Belfast east

Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

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The Ballybeen memorial garden contains stones/plaques to 36th (Ulster) Division (WWI), Ballybeen Red Hand Commando, Dundonald UVF, East Belfast UVF, East Belfast Red Hand Commando.

UVF: “This memorial is dedicated to all the brave men who lost their lives fighting militant republicanism. Their courage and sacrifice will be remembered for evermore. ‘At the going down of the sun/And in the morning/We will remember them’ For God and Ulster.”

RHC: “This memorial is dedicated to the memory of the brave men who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. We will remember them. ‘Glorious on the graves of heroes/Kindly upon all those who have suffered for the cause/Thus will shine the dawn.’ [Winston Churchill, radio broadcast on October 21, 1940, entitled Dieu Protège La France.] ‘They gave their tomorrow for our today.’ [John Maxwell Edmonds’s memorial epitaph] Lahm [sic] derg [sic] abu [sic]. Lest we forget. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” (Wilfred Owen)

Davarr Avenue, Ballybeen.

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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Daffodil Nation

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“The Ulster conflict is about nationality. This we shall maintain” with the red hand for “Ulster”, the thistle for Scotland, the Union Flag for the UK, the rose for England, and – new to this version of the mural – the daffodil for Wales. For the previous version of the mural, which uses the dragon for Wales, see M02376.

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
M10412

Freedom Must Be Demanded By The Oppressed

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Hooded gunmen return to Sydenham, in east Belfast. The George Best mural that had “re-imaged” a UVF emblem has now (controversially – BBC | Guardian | U.tv video | Slugger) been replaced by an armed gunman.

The quote on the right – “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed” – comes from the section of Martin Luther King’s Letter From A Birmingham Jail in which he considers the merits of civil disobedience or direct action.

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
M10398 [M10399] [M10400] [M10401] [M10402]

UVF Bonfire

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The quotation marks suggest that this is commentary on the coverage of the Avoniel bonfire (Extramural Activity | BBC) (and in the larger context of the “flag protest” rioting of winter 2012-2013 (WP) and July 2013 (WP)).

This graffiti on the back of a derelict building in Beersbridge Road (as seen from Ravendale Street, at the junction with Clara Street).

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
M10281

The Sacrifice Remains The Same

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“Time changes! But the sacrifice remains the same.” Pictured is a board in Ogilvie Street in east Belfast, sponsored by the EU and the Cosy Somme Association, showing, in black and white, a WWI soldier, who is comforting another solider, in modern gear and in colour. The emblems of the 36th (Ulster) division and Royal Irish Rifles are also shown.

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
M10284

Remember The La Mon Bombing

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“Remember the La Mon bombing – 13 protestants killed for what??? Sinn Fein/Sinn Fien vote!” The La Mon hotel and restaurant, outside Belfast, was filled with civilians enjoying dinner-dances at the time it was bombed by the IRA in February 1978 (WP).

Ravenhill Avenue and Clara Street. There was identical graffito in Carrington Street.

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
M10283 M10280

We Shall Never Surrender

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A message from “E.B. [east Belfast] Loyalists” in Castlereagh Parade, combining two speeches of Winston Churchill’s: We have nothing to offer but blood, tears, and sweat. Whatever the cost maybe, we shall fight on the beach’es, we shall fight in the fields and on the street’s. We shall never surrender.”

1940-05-13: “I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask: What is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us, to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime.”

1940-06-04: “We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. ”

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
M10282

Time For Peace

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A three-stone memorial to army soldiers in Tullycarnet, featuring a line from the gospel of John (“Greater love has no-one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” 15:13) and a song by Randall Wallace for the 2002  movie We Were Soldiers called ‘The Mansions of the Lord’: To fallen soldiers let us sing, where no rockets fly nor bullets wing, our broken brothers let us bring, to the mansions of the Lord. No more weeping, no more fight, no prayers pleading through the night, just divine embrace, eternal light, in the mansions of the Lord. Where no mothers cry and no children weep, we will stand and guard though the angels sleep, Oh through the ages safely keep, the mansions of the Lord.”

By Ross Wilson with support from the International Fund For Ireland (IFI)

The garden of reflection is in front of a mural reading “Time for peace. Invest in kids … not war!”. The image of a boy playing with a ball against a wall is based on a 1994 photograph by Crispin Rodwell. The slogan in the photograph, originally, was “Time for peace; time to go” but for publication, as here, the second part was cropped out.

King’s Road, Tullycarnet

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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