Ballymena

Female Guardians

Extramural Activity1 Comment

This pair of images — “Deserted! Well – I can stand alone” from the anti-Home Rule campaign that continued during WWI and the other a more contemporary scene of “a protestant farmer’s wife guard[ing] her husband against sectarian attack from across the border” — was previously painted in (what remains of) Moscow Street, next to the Rex bar on the Shankill. (See X00066. See also M00558 lower Shankill | M00621 east Belfast | M02302 east Belfast). The plaque on the right was not originally part of the mural (see J2395) and the mural would later be modified by the removal of the Orange Order and St Andrew’s flags (but not the UVF emblem), replaced by a shamrock-strewn banner reading “Fight To A Finish” (M08026).

Drumtara, Ballymena

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
M03578

Ballee Blues And Royals Flute Band

Extramural Activity4 Comments

“Ballee Blues And Royals Flute Band, est. 1987” with a list of the Apprentice Boys (on the left) and (on the right) seven streets in the area (Drumtara, Lettercreeve, Kincora, Shanowen, Shancoole, Shanlieve, Lanntara) and the six counties of Northern Ireland. The emblem in the centre is the arm badge of the Blues & Royals (the British Army regiment), featuring the (French) Waterloo Eagle – here carrying a flute. The band does not appear to have persisted past 2012 has since changed its name – see comment below.

Drumtara, Ballymena

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
M03577

Fame’s Eternal Camping Ground

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“On fame’s Eternal camping ground, the silent tents are spread, and glory keeps the solemn round, the bivouac of the dead.” Theodore O’Hara’s 1847 poem in memory of Kentucky soldiers who died in the Mexican War is use to commemorate “our brave fallen volunteers of the 36th (Ulster) Division, North Antrim Battalion (Ballymena).”

Drumtara, Ballymena

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
M03575