Gaeilge

Staılc Ocraıs

Extramural Activity2 Comments

Twelve hunger strikers prior to the 1981 strike are included in this Shaws Road board: on the left: Thomas Ashe, Mountjoy 1917; Michael Fitzgerald, Cork 1920; Terence McSwiney, Brixton 1920; Joseph Murphy, Cork 1920; Joseph Witty, Curragh 1923; Denis Barry, Newbridge 1923; Andrew Sullivan, Newbridge 1923; Tony D’Arcy, Arbour Hill 1940; Jack McNeela, Arbour Hill 1940; Seán McCaughey, Portlaoise 1946; Michael Gaughan, Parkhurst 1974; plus on the right: Frank Stagg, Wakefield 1976.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04541

Caoımhín Mac Brádaıgh

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Óglach Coımhín Mac Brádaıgh a fuaır bás agus é ag cosaınt a phobaıl.” [Volunteer Coımhín Mac Brádaıgh, who died while defending his people.] Mac Brádaıgh was killed pursuing loyalist gunman Michael Stone, who was attacking the funeral of the Gibraltar 3, in Milltown Cemetery, on March 16th, 1988, twenty years before the board above was erected on the Andersonstown Road.

The board was previously hung on the main Andersonstown Road: M04031 and X05026 but is shown here in South Link, on top of the Sinn Féin centenary mural.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04503

Féıle An Phobaıl 2008

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Féıle An Phobaıl, 1988-2008 fıche blıaın/20 years. Fáılte go dtí West Belfast. Join in and enjoy the craic. Adh mór [good luck] Sat 2nd Aug – Sun 10th Aug”. A Robert Ballagh illustration of a dove-shaped lily emerging from a border bollard, done originally for Féıle in 1993. Rockdale Street, Belfast.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04492

Pat Finucane

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Targeted by British Establishment; Executed by Loyalist killer gang.” Solicitor and “human rights activist” Pat Finucane was shot in 1989 at his home in north Belfast by loyalist paramilitaries aided by MI5. Collusion in the killing was admitted in 2011 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron. Ten years after Finucane’s death, Rosemary Nelson was also assassinated. “If you don’t defend human rights lawyers, who will defend human rights? – Rosemary Nelson”. The plaque was “unveiled by his family Sunday 11th February 2007”.

The board in Beechmount Drive was originally black.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04489 M04490

Santa Is A British Agent

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Above: “Cáısc [Easter] 1916”, dating back to at least 1990. Below: “Santa is a British agent” (perhaps because of spying concerns or perhaps because of the blizzard that dropped 15 cm of snow in early January, 2008 – get in touch if you know what prompted this graffiti) with “Join Sınn Féın” stencils underneath.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04486

Acht Na Gaeılge TÉ

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Campaigning for an Irish Language Act, begun with the Belfast Agreement (see the 2002 mural in this location which calls for “language rights”) and reinforced by the St Andrew’s Agreement in 2006, continues. “The Irish Language Act NI – needed more now than ever before.” “Acht na Gaeılge T[uaıscaırt] É[ıreann] – de dhíth níos mó anoıs ná rıamh roımhe!” Pobal is a non-profit community development organisation and umbrella group for Irish-language efforts.

Brighton Street, west Belfast

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04480

Beechmount Óglaıgh

Extramural Activity1 Comment

The memorial garden in Beechmount Avenue, Belfast, goes beyond commemoration of IRA volunteers. Moving clockwise: dying volunteer, “local men and women and POWs”, hunger strikers, comhaltaí Shınn Féın, proclamation, na hÓglaıgh, “innocent people from the area”, “the unsung heroes off [sic] this area”, Sands quote.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
M04423 M04425 [M04426] M04424 [M04427] [M04428] [M04422] [M04429] [M04421] M04414 M04420 M04418 [M04419] M04416 [M04417] M04415