printed board/placard

Kragfargus Cultural Corner

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This is the second (at least) iteration of an installation along Taylor’s Avenue, Carrickfergus, showcasing the Ulster-Scots heritage of Carrickfergus and its later contributions to the United Kingdom.

The wall is 60 metres/200 feet in length and can be divided into about ten distinct panels – notes on the different panels are given below, following the order of presentation of images, which show the entire wall moving from left to right.

The original, as seen on Street View, included boards showing the Pretani Isles/British Isles, QEII, and Tom Moore. As seen here, there are now boards to King Charles III, a vintage postage stamp, ‘The Siege Of Carrickfergus’ in 1689, and ‘The Barn Mills Fallen’ of WWI.

Fair Fa’ Ye (or “fair faa ye”) is an (Ulster-)Scots blessing, “fair fall you”, meaning roughly “good luck” (Bloggin Fae The ‘Burn | r/scots | Nelson McCausland).

The stained-glass is called the Dalaradia Window. For images and explanation, see Picts Exiled From Alba.

For Dalaradia, see Kingdom Of The Pretani and the Visual History page on Cú Chulaınn.

James Orr, the ‘Bard Of Ballycarry’, was a contemporary of Robert Burns and a United Irishman. It does not appear that he wrote a poem with the line “I wish I was in Carrickfergus”.

Daniel Cambridge won his VC for service in the Crimean War (WP) and James Crichton for service in WWI (WP).

CarrickfergusHistory includes “the oldest know map of Carrickfergus” from 1560, employing the spelling “Kragfargus”.

The 2/6 postage stamp featuring Carrickfergus Castle was one of four in a “Castle series” in 1955 (WP).

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Love, Marriage, And Country

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This Castlemara, Carrickfergus, board is notable for its background, which follows that of old coronation and jubilee portraits. These would show the royal couple (and sometimes immediate family) in plush surroundings and standing in front of chairs. This style of composition has been seen in murals of George V’s jubilee in 1935 and George VI’s coronation in 1937 — see Visual History 01. In this board, however, Philip and Elizabeth are portrayed in old age and are not in coronation gear; the chairs shown are from the Throne Room in Buckingham Palace.

Also notable is that the board replaces a UDA mural – see Joint Manoeuvres. The other UDA mural in the estate — Carrickfergus Eddie — has also been replaced.

For the UVF/YCV gunmen in the background of the wide shot, see Out Of The Trenches.

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Stand Firm

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Two varieties of this “Stand Firm” placard are going up in PUL west Belfast: (above) “Power-sharing or protocol. Stand firm. There is no basis for power-sharing while the protocol remains. Equal citizenship.” and (below) “Power-sharing or protocol. Stand firm. Restore the acts of union. All UK citizens on an equal footing. Equal citizenship.” The context: Jeffrey Donaldson and the DUP have been making noises about a return to Stormont after a year of refusing to participate, which has led to criticism and the threat of “street protests” from hard-line unionists (BelTel).

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Stand Together

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“Is your private or social landlord failing to finish repairs in your home? Don’t stand alone, stand together – join the Tenants’ Union in Ardoyne. CATU Belfast. beflast@catuireland.org”

CATU – “community action tenants’ union” – was formed in 2019 and its slogan – “we only want the earth” – comes from James Connolly’s poem of the same name.

The Belfast branch is on Facebook.

For the mural in the background, see What Is A Free Nation? For the slogan, see also Our Demands Most Moderate Are.

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Our Identity

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The Ulster Unionist Council organised the signing of the Covenant in September, 1912, and in January 1913 voted to bring together the militias that had been formed in various places into an Ulster Volunteer Force. One of these was a South Belfast battalion that had formed in 1912 (History Ireland). Hence, both “1912” and “1913” are given as dates for the creation of the battalion. When the Volunteers were integrated into the Ulster Division for the Great War, the South Belfast Volunteers joined the 10th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles.

Of course, the boards above and immediately below concerning the 1912/1913 Ulster Volunteers serve double duty alongside the three other boards shown here which concern the modern UVF and the current protests against Brexit/NI Protocol/Windsor Framework.

The advertising hoarding has been informally re-purposed by the UVF for several years, and its de-commercialisation is now complete with the addition of this printed board.

“Loyalist Village says No! to an Irish Sea border.” “The prevention of the erosion of our identity , our culture and our heritage. We will preserve this no matter the cost. We will not be the generation to fail Ulster.”

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Royal Irish Rifles

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After WWI, the Royal Irish Rifles became the Royal Ulster Rifles (and later became part of the Royal Irish Rangers). This board prioritises WWI as the Rifles were part of the 36th Division. The hero of WWI portrayed in the central panel is William McFadzean, awarded the VC for falling on two live grenades in the trenches on July 1st, 1916. McFadzean is familiar from many previous murals both individually and in the company of other VC winners; for his family home in Cregagh, see Rubicon.

Alongside McFadzean, the hero of WWII is Blair “Paddy” Mayne, who was only briefly in the Ulster Rifles before making his name in the Parachute Unit (later, and better, known as the SAS). His many medals of honour are shown in an old Newtownards mural though he was denied the VC.

Ballysillan Road, north Belfast.

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Changed Priorities

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In the post of the new Sam Rockett mural in Woodvale – Essence And Space – we said that the “peace” line separating Wyndham Street from the rest of Torrens had been taken down as the area was redeveloped from roughly 2008-2012. As can be seen from this gallery of images, however, some of the infrastructure remains, particularly the school building (former site of Naíscoil Bheann Mhadaigáin (Belfast Media profile)) and the adjacent waste-ground in Torrens Crescent, which remain undeveloped. The alley to Cliftonville is gated at both ends.

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Every Generation Needs Regeneration

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These BUILD (web) boards highlight areas of waste ground in the Shankill area: “Every generation needs regeneration” (above) is next to waste ground on the Shankill Road/Boundary Street; “our children deserve more than dereliction” (below) is next to waste ground in Tennent Street; the third site (with skip) is in Townsend Street/Dayton Street; the fourth (with the tarp) is on Peter’s Hill below the new Drummer Boy mural (see Shankill Drummer and The Little Drummer Boy). The final image is from the other side of the Crumlin Road, in Cliftonpark Avenue.

Previously: an unused site on the Shankill above Lanark Way in #BuildShankill | bottom of Tennent Street see Our Children Deserve More.

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Community Care Staff

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The “Pilgrims” mural on the Newtownards Road has been replaced with an almost-identical representation on boards. As far as we know, this is the fourth instance of this design. Other instances of this mural are: Mersey St c. 1997-2007 (T00240); Tamar St (c. 2002-2005) (M02337); a small version above Cheepers c . 2006 (M02920); and the previous version in this spot on Newtownards Road, 2011-2022 (X00905). The existing mural was significantly faded; the companion “Elementary Right” mural on the other side of the Newtownards Road is less faded but (as can be seen in the final image, below) the paint is peeling away in places.

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Single Drumbeat

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The last major weekend of marching season occurs this weekend with marches by the Royal Black (web) lodges. These signs from earlier in the season — “Single drumbeat only beyond this point”, “Single drumbeat ends” — were posted along Shore Road at the stretch in front ot St Mary’s Star Of The Sea Catholic church. “Respect – Heritage – Culture” signs are then posted down as far as the Whitehouse Workingmen’s Club. You can check the Parades Commission for times and routes of parades.

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