Belfast

Victoria Crosses Of The 36th (Ulster) Division

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Nine Victoria Cross recipients from the 36th (Ulster) Division in World War I are honoured in this board on the Shankill at the Co-Op (which was previously across the road in Crimea Street). The nine are (from 1917 and 1918) E[dmund] De Wind, E[rnest] Seaman, C[ecil] L[eonard] Knox, N[orman] Harvey, (from 1916) G[eoffrey] St. G[eorge] S[hillington] Cather, W[illiam] F[rederick] MacFadzean, E[ric] N[orman] F[rankland] Bell, R[obert] Quigg, and J[ames] S[amuel] Emerson. “Only by remembering these men, and others like them, can we ever repay their memory.” The poem In Flanders’ Fields is by Canadian John McCrea.

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Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04281 [M04278] [M04279] [M04280]

Shankill Atrocities

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“30 years of indiscriminate slaughter by so-called non-sectarian Irish freedom fighters. No military targets! No economic targets! No legitimate targets! Where are our inquiries? Where is our truth? Where is our justice?” The bombings listed are: Fourstep Inn, bombed 29th Sept. 1971, 2 innocents killed; Bayardo Bar, bombed 13th August 1975, 5 innocents killed; Balmoral Showroom, bombed 11th December 1971, 2 adults and 2 babies killed; Mountainview Tavern, bombed 5th April 1975, 5 innocents killed; Frizzell’s Fish Shop, bombed 23rd October 1993, 9 innocents killed. The plaque to the right (“donated by the Kinner family”) gives the names of those killed. It was previously beside the painted version of this mural in Bellevue Street.

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Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
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Sleeping Where No Shadows Fall

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“In loving memory of military commander Stevie ‘Top Gun’ McKeag, born 1970, died 2000. Sleeping where no shadows fall.” The plaques and the photograph in the centre are new (see previously 2007). The upper plaque [M04257] reads “This mural is dedicated to the memory of Stevie (Top Gun) McKeag from the officers & members of C Company 2nd Battalion UFF. Gone but not forgotten. Quis separabit.” The lower plaque [M04256] reads “In loving memory of our big brother Steven McKeag from jackie, Mary & Melissa. Simply the best.”

Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, Belfast

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Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04259 [M04258]

Rising Sons Flute Band

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“Rising Sons Flute Band (Fb) East Belfast 1985″ with the emblem of the Red Hand Commando on either side, flanking the insignia of the 36th (Ulster) Division, Ulster Volunteers, Royal Irish Rifles, UDR, and B-Specials (Ulster Special Constabulary). “Their name liveth forever more.” Seen in progress in 2005.

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Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04046 [M04042] [M04043] [M04044] [M04045]

Glentoran Community Trust

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Glentoran Community Trust (web) is a supporters trust (i.e. an outreach organisation from the club to the community) formalised in 2006. This mural celebrates the 125th anniversary of the club and highlights from its past, starting with the 1914 Vienna Cup (GFC). On the right of the mural, the Detroit Cougars were a locally-branded Glentoran team participating in a short-lived USA league playing during the summer (BelTel). The “proudest moment” (centre bottom) is the 1973-1974 Cup Winners’ Cup, in which Glentoran got through two rounds to reach the quarter finals (where they lost to Borussia Mönchengladbach). Famous players from the past are featured below the advertising hoarding, including Danny Blanchflower who began his career at Glentoran (WP).

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Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04041

Shipyard Workers

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The Harland & Wolff shipyard is on Queen’s Island, a piece of land formed when the channel into Belfast was expanded. Workers would walk from east Belfast to the shipyard. This is the scene in (modern-day) Armitage Close/Harkness Parade in east Belfast, with a mural of turn-of-the-century shipyard workers by John Johnston, drawing inspiration from William Conor’s Shipyard Workers Crossing Queen’s Bridge and Over The Bridge.

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Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04040 M03039