Flyers flutter among the watch towers of Long Kesh/Maze/H-Blocks reading “Victory to the blanketmen”, “Support the hunger strike”, Political status now”.
The area known as the Pound Loney (Pound Lane; the area north and west of Inst, modern-day Divis and lower Millfield areas) is featured in a long mural in Durham Street, Belfast. It features many of the place-names, landmarks, and personalities of yesteryear, including the Arcadian cinema on Albert Street – left of centre. Also featured are the Divis tower block, the Blessed Virgin mural, Barney’s mill, McGahan’s pub, Saint Peter’s, and the mural on the Morning Star hostel. The streets include Barrack St, Galway St, Cullingtree Rd, Scotch St, Christian Place, Derby St, Castle St, Pound St, Nail St, Currie St, Albert St, Brook St, Jude St, Hamill St, Divis St, Milford St and Massereene (Row or Path or Walk) in Divis flats. If you can identify any of the characters in the mural, please leave a comment.
“Cur stad le cıníochas” [“put an end to racism”] – This WARN (West Against Racism Network) mural puts anti-Irish sentiment (in London 1966 – “No blacks, no dogs, no Irish“) in parallel with racism against modern-day immigrants to Belfast.
Wolfe Tone is buried in Bodenstown graveyard, Co Kildare, and every year republicans make a pilgrimage there to commemorate his role in the United Irishmen’s 1798 Rebellion and the beginning of Irish nationalism. In 1972, the address was given by Máıre Drumm, vice-president of Sınn Féın, a position she held until she was assassinated in the Mater Hospital by the Red Hand Commando in October 1976.
“Ní síocháın gan saoırse … thinker and doer, dreamer of the immortal dram and doer of the immortal deed. We owe to this dead man more than we can ever repay him. To his teaching we owe it that there is such a thing as Irish nationalism. And to the memory of the deed he nerved his generation to do. To the memory of 1798 we owe it that there is any manhood left in Ireland …”
The Colombia 3 (see Bring Them Home) fled Colombia and returned to Ireland in December 2004, hence the “on tour 2005” addition to this Lake Street, Lurgan, graffiti.