An electrical box painted with an Irish Tricolour and the letters “IRA” – Westland Street, Bogside, Derry.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X3660
Power Box
Lest We Forget
Ballyclare UVF memorial mural to volunteers from the 3rd and 1st battalions.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03771 Erskine Pk YCV
Bigger Than Yeezus
For CNB16/HTN in Belfast’s city centre street artist VisualWaste (Web | Fb | Tw) painted rapper, producer, and clothing designer (and recent Trump admirer and visitor to Trump Tower) Kanye West.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03853 Union St Dean Kane
The Past Is A Foreign Country
This image of London-/Derry in days-gone-by is on the outside of the walls of Derry, looking in. The brickwork of which it appears to be the portal is also fake; in fact, this is a covered walkway leading from Bishop Street to the Fountain.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03590
Yer Da Sells Avon
Glasgow artist Conzo Throb (web | Fb) was back in Belfast for CNB16/HTN. The Avon name dates back to 1929 in New York and the company has sellers in more than 100 countries. Male sellers are uncommon but not unheard of – here’s a 2006 NYTimes profile of an ‘Avon Man’. Nonetheless, “Yer Da sells [the] Avon” is the ultimate Scots insult.
Previously by Conzo Throb: Fill Up On Colour | Let’s Melt
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03928
Chains And Bonds Have No Part In Us
IRA commander Seán McCaughey spent five years on the blanket in Portlaoise prison and died (in 1946) after 23 days on hunger strike (including 13 days refusing liquids). He is commemorated in Ardoyne because he lived there from the age of five onward. (The Pensive Quill.)
“I have no prouder boast to say, I am Irish and have been privileged to fight for the Irish people for Ireland. If I have a duty, I will perform it to the full with the unshakable belief that we are a noble race and the chains and bonds have no part in us.” Óglach Francis Hughes 1981
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03956 Ardoyne ave RNU óglaıgh na héıreann
Ich Bin Ein Belfaster
Travel site In Your Pocket recently solicited a good term for people from Belfast. In 1963, JFK went to West Berlin and expressed solidarity with the encircled residents by saying “Ich bin ein Berliner” (inviting the misunderstanding that he was a Berliner Krapfen or jelly doughnut”, but the spirit of the message was clear). (WP has more info and video.) The stencil above puts Kennedy in Belfast: Ich bin ein Belfaster.
Thanks to Brendan McGarry for today’s image.
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Copyright © 2016 Brendan McGarry
X03927 Lisburn Road
By The Campfire Light
Here’s a piece of street art (in Kent Street) showing two figures out at night, perhaps dancing by the campfire or toasting marshmallows or worshipping a tree god? The wide shot shows how the piece was made to fit with the Gorny Goohoo already in place.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03916 X03915
RIP Plum Smith
UVF volunteer William “Plum” Smith entered Long Kesh in 1972 at the age of 18 for his role in the attempted murder of a Catholic. After his release, he became an ITGWU shop steward, a community organizer, and spokesperson for the PUP. Smith died in June of this year (2016); the message in today’s images appears on the Cupar Way “peace” line.
Short bio from BalaclavaStreet | Gareth Mulvenna tweet of Plum’s bio at age 20 from the Orange Cross | Tele account of the funeral.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03946 X03947
Carrickfergus Castle
The initial Carrickfergus Castle was built in 1177 and today functions as a major tourist attraction. The foot soldier in chainmail and kettle hat in the image above can be seen (in statue form) at the castle, along with a variety of other soldiers from the Norman and English forces that held the castle throughout the centuries.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03759 X03758 Davys Street
Extramural Activity 