Belfast west

Frizzell’s

Extramural Activity1 Comment

“This tablet marks the site of Frizzel[l]’s Fish shop, where at 1:05 p.m. on Saturday 23rd October 1993 a terrorist bomb exploded. 9 innocent souls lost their lives and many more were injured.”

The Shankill UDA and LPA had their headquarters October 23rd above Frizzell’s (here “Frizzel’s”) fishmongers on the Shankill Road. The meeting whose attendees were the intended target had ended early and the bomb exploded prematurely, killing nine people, including the owner and three members of his family, and one of the IRA bombers (elsewhere memorialized by a plaque in Ardoyne), and injuring 57 others.

See also: Shankill Atrocities which (in one of its panels) reproduces the scene after the bombing.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Fáılte Go Dtí West Belfast

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“Welcome to west Belfast”. West Belfast is portrayed as a place of music, sport, and dancing, whose landmark buildings and streets are under the watchful eye (and sword) of the goddess Érıu.

The image of the little boy with the “I [heart] Belfast” stickers and a bag of sweets, standing in the waste ground of Divis flats, is a photograph from the early days of Féıle An Phobaıl/West Belfast Festival. 

On the Divis Street side, characters in the style of cartoonist Cormac (see e.g. Notes) are “Promoting west Belfast tourism” for “Fáılte Feırste Thıar”, “www.visitwestbelfast.com“. The attractions touted are: “Bop at the August “fleadh”. “Craıc agus ceol” (for Robert Ballagh’s dove coming out of the concrete block, see Féile An Phobail 2008), “The only thing you have here is “choice”. Tar ısteach agus (lıg do scíth)”. “Baın sult as. Tá mé ag éısteacht le Raıdıó Fáilte 107.1 FM”, “For more ideas on things to do, visit Oıfıg Fáılte at An Chultúrlann. There’s really nice food there too! at Caıfe Feırste”, “If it’s history you want go on a cemetery tour “City or Milltown””, “Enjoy a walk on ‘Slıabh Dubh’ (The black … … mountain)”, “Make sure you visit the “Irish republican history museum” at Conway Mill” (with ‘Long Kesh University Of Freedom’ sweater; “Sinn Féin touts” is not a sweater but graffiti.)

Some in-progress shots from May and July can be seen in the Seosamh Mac Coılle collection.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Peace With Justice

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The ten deceased 1981 hunger strikers were preceded in the 1970s by two prisoners who died in English prisons: Michael Gaughan (d. 1974 WP) and Frank Stagg (1976 WP). The larger of the two quotations here is from Stagg: I want my memorial to be peace with justice. The protesters on the left date back to a 1981 poster which was used on the first mural – for both, see I’ll Wear No Convict’s Uniform. The proclamation and the Tricolour lie on the grass.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Maghaberry Concentration Camp

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“End forced strip searches, end internment [at] Maghaberry concentration camp”. Republican prisoners are held in the Roe House at Maghaberry. Several republican prisoners (as many as five) are conducting a “dirty protest” in response to conditions and treatment, including integration with loyalist prisoners (Irish Echo | BBC). The green ribbon as an emblem goes back to the campaign after the ceasefire to release POWs – here is a mural from 1995.

Divis Street, on the “International” wall.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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St James’s Support The Hunger Strikers

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This is a late-life shot of the mural at the corner of Hugo Street. There are now two windows in the mural, graffiti has been blacked out across the lower third, and the mural on the side wall (to the left of image) has gone completely.

You can track its history to this point by comparing this image with those from 2006 | 2002 | 2001.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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I’m Not A Criminal

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“Vol. Kieran Nugent – the first blanketman. ‘I’m not a criminal – the Brits will have to nail prison clothes to my back.'”

This mural was originally launched in February surrounded by a selection of posters from the era (see The First Blanketman and for close-ups see the post at Extramural). These have all now been stripped away and the red background (which was present for the previous mural – see Ciarán Nugent) has been repainted.

Rockville Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Uachtarán Na nDaoıne

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Sınn Féın hoardings in Andersonstown, first at the former Andersonstown RUC barracks supporting Martin McGuinness as Sınn Féın candidate for “The people’s president” and then two at Connolly House, again supporting McGuinness and announcing the (now passed) Sınn Féın Ard Fheıs: ı dtreo poblacht nua – towards a new republic.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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