“”In my country we go to prison first and then become President” – Madiba, Nelson Mandela, freedom lover, friend of Ireland.” The ailing Nelson Mandela’s turns 95 on July 18th, 2013 and to celebrate a new mural has been painted on Northumberland Street, Belfast, by Lucas Quigley (you can see a signature and a telephone number in the lower right). The mural features Mandela, the flags of Ireland and South Africa, and the Sınn Féın logo.
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.
“Interned by Britain, facilitated by Stormont.” Marian Price was released on May 39th, 2013 (BBC) but it took a while for some IRPWA (web) placards to come down. The first is in Lone Moor Road, Derry. The second – “Support the republican POWs on protest in Maghaberry” – is in Eastway, Derry and was later vandalised (see M09535). The third is in Brompton Park, Ardoyne, Belfast.
Robert Dougan was commander of the UDA South Belfast Brigade and lived the Oranmore Drive (BelTel). He was killed by the IRA on February 10th, 1998 while sitting in a car outside Balmoral Textiles in Dunmurry, which led to a month-long expulsion of Sinn Féin from the talks (L.A. Times); two months later the Good Friday Agreement was signed. There had been attempts on his life in 1993 and 1994 (Irish Times).
Here are various walls supporting Stephen Murney, an éırígí (web) activist currently in prison since December 2012 on terrorism charges (BBC-NI).
The first is in Hugo Street, to which an éırígí star was later added; the second (from March) is on Divis Street; the third, next to the outstretched arms of Jim Larkin, is under the advertising hoarding in Northumberland Street – in November, Larkin and the banner were replaced with the stencils in the two following images. The final image is from the Andersonstown Road.
“Damn your concessions England, we want our country.” Board to Seán Mac Dıarmada in Ardoyne, detailing his exploits leading up to and including the 1916 uprising and his earlier connection with the local area. “Seán lived at 106 Butler Street, Ardoyne in 1906-08.”
“In Memory of the Belfast men who fought against fascism with the international brigade, Spanish civil war 1936 – 1939.” The colours of the international brigade (red, yellow and purple – here a lighter violet colour) serve as a background.
The board shows Belfast socialists walking at Bodenstown, 1934 as part of the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration, held each year in June. Tone, an Anglican and the founder of the United Irishmen, is buried in the Bodenstown graveyard. Sources report, however, that there was an attempt to exclude these marchers, from “Shankill Rd Belfast Branch”, from part of the 1934 commemoration. The reasons given vary: they were carrying a non-standard banner, they had communist leanings, and, they were Protestants. (See Paddy Byrne | WP – though a different banner is mentioned | WP – see “legacy” section | WP – see fn. 1).
The plaque to the right reads: “In memory of all those who fought in Spain against Fascism 1936-1939. This mural was erected by Teach na Fáilte Republican Ex-Prisoners Support Group and Belfast City Council. It was unveiled on April 20th, 2013. Signed “[Fra] Maher 2013”. Northumberland St.
“Rot in hell T[h]atcher scum” and “Rot in hell Maggie Thatcher”. Margaret Thatcher, former UK Prime Minister, died on April 8th. These pieces of graffiti are in west and north Belfast; for Derry, see Thatcher’s Dead.
Beechmount Avenue; McQuillan Street; Leeson Street; N Queen Street.
The Clowney Street phoenix, originally painted in 1981, is repainted – for a history, see The Oldest Murals.
Above, the board at the centre of the mosaics has changed, from an image of blanketmen to a montage of photographs “commemorating the courage and sacrifice of the hunger strikers”.
In addition to the seven signatories of the Proclamation of an Irish Republic, nine other leaders of the Easter Rising were executed in the wake of the rebellion. The portraits of all 16 are part of this new mural (on boards) of Walter Paget’s painting The Birth Of The Irish Republic. (For Paget’s painting, see the painting’s Visual History page.) In order of appearance, the 16 (with links to their WP pages) are …
Peter Moloney Collection 