Extramural Activity

A Vision Of The Future

2023-06-032025-03-12Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Australian artist Fintan Magee (ig) in Ebrington Square, Londonderry, showing a young girl – a symbol of the next generation – (Bel Tel) behind obscure glass. To the right is a dove; the orca in the bottom right is Dopey Dick, who swam up the Foyle in 1977 (Fb).

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Copyright © 2023 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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Not In Sorrow But In Pride

2023-06-022025-01-08Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“In honour of the men and women from Ballyclare and surrounding areas who gave their life in war. ‘They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them’. Lest we forget.” With emblems of the Royal British Legion (left), Navy and Merchant Navy (right), and a separate stone for the UDR “When danger threatened, some made the supreme sacrifice”.

The main obelisk is dedicated “in the honoured memory of those men from Ballyclare & District who gave their lives for King and country in the Great War 1914-1918, 1939-1945. ‘Look not on this in sorrow but in pride and may ye live as nobly as they died.”

The remaining image shows the info board describing two aeroplane crashes around Big Collin Mountain, in which eleven airmen died while on training flights, one the result of an engine fire, the other crashed into the side of the mountain.

Ballyclare War Memorial Park, Ballyclare Road, Ballyclare. There are also separate murals in Erskine Park to the locals who died in WWI and in WWII.

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Copyright © 2023 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Bristol Blenheim X6273 Consolidated Liberator bomber EV954

Summer’s Blood

2023-06-022025-01-08Extramural Activity2 Comments

The inspiration for this new street art by emic (ig | web) – perhaps in both pose and pallette – was Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘Blackberry Picking’ (Derry Journal). A young person appears to be searching intently: “You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet/Like thickened wine: summer’s blood was in it/Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust for/Picking.” (Full poem)

The official title is “Younger Days”; in Creggan, Derry, for Gasyard Féıle; with support from the Communities In Transition programme.

Replaces Creggan 75; there is still republican graffiti on the adjacent wall (final image): “Stop normalisation of RUC/PSNI”.

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Copyright © 2023 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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Look For Me In Your Thoughts

2023-05-302025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Shankill Memorial Garden next to West Kirk Presbyterian is home to memorials to WWI (see Who Went To War And Never Returned) and the Shankill Bombing (see In The Shadow Of Death) . It has also become the site of many small memorials to local people, including volunteers in the UVF. For “S Company” see S Company, C Company.

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Copyright © 2023 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Loyal Shankill

2023-05-302025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Here are a few images from the Shankill in the days following the coronation of King Charles III. For the mural in the second image, see C Coy Street.

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Copyright © 2022 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Dieu Et Mon Droit

2023-05-292025-01-07Extramural Activity1 Comment

That is, king or queen “by the grace of God” or divine right. The first UK monarch to use the phrase was Henry V in the early 1400s and it has been used as a royal motto since then, up to and including the present-day monarchs shown on this board in the Caw, Londonderry.

On the left, the past – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; in the centre, the present – His Majesty King Charles III; on the right, the future – William Prince Of Wales, Baron Of [sic] Carrickfergus.

The Welsh dragon is included alongside the three flags/crests that make up the Union Flag – St George’s Cross for England, St Andrew’s Saltire for Scotland, and St Patrick’s Saltire for Ireland.

For the same trio in Newtownabbey, see Past, Present, Future.

Replaces the William MacFadzean board.

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Copyright © 2023 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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Rotten And Corrupt

2023-05-282025-09-10Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Rotten And Corrupt: Christopher Little (39) entered guilty pleas to nine charges at Belfast Crown Court last month – including attempting to have sex with a child. [Irish Times] 20 officers shared racist, sexist and misogynistic messages including texts and images which mocked Arabic and Islamic people. [Spotlight programme] Six PSNI officers all had hearings for an array of alleged offences. PSNI revealed they themselves had dismissed 11 police officers amid claims of over 130 misconduct cases throughout the force. [Belfast Live]”

It’s not clear who is behind these flyers in north Belfast; the harpist on the electical box is by Kerrie Hanna (ig).

New Lodge Road, Belfast.

Update: the posters have been removed (by the end of July, 2023).

Horsey Hill

2023-05-272025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Lagan river between Belfast and Lisburn was made navigable in 1763 after seven years of work. The remaining distance between there and Lough Neagh (and the coalfields of east Tyrone, which were connected to Lough Neagh and then Portadown and Newry) required a canal, which finally opened on January 1st, 1794. The were 27 locks on the route between Belfast and the lough, and horses walking on the tow-parth would pull the barges up river (WP | Lagan Valley | Lagan Navigation has photographs of horses at work). Horsey Hill was perhaps the site of stables in south Belfast; it is now the name of the alley that continues on towards the river from the Ukraine sunflower mural off Harrow Street in the Holylands.

Forward South Partnership/Connor McKernan’s video about the history of the Holylands, including Horsey Hill, can be seen on youtube.

Painted by Daniela Balmaverde (ig) and DMC. At the bottom of Horsey Hill, along the embankment, are Animals Two By Two.

Neither King Nor Nato

2023-05-262025-01-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Est 1913 Irish Citizen Army / Irish National Liberation Army Est. 1974”. The Irish Citizen Army was founded in Dublin in 1913 to protect striking workers from police violence. After taking part in the Easter Rising of 1916, however, the ICA did not participate in the War Of Independence and the Civil War. In 1974, some founding members considered reviving the “ICA” name to reflect the organisation’s “allegiance to the working class” while Costello (pictured on the right) suggested “National Liberation Army”, which was then amended to include “Irish” (History Ireland | WP | WP). MNI includes an “ICA-INLA” Starry Plough on the stairs into the New Lodge from 1989 (C00105).

The banner raised over the Liberty Hall headquarters of the ICA read “We serve neither king nor kaiser but Ireland” – the famous photograph is included in the post of the same name – but this has been updated. The Belfast version of the board, above, reads “nor Nato”, while a Derry version, below, reads “nor quisling”.

The Derry mural in the background is The Runner, part of The People’s Gallery.