This is a new board at the Crumlin end of Brompton Park – launched on August 6th by Gerry Kelly and members of the Cliftonville football team – in support of Palestine and Gaza, and in particular protesting the deaths of the four Bakr children on the beach at the port of Gaza on July 16th (see Child Killers). The image of the man carrying the boy is from Reuters. The wide shot, below, shows the “peace” line and union jacks flying at the camp at the Crumlin-Woodvale-Twaddell roundabout.

See also: a Where Is The World? mural on the International Wall.

Painted by Mickey Doherty and mounted in Brompton Park, Ardoyne, north Belfast.

2014-08-07 StadAnSladWide+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Fallen Comrades

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2014-06-28 INLAFallen+

INLA volunteers Paul McCann, Matt McLarnon, Danny Loughran, and Gino Gallagher are commemorated in a new board unveiled today (2014-06-29) on Northumberland Street. The work shows the four in uniform against a backdrop of Divis flats, St. Peters, and the plough in the stars. Information about the deaths of each of the four can be found via this IRSP page. The IRSP/Teach na Fáilte sponsored the piece, which is by Fra Maher and covers over the centre part of the yellow IRSP mural. Maher also did the anti-fascist/Spanish civil war mural  at the left edge of the image above.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02000 republican socialist ex-prisoners support group seamus costello 1939-1977 i owe my allegiance to the working class

Joe The Goal

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2014-06-03 JoeTheGoal+

Cliftonville FC are 2013-2014 NI Premiership and League Cup champions thanks in part to player of the year Joe Gormley who scored 37 goals during the season – a club record. He is shown here breaking an LP record.

Previously: The Red Army  | Just Can’t Get Enough (Cliftonville – Celtic) | Welcome To Our Park

Unveiled 2014-05-17. Replaces a “Say No 2 Drug Dealers” board

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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#Time4Truth

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2014-05-03 Time4Truth+

Before the Gerry Adams arrest dominated the headlines (Get The Real Story), the major issue of last week was the announcement by NI Secretary Theresa Villiers (BBC-NI) that there would be no further investigation of the La Mon Restaurant bombing – in which 12 people died (WP) – or the Ballymurphy Massacre – in which 11 died (WP). Relatives of both sets of deceased were disappointed by the announcement, and on the republican side, Gael Force Art in conjunction with Relatives For Justice took to Slıabh Dubh to promote the latter’s #Time4Truth campaign. Below is an already-existing board on the lower side of Springfield Road, painted by Rısteard Ó Murchú, making the same demand.

2014-05-02 Ballym1971+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01817 X01810 quinn mullan connolly teggart philips murphy mccarthy doherty laverty corr mckerr we demand the truth black mountain

Long Kesh At Night

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2014-03-04 LongKeshMullen1+

The image above of Long Kesh/HMP Maze is by Michael Mullen. The piece is paint on board; the autographs of all of Mullen’s fellow inmates in Cage 18 are on the reverse. The work is in the Eileen Hickey Republican Museum on Conway Street.

Previously: The Maze Ablaze | Eileen Hickey | You Know Where

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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On The Hall’s Walls

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2014-02-24 ODonghailleFull+

Each Lord Mayor of Belfast has an official portrait which hangs in Belfast City Hall. 2011-2012 Lord Mayor Nıall Ó Donnghaıle’s takes the unusual form of a mini-mural, in the shape of a gable wall and complete with mortar lines. The portrait features a “Short Strand” street-plate (Ó Donnghaıle is from there), images of Titanic, James Connolly – a portrait was mounted at a SIPTU event in the mayor’s chambers in October 2011, after pictures of the royal family had been removed in June, protesters, and an MTV mug. The artist talks about the piece on Slugger (audio) and CultureNI has a good write-up about the process.

Below are a detail from Ó Donnghaıle’s portrait and the more typical portrait of Tom Hartley, Lord Mayor 2008-2009, which includes the bicycle he is famous for riding around town.

2014-02-24 ODonghailleClose+

2014-03-10 Hartley+

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The Jackal

Extramural Activity1 Comment
2014-03-31 MidlandBoxing+

Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton fights tomorrow night (2014-04-04) against Hugo Cazarez for the opportunity to fight Leo Santa Cruz for the WBC super-bantamweight title. He is managed and promoted by Barry McGuigan. Here is a 2013 video profile of Frampton by The Guardian. As he mentions in the video, Frampton (who is Protestant) married a Catholic, while McGuigan (who is Catholic, from Clones) married a Protestant.

He is featured here in the apex of the ‘Midland Boxing Club’ board in Cultra Street in Tiger’s Bay, alongside his Irish featherweight title. The board is unusual in that it is tailored to the full size of the gable wall.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Battle Of Antrim

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2014-03-04 BattleAntrimClose+

The Battle of Antrim took place on June 7th, 1798, as part of the Irish Rebellion of that summer. Led in the North by the Protestant Henry Joy McCracken, the rebellion met with initial successes in smaller towns, before failing in Antrim. In the full shot, below, the British soldiers can be seen in the distance.

The board above is in the grounds of The Roddy’s, a social club named after Roddy McCorley, another Protestant member of the United Irishmen, most famous for the song written about his hanging at the bridge of Toome in 1800. (Here’s a version by Tommy Makem.)

2014-03-04 BattleAntrimFull+

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Uncovering The Past

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2014-03-15 GlenFallsBoards1+

Three generations of boards at the junction of the Falls and Glen roads: from most recent to least: Pearse Jordan (“Murdered by RUC! Covered up by PSNI”), Gibraltar Three (“I nDıl Chuımhne”; this was later realized on the Divis Street International Wall, see 25 Years), and a (presumably) IRSP board (“If there is to be a revolution, there must be a revolutionary party.” [Mao Zedong]). The oldest of the three appears to be the one in the best shape. The site itself used to be the Andersonstown RUC/Army barracks.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01733 unarmed ira volunteer a victim of britain’s shoot-to-kill policy irish republican socialist party british government policies of collusion justice delayed denied truth and justice now

Fernhill House

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2014-02-03 GlencairnFernhill+

This image of Fernhill House is to be found on the wall of the community centre on the Forthriver Road; the house itself stands not far away on the other side of Glencairn park. Below is a video about the museum that was in the house; a video about the history of the house and grounds, which served as a training grounds for the west Belfast Volunteers and UVF at the time of the Ulster Covenant and WWI, is also available.

Previously: A dilapidated Fernhill in 2012 | Revived in 2013 for the UVF anniversary.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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