Gaeilge

Tom Williams

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“In loving memory of Vol. Tom Williams “C. Coy” 2nd Battalion Belfast Brigade IRA who lived here [46 Bombay Street, where Williams lived with his grandmother Fay] and was executed in Belfast Gaol [Crumlin Road] 2nd Sept 1942, aged 19 years. Ar dheıs Dé go ra[ı]bh a anam. Erected by National Graves Association, Belfast 1992.”

Williams, the unit’s leader, took sole responsibility for the killing of RUC Constable Patrick Murphy, hoping that it would save the lives of the other seven (including two women) who had taken part in the ambush. The six men were jointly convicted of the killing but only Williams was ultimately hanged, after appeals from Ireland (not yet officially ‘The Republic Of’), the Vatican, and the US State Department (RN).

There is a portrait of Williams at the bottom of Clonard Street, and a mural in Kashmir Street in the 1990s.

Bombay Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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The Spirit Of Freedom

Extramural Activity3 Comments

There are a couple of interesting elements in this 30th anniversary hunger strikers mural in the Bogside. The frame is formed by chains (as seen previously on the Bobby Sands mural in Belfast) rather than knot-work, the names of Frank Stagg and Michael Gaughan are mixed into the list (rather than appearing together at the beginning or end), both the lark and the dove are included, and – most unusual and possibly unique – is the Irish translation of Bobby Sands’s saying “Our revenge will be the laughter of our children”: Baınfear ár ndíoltas amach leıs an gháıre dár bpáıstí. (And, as a super-extra bonus, the Irish has been – correctly – painted without tittles.)

“Derry remembers 1980-1981 hunger strikes. Re-dedication of mural 20th August 2011 on the 30th anniversary of Óglach Mickey Devine.”

Westland Street, Bogside, Derry

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Ar Aghaıdh Lınn

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Cú Chulaınn stands dying. In addition to the four provinces in the corners, the four colours of man can be seen in the apex (as a background to Ireland). Tuan the hawk historian, who has seen all of the conquests of Ireland, flies overhead. (Both Tuan and the four colours are familiars of Mo Chara Kelly.)

“Ar aghaıdh lınn” [Onward! or Let’s go!]

Glenbawn Avenue, Belfast

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Fáılte Go Gleann Bán

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A red-headed lass with a horn stands watch for others at a mass rock – a stone in a remote location for Catholic worship, made necessary by a Penal law of 1695 which forbade the religious practice of Catholicism and “dissenter” forms of Protestantism (that is, anything other than Anglicism) (source). The harp, with a “cap of liberty” rather than a crown (WP), together the slogan “Equality – It is new strung and it shall be heard” is the emblem of the Society of United Irishmen (WP). On the other side of the mural linen lies in the fields bleaching and a farmer and wife plough the land with a team of horses and distribute seed.

Glenbawn Avenue, Belfast

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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No More

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A boy — Dylan Wilson from east Belfast, grandson of loyalist community worker Jim Wilson —shakes hands with a girl – Dearbhla Ward, granddaughter of Short Strand Sinn Fein councillor Joe O’Donnell (sources: Al Jazeera | NewsLetter | The Scotsman). The centre was left for locals to make their mark on.

A gable-wall version of this image — without the word “síocháın” (peace), with the girl in green, and with Wilson’s poem ‘No More’ — can be found about half a mile away in Wolfe Close/Kenilworth Place, just across the Newtownards Road. See No More. This mural was part of the re-imaging effort of 2010.

No more bombing, no more murder
No more killing of our sons
No more standing at the grave side
Having to bury our loved onesNo more waking up every hour
Hoping our children, they come home
No more maimed or wounded people
Who have suffered all aloneNo more minutes to leave a building
No more fear of just parked cars
No more looking over our shoulders
No more killing in our barsNo more hatred from our children
No more. No more. No more!

By Dee