painted wall

Our Truth

Extramural Activity1 Comment
2014-05-17 BallymJustice+

The Gerry Adams “visionary” mural came down almost as quickly as it went up. Five days after release, Adams posted a thank-you to the artist on Twitter in which he also asked that it be replaced. The new mural returns to the issue that made headlines immediately before Adams’s arrest: the refusal of NI Secretary Theresa Villiers (depicted on the right) to order further investigation of the shooting deaths of 11 Ballymurphy residents – one for each cross shown – in 1971 (BelTel) and also the La Mon restaurant fire-bombing in which 12 people died (BelTel).

Previously: Time4Truth

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01876 top secret justice wants the truth to hide it our

The Imperial Province

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-05 OverTheTop+

The lettering has faded from this Ballyclare mural of soldier from the 36th (Ulster) Division going over the top. The scroll in the bottom right contained the familiar list of eight Somme battles: Somme, Ypres, Arras, Thiepval, St. Quentin, Grandcourt, Messines, Fricourt (featured also in Tamery Pass | At The Going Down Of The Sun and a part of the YCV flag, as in Where Youth And Laughter Go). The main panel read “Let us not forget those of our comrades who have made the supreme sacrifice. Ulster mourns them but is proud of the glory and honour they have won for the imperial province.”

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01828 uvf for god and ulster wwi

Welcome To Our Park

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-07 WhitewellMid+

“Welcome to our park – Whitewell says “no” to racism.” Above is a detail from a new mural by Lucas Quigley showing children of different ethnicities playing together. The children are also cross-community: the two central figures are wearing Cliftonville and Crusaders kits – two rival north Belfast teams.

Previously: Cliftonville: The Red Army | Crusaders: The Hatchet Men, All Ireland Champions

2014-05-07 WhitewellRight+

2014-05-07 WhitewellWide+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01858 X01856 X01857 coıste na nıarchımí/Tar Isteach

Women Too

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-12 WomenToo2+

The Windsor Women’s Centre in the Village area of south Belfast has been providing support services for women and families since 1990. This black and white but multicultural mural on the Kilburn Street side of the building by Joanne Vance includes images of women who use the centre.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01872 spiral hope peace opportunity spirit feminism unity love dreams fears aspirations confidence education growth development belonging faith energy skills knowledge learning activity drive life power spirit strength home vitality work recreation conversation comfort helping together coffee support understanding health sharing worth well being warmth trust 

Together We Stand Alone

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-05 StandAloneDetail+

UVF/YCV mural in Ballyclare celebrating and commemorating soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division in WWI and in particular at the Somme. The central panel, shown above, shows soldiers bearing the Division’s standard (painted in colour in an otherwise black-and-white mural and in the style of the (US) Marines ‘Iwo Jima’ Memorial (WP)) which comprises the Union flag, harp insignia of the Royal Irish Rifles, and the red hand of Ulster on a field of shamrocks.

The other panels, shown in the full shot, below, show (clockwise from top left) uniforms of the Ulster Volunteers, a Protestant woman defending the fields (see Deserted! Well, I Can Stand Alone), soldiers going over the top, and soldiers bowed at a UVF memorial.

2014-05-05 StandAloneFull+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01830 X01831 we band of brothers Henry V shakespeare

Free For All

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-05 FrizWellesleyWide+

Above is Friz’s 2012 B-movie mash-up on the side of Ryan’s Bar on the Lisburn Road: A fire-breathing Godzilla, a masked wrestler (from “Lucha Libre” – Mexican “free[style] wrestling”) about to hurl down an electrical cloud, an octopedal brain with bow-tie, a giant robot smashing buildings, the mad scientist and the damsel in distress. Close-ups of the robot and Godzilla’s fire, below.

