New street art in Garfield Street, in the city centre – black and white cartoon characters with long, thin necks and square faces.
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Forever Brass
On The Brink Of Sectarian Disaster
A selection of Republican iconography above the James and Nora Connolly mural in Clondara Street: a tarp to Joe McCann – ‘Soldier of the people, Joe McCann 1947-1972 Official IRA’ (WP) – a board with a Liam McMillen quote – ‘”We stand not on the brink of victory but on the brink of sectarian disaster”, Liam McMillen, Bodenstown June 28th 1973’ (see the post on McMillen at Peter Moloney Collection) – and two circular pieces, one showing the Starry Plough (created in 1914 as the flag of the Irish Citizen Army) and one to co-founder of the ICA ‘James Connolly 1868-1916’ (WP).
These pieces are above the mural to James Connolly and Nora Connolly.
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01479 Official Republican Movement
Liberating Minds
Here is the completed Frederick Douglass mural in Northumberland Street. With quotes from …
- Douglass himself (“It is easier build strong children than to repair broken adults.”)
- Abraham Lincoln (“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.”)
- Angela Davis (“We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.”)
- Muhammad Ali (“Why should I drop bombs on brown people in Vietnam while so-called negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs …”)
- Steven Biko (“The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”)
- MLK (“I have a dream … black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last, free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.””)
- Bob Marley (“Until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race.”)
- Nelson Mandela (“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”)
- Paul Robeson “The artist must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I made made [sic] my choice. I had no alternative”,
and - (without attribution) James Connolly (“The worker is the slave capitalist society, the woman [female worker] is the slave of that slave.”)
Northern Visions TV documentary on the production and launch of the mural.
See also: in-progress shots, in Frederick Douglass.
Update: John Lewis was added in 2014; see As I Would Not Be A Slave.
Update: Aung San Suu Kyi X’ed out in 2017; see The Freedom Of Others.
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Copyright © 2013/2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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thank you sister Rosa Parks Harriet Tubman Barack Obama Betty Sinclair Mary Ann McCracken Aung San Suu Kyi, Haitian Revolution, Chief Joseph, El Salvador, CoMadres
Know Your History
“If you know your history …” – a mural sponsored by the Belfast Celtic Society in St. James’s Crescent celebrates some star players – Charlie Tully (WP), Paddy Bonnar, and Jimmy Jones (WP) – and the old playing ground, Celtic Park or ‘Paradise’, on Donegall Road. Wide shot and close-ups below. (Belfast Telegraph write-up.)
Video from the Belfast Celtic Society of the work in progress and of the unveiling – Jimmy Jones was there in person.
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Copyright © 2011 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Help For Heroes
“Remember the fallen, care for the living”. Five boards arranged into a single piece in Ebor Street, south Belfast. The large bottom panel features a silhouette of a (staged) photograph taken in Basra (DailyMail) of a soldier on a stretcher giving the ‘thumbs up’ sign.
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Gaelic Clubs
Four local GAA clubs are celebrated in this sloping mural on Shaw’s Road: Naomh Pól, Naomh Treasa, Padraıg Sáırséıl, Uí Donnabháın Rossa. (St. Paul’s, St. Teresa’s, Padraig Sarseil’s, O’Donovan Rossa).
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Years Of Sacrifice
As can be seen from the initial cartoon for this mural, below, it was originally intended to have two hooded gunmen firing a funeral volley, but because of protest by locals (see, e.g. NewsLetter) this was changed to two unmasked men, one of whom is clearly of the WWI era. The Nissen huts and towers of Long Kesh, however, remain in the image, which thus expresses the complex relationship of loyalists (and especially the UVF, whose members Robert Seymour, James Cordner, Joe Long, and Robert Bennett are listed on the left-hand side) to the British army. As Bill Rolston put it: “How could one display visually the value of opposing British policies in the name of remaining British? What could be the symbols of such a schizophrenic message? (Drawing Support (1), p. ii).
The side-wall to the right of shot is painted solid black but otherwise remains unfinished as of the end of 2013.
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Forgotten In Life, Remembered In Death
Trade unionist John Quinn, who helped found the ITGWU, died in 1935 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Milltown. Last weekend (December 14th, 2013) a new headstone was unveiled. As can be seen in the image above, Quinn was fortunate to escape the sinking of the Titanic – he boarded as a fireman in the Belfast crew, but a team of firemen had already been hired in Southampton.
There is a detailed account of Quinn’s life and the process that brought about the new headstone at the Belfast Telegraph.
Previously on ExtramuralActivity: ITGWU mural – Till Labour Knows No Master | Larkin – We Only Want The Earth | Winifred Carney & Nora Connolly | Lockout
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01480 1876-1935 beloved husband of margaret pollard native of sailortown seaman docker a participant in the 1907 dockers and carters strike and one of the founder members friend and colleague of james larkin, winifred carney, james connolly, 4 april 1912 Forgotten in life, remembered in death daughter bridget son robert nephew gerard
These Stones
Sandy Row Ulster Volunteers/WWI memorial: “For God and Ulster 1912, Ulster Volunteer Force, South Belfast Battalion, trained in the adjoining brewery yard. These stones are kept in remembrance, “lest we forget”.”
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Copyright © 2013/2019 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Very System That Drove Us To Our Deaths
“After we are gone what will you say you were doing? Will you say you were with us in our struggle, or were you with the very system that drove us to our deaths?”
The mural to hunger striker Patsy O’Hara on Shaws Road has been repainted and is now only one half of a long wall, due to impending renovations of the Spar shop whose side it is on. Launched November 17th, 2013 (source: irsp.ie)
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01478 IRSP INLA in proud memory of the ten h-block martyrs who died on hunger strike in long kesh during the struggle for political status
Extramural Activity 