Brief Overview
A. There are 11 main Visual History pages. These present a history of wall-paintings in Northern Ireland/north-east Ireland from 1900 to the present.
Visual History 01 covers early PUL [Protestant-Unionist-Loyalist] muraling
Visual History 02 covers early CNR [Catholic-Nationalist-Republican] muraling.
By “early” we mean up to (roughly) 1981. Even though the period commonly known as “The Troubles” begins in 1969, we use 1981 as a dividing line because it is in 1981 that a new and dramatic wave of CNR muraling began.
In the appendices to Visual History 01 and 02 we are attempting to gather complete lists of early PUL (Visual History 01) and early CNR (Visual History 02) murals. If you know of any not included, please get in touch.
Visual Histories 03, 04, 05, and 06 cover the period from 1981 (the hunger strikes) to 1994 (the ceasefire).
Further Histories then cover the post-Troubles or post-ceasefire period: 07, 08, and 09 cover (roughly) the years 1994 to 2003, in which CNR and PUL communities press their claims before and after the Agreement.
10 and 11 cover the period from 2003 to the present, adding the state as a third source of wall paintings and boards and street artists as a fourth.
B. There are also a number of pages on specific …
- locations (such as Free Derry Corner),
- themes (such as International Solidarity),
- icons (such as Bobby Sands or Eddie The Head),
- and painters (such as Bobby Jackson, Alan Skillen, or Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly).
These are included in the list below just after the chronological Visual History page where they are first mentioned.
Comments and corrections are greatly appreciated, to extramuralactivity at gmail.com
List Of Pages
The “Oldest” Murals – An overview of the “oldest” murals in a variety of senses including first painted (by each sect) and longest-lasting (with and without repainting).
Visual History 01 – The Protestant Ascendancy – Early PUL muraling.
- The Jackson Murals – in Londonderry’s Fountain area (PUL)
- The “Rockland Street” King Billy – in south Belfast’s Village area (PUL)
Visual History 02 – The Catholic Insurgency – Early CNR muraling.
- Free Derry Corner – first painted in 1969 in Derry’s Bogside (CNR); see also Free Derry Corner – Rear
Visual History 03 – The Prison Protests (1981)
- Beechmount/Falls Corner in CNR west Belfast – the most-often-painted wall (apart from Free Derry Corner)
- Women In Murals And Muraling
- Cú Chulaınn In Murals
Visual History 04 – Paramilitary Murals (1981-1982)
- The 1981 CNR Murals – Both ‘prison protests’ and ‘paramilitary’
Visual History 05 – (1983-1988)
- Free Derry Corner – Rear – first used in 1983 (CNR)
- The Alan Skillen Murals – in Percy Place, Belfast, 1984 (PUL)
- International Solidarity (CNR)
- Electoral Murals (CNR)
- Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly – separate web site with autobiography, catalogue, and images from Mo Chara’s life (CNR)
- The Influence Of Jim Fitzpatrick – the iconic Che Guevara poster and detailed Celtic imagery (CNR)
Visual History 06 – (1988-1993)
- Bobby Sands (Sevastopol Street) – Falls Road, CNR west Belfast
- The People’s Gallery – Bogside, Derry (CNR)
Visual History 07 – Ceasefire (1994-1996)
- “Hawks” & Doves – Tracks the replacement of the phoenix and lark by the dove during the peace process (CNR)
- The Great Hunger or “famine” in murals (CNR)
- Eddie The Trooper – A collection of the known images of Iron Maiden’s ‘Eddie The Head’ in the guise of a British Red Coat from the Crimean War (PUL)
Visual History 08 – The Peace Process (1996-2001)
- The International Wall on Divis Street, which marks the entrance to CNR west Belfast
- Ulster-Scots Murals (PUL) from 1999 onward
- Walter Paget’s The Birth Of The Irish Republic (CNR)
Visual History 09 – Winning The Peace (2001-2003)
- Map of the Hunger Strikers on the New Lodge flats (CNR)
- Adair-Era Murals In Lower Shankill (PUL)
- Ballymurphy Mural Project (CNR)
Visual History 10 – Re-Imaging (2003-2009)
- State Art Vs. Graffiti On The West Belfast “Peace” Line
- The Andytown RUC Barracks (CNR)
- Northumberland Street – an extension of the International Wall (CNR)
- Mountpottinger Road – in Short Strand, east Belfast (CNR)
- Slıabh Dubh/Black Mountain – the lettering on the mountain by Gael Force Art (CNR)
Visual History 11 – The Rise Of Street Art (2009-present)
- Belfast Canvas Project (Painted Utility Boxes) (2019-)
- Belfast Entries Project (Art In The Alleyways) (2020-)
Some images appear in the pages listed above as “unattributed”, where it was not possible to ascertain the ownership and copyright status of an image that was found on the internet. To assert ownership of an image, and have it removed or attribution added, please contact extramuralactivty at gmail dot com.
Extramural Activity 