Time becomes distorted under the influence of Guinness and Salvador Dali and his Persistence of Memory at the Duke of York, or more precisely, in the archway that leads from Donegall Street to the pub. Dali’s original is only 9.5 x 13 inches. This is the centre part of a larger mural; there are also three images of Dali in the windows above the archway (see T00766). The Spaniard bar in Skipper Street (one block south of the Duke Of York) also featured Dali on its sign.
“Derry” became “Londonderry” in 1613, but in 1689 at the time of the siege, as now, it was commonly referred to as “Derry”. The slogan of the defenders was “No Surrender” and the successful resistance to penetration gave rise to the epithet “The Maiden City” (WP).
Pictures of the unveiling of the plaque in 2009, which commemorates William Love, can be seen here.
Another George Best reference in another mural at the Dark Horse/Duke of York. George Best quit Manchester United (temporarily) for Spain towards the end of the 1972 season (and quit United for good in 1974). The precise phrase — “Sod this, I’m off to Marbella” — and picture of Best playing keepsy-upsies in the sun come from a John Roberts book about Best. Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974 (WP). The Klondyke Bar was in (PUL) Sandy Row and bombed by the IRA in January, 1976.
This is just the left-most part of a large mural in the Dark Horse courtyard. (For the whole thing, see The Bar Is Called Heaven.) It is almost entirely black-and-white – the Guinness labels and betting slip from Eastwoods are exceptions. If you recognize any of the figures, please leave a comment. The photographer in the top right is Bill Kirk | some pictures at the RBG.
There is a signature of sorts in the top left: “Two cold, hungry muralists for hire. Phone Danny D[evenny] and Marty L[yons].”
Local readers will hopefully be able to help identify the people (and the horse, and the crab on a fishing line) staying in the Europa Hotel, as depicted in a new (late 2012) board/construction at the Dark Horse/Duke Of York. Artist Ciaran Gallagher has a collection of pictures of the piece being constructed and installed.
According to WP, the Europa was bombed 28 times during the Troubles (which would explain the damage and the abseiling paramilitary on the left?), and Bill and Hillary Clinton’s entourage took up 110 of the 240 rooms when they stayed at the Europa hotel in 1995. In the foreground, George Best balances a ball bearing the words, “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.” Is there some particular reason why the “E” is the euro sign?
Previously from the Dark Horse/Duke Of York: Big Brother Is Watching. Below is a wide shot of the whole.
The Irish went to America, the pigs went to England. “Beware! Pigs Crossing. Bacon curing was one of the city’s oldest industries. People fattened pigs in their back yard. The women delivered them to the factories close to the quays in case their men spent the pig money on drink on the way home.”
One of loyalism’s most famous muraling icons – paradoxically of the peace-time era – is Eddie The Trooper. This one is in the Waterside’s Ebrington Terrace, Londonderry. For others in other locations, see Eddie’s Visual History page.
The first part of the words above the board come from the last paragraph of this WWI order: “There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end”.
The last sentence of Haig’s order is not included; instead we here have “We determine the guilty. We decide the punishment.” which appears to be the motto of a “fantasy tabletop war game” Warhammer 40,000.
The image is a 1997 (according to Peter Moloney) replica, with additions, of a 1983 Iron Maiden cover (WP). This character, “Eddie”, was featured in much of Iron Maiden’s artwork. The two images below show a close-up of Eddie, now sporting a UFF badge on his shoulder, and of the victim on the left, now wearing a distinctively gold coloured epaulette to go with his green uniform and white sash.
The board was painted by a group called ‘Attitude Artwork’, made up of Dee Logan, Mark Logan, and Marty Edwards (CAIN). In an interview with the BBC, Marty Edwards said, “I work for Attitude Mural Artists. We’re based in the Waterside, Londonderry and we paint predominantly Protestant paintings. We would usually paint paramilitary paintings for UDA people, UVF people in their own estates. You know, sort of to mark their territory bounds like, you know, stuff like that. Usually we’re left to our own devices, to come up with something that’s really intimidating, will antagonise Catholics. But this project I’ve been involved with two groups from both sides of the community, four schools. … ” (BBC)
The can be no beef with this beef. The horse-meat scandal (WP) is now a month old and has “Gone Interrailing” (Spiegel Online) to Britain and the Continent, but the reverberations can still be felt in Ireland and Northern Ireland. This butchers in Inıs Ceıthleann/Enniskillen attempts to reassure its customers by providing the provenance of this week’s beef.
A “British And Proud” banner currently flies adjacent to the board at the bottom of Sandy Row celebrating the (Dutch) William of Orange (or “King Billy” as he is more commonly referred to) (WP) and his “Danish, English, Dutch, French Huguenots, Prussian, Scots, Irish, Swiss, Polish, Italian, Norwegian” forces. The mural was launched July 2nd, 2016, and was painted by artist Ross Wilson (Tele). A time-lapse video of the painting-over of the previous mural and the installation of the various pieces is available on Youtube.
ATMs make a popular spot for posting flyers. The two in white (“End Controlled Movement” and “End Strip Searching”) are recent additions to this Falls Road banklink.
Extramural Activity 