While the demolition of the last house in the row is under way, the pair of boards on the gable wall (seen in 2012) has been mounted on some scaffolding, with their order reversed – Covenant Day on the left, Somme trench on the right.
Also included is a “Smash Sinn Fein IRA” stencil in the area.
A board to slain UVF/RHC members John Hanna (died 1991-09-10), Stevie McCrea (1989-02-18) and Sammy Mehaffy (1991-11-13), with poppies and image of WWI soldiers.
“Remembering our brother’s lost lives and the human cost of conflict, the legacy of lost hopes and dreams. We come not to mourn but to praise their memory. We keep the memory of the brave, the faithful and the few, some lie far off beyond the waves, some sleep in Ulster too. All are gone but still live on the names of those who died, and true men like you, remember them with pride.”
“36th ulster division, for they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”
“Shankill Star [flute band Fb] in memory of Brian Robinson”. A brand new piece (unveiled March 2, 2013) to Brian Robinson and/sponsored by the Shankill Star Flute Band, in Disraeli Street – where Robinson grew up – replete with images from the first World War such as soldiers (both British and German), trenches and poppies. Robinson was killed on 2 Sept., 1989 by an army undercover unit moments after he had shot and killed a Catholic named Patrick McKenna (WP). This is the second mural on the street to Robinson – see M08248. The piece is not paint, but printed boards, and the image has been generated by computer.
A mural from 1st Shankill Somme association (Fb) commemorating the Battle of the Somme, with soldiers running through no-man’s land and the Ulster Tower memorial. With support from the Govan Somme Association, Grapes Bar, Glasgow.
“In memory of the men of Downpatrick who gave their lives for others in the Great War 1914-1918.” The plaque in the wall (to the right) is to “Pte JJ Cochrane, 3rd Btn Co Down UDR”.
Lamentations for the “killed, wounded, missing” among “the west Belfast volunteers who formed in this area”, verse 1:16 in English on the right pillar commemorating the 36th (Ulster) Division – “For these things do I weep/My eyes flow with tears” – and in Irish on the damaged left pillar commemorating the 10th & 16th Irish Divisions – “Seo iad cúis mo chaointe/No [Na?] deora le mo shuile” (the 1981 Bíobla Naofa translation is “Sin an fáth a mbím ag caoi/Agus ag sileadh na súl go fuíoch”).
“‘Remember us who gave our silent dreams within the noise of battle’s thunder/Remember us who have our hopes on golden fields once truly filled with wonder/Remember us who near Thiepval Wood because we could gave our lives own future/Remember us who at eternity’s edge are new born this day between thoughts of sacrifice and loss/Remember us, remember us’ – James Logan, Somme, July 1916”
A tribute to the 4th and 9th battalions of the Royal Irish Rifles “1912-2002 – 90th anniversary” (with the 36th Division emblem in the middle) and (on the right) “S company 1969-1974”. 1974 is the year C company, 1st battalion (west Belfast) UVF was formed.
Here are images from the four panels that comprise the WWI memorial in Mount Vernon, showing men attacking (Thiepval?) wood, the battlefields around Messines, a soldier approaching a church with a spire, and back-to-back memorials to John Condon, the Waterford [city] “boy soldier”, who died aged 14 in a gas attack – “his memory is kept alive as a symbol of the futility of war” – and William McFadzean, who won a VC for throwing himself on a dislodged box of hand grenades.
At this time (2012) the boards on the outside wall had been taken down. They would later be restored – see X06017, which also has the reverse of one the panels.
The mural in the Mount Vernon/Tigers Bay memorial garden remains the same as before (seen previously in 2006) but there is a brick surrounding wall with a plaque on the gatepost to five members – Shaw, Frame, Irvine, Caldwell, Rice, Quail – of the 3rd Belfast Battalion, Ulster Volunteer Force. “We salute also, all volunteers at home and on the mainland who served with dignity and pride.”