Union Flag

Freedom – Democracy

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“Britannia is a female figure, usually but not always seated, wearing a helmet, and carrying a shield and trident, who is intended to be the personification of Britain. The Britannia with which we are familiar has evolved since the 17th century. Britannia axquired her trident in 1797 to symbolise British naval superiority. The panel depicts the United Kingdom and her allies fighting for freedom and democracy. The panel also highlights the composition of the Union flag, made up of. Cross of St George. Saltire of St Andrew. Cross of St Patrick. Other examples of the usage of the Cross of St Patrick include, the arms of the Queen’s University of Belfast.”

One of fourteen panels in Thorndyke Street, east Belfast. For a list of entries for each panel, see East Belfast Historical And Cultural Society.

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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02311 M03625

Lt Jackie Coulter

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UDA lieutenant Jackie Coulter was killed, along with Bobby Mahood, as part of the UVF-UDA feud of 2000. The earliest date we have for this mural is 2001, which would mean that it was painted separately from the Johnny Adair C Coy murals of 2000 and 2002.

Shankill Parade, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02477

Welcome To Loyalist Cluan Place

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Cluan Place is a single street of 25 houses in east Belfast, hemmed in by the shops on the Albertbridge Road and by a “peace” line separating it from the (nationalist) Short Strand. Tensions between the two areas were particularly high in the early 2000s – see this Guardian article from 2002.

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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02289

Slán Abhaıle

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By 2002, the “Time for peace, time to go” mural in Beechfield Street, Belfast, painted in 1997, was beginning to show its age. The image is based on a photograph of British forces in the Falklands.

The image was also produced in Ardoyne (north Belfast), above the Sınn Féın offices/Sıopa Na hEalaíne (west Belfast), on Free Derry Corner, in Shantallow (Derry), and in Letterkenny.

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Copyright © 2002 Peter Moloney
M01691

Vita, Veritas, Victa

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South Belfast MP Robert Bradford was assassinated by the Provisional IRA in Finaghy at a meeting with constituents; the caretaker of the community centre, Ken Campbell, was also killed by the fleeing attackers. In late 1981, with the hunger strikes having ended only a month before, the killing was noted around the world and raised fears of broad civil unrest (BBC | NYTimes).

“Vita, veritas, Victoria” [life, truth, victory] is the motto of Londonderry. Here we have “vita, veritas, victa” [life, truth, conquered; perhaps the intended meaning was “conquering” rather than the passive]. The crest is also not quite the crest of the Apprentice Boys, with a ship in the bottom right rather than a skeleton. Get in touch if you can resolve either discrepancy.

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Copyright © 2001 Peter Moloney
M01525

The Dark Days

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Paint-bombed mural to members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Belfast Brigade, in the 36th (Ulster) Division, with (anachronistic) Ulster Banner and Union Flag: “they arose in the dark days to defend our native land for God and Ulster”, “And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee, though shalt smite them and utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no covenant with them nor show mercy unto them – Deuteronomy 7 verse 2”.

Blythe Street, Sandy Row, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2001 Peter Moloney
M01515