Previously from Friz: Chips & A Movie (Atomic Collectables) | Fox & Bird (Culture Night 2013) | The Girl With The Flaxen Hair | Working On A Building

2014-05-05 FrizWellesleyRobot+

2014-05-05 FrizWellesleyFire+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01824 X01823 X01822 luchador

As I Would Not Be A Slave, So I Would Not Be A Master

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-05 JohnLewis+

U.S. civil rights protester John Lewis (WP) – leader of the  Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and co-organizer of the march on Washington in August, 1963 – made a visit to Dublin, Derry, and Belfast at the end of April (Newsletter | DerryCity.gov.uk). In honour of his visit, the ‘We Can Do It!” (a.k.a. “Rosie The Riveter”) figure at the left edge of the Douglass mural (under Barack Obama) on Northumberland Street was painted over and Lewis’s image – wearing the Presidential Medal Of Freedom – put in its place. For a wide-shot of the mural pre-Lewis, see Liberating Minds, which gives all of the quotes in the mural, including the quote from Abraham Lincoln that provides the title of today’s post.

Previously: Frederick Douglass (2009) | The Only Tired I Was, Was Tired Of Giving In (Rosa Parks) | Prison First, Then President (Nelson Mandela)

Bill Rolston gives some historical context in this video on the Open Hands project.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014/2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01825 X01829 X02312 martin luther king bob marley steven biko haitian revolution angela davis muhammad ali abraham lincoln strong children the woman is the slave of that slave swing low sweet chariot why should i drop bombs on brown people in vietnam cast off one’s chains the freedom of others without regard to race i have a dream thank god almighty we are free at last liberating minds society apartheid thank you sister rosa

Mountain Stage

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-09 FineDominioBrit+

The Giro d’Italia (Tour Of Italy) got off to a rainy start in Belfast yesterday (Friday May 9th, 2014) with a team time-trial. While there was talk in February of removing not just election posters (BBC) but also flags and murals (BBC), and the tourist board and Department of Enterprise hopes that spectacular scenes (through the rain) from the north Antrim coast will recoup the cost of hosting the event (4.2M in total), republicans took to the slopes of Slıabh Dubh to greet Italian visitors and perhaps viewers with “Fine Dominio Britannico” (“End British Rule”), and loyalists held what the Tele describes as a “protest march”, setting off this morning at the same time as the second stage – around the Antrim coast – got under way (Parades Commission on the Ligoniel Combine).

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01865 black mountain cycling

Andrew Murphy Memorial

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-05 MurphyDetail+

The close-up above is from the ‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ mural at the top of Grange Drive, Ballyclare, showing King Billy crossing the Boyne. (full mural below)

‘Andrew Murphy Memorial’ is a flute band from Carluke, Scotland. According to the band’s Fb page, the band was formed in 1988 and named after a member of the Carluke Orange Lodge (LOL 190). Here is video of the band  parading in Belfast, at the UVF centenary celebrations last year (2013).

2014-05-05 MurphyWide+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01826 X01827

Get The Real Story

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2014-05-03 AdamsRealStory+

“Peacemaker, leader, visionary”. A new mural of Sınn Féın leader Gerry Adams was officially unveiled yesterday (Saturday, May 3rd, 2014), taking its place on the International Wall between the Local Volunteers mural and the current WBTA mural (and replacing the Falls Curfew mural). The second image, below, is of the Adams piece alone. The mural was quickly painted after Adams’s arrest on Wednesday evening (April 30th) after he went for questioning about the Jean McConville case (see also: Headstone); he was released today without charge. An earlier version of the mural (completed May 2) had the word “tout” spray-painted on it on the night of May 2nd-3rd, in the location where “ar aghaıdh lınn” now appears.

A sizeable crowd turned out, as the launch served as a rally in support of Adams, featuring a statement by Martin McGuinness. As can be seen in the third image, below, of McGuinness and Martina Anderson, protesters at the unveiling/rally carried posters showing a picture of Adams with Nelson Mandela, between the words “Defend the peace process – Release Gerry Adams TD”. Video of the launch/rally from the BBC | images from the BelTel.

For the WBTA mural on the left, see Local History From Local People.

2014-05-03 Adams+

2014-05-03 McGuinnesssAnderson+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01813 X03002 X01816 fear an phobaıl, ar aghaıgh linn, west belfast taxi association local history from local people 40 years unbroken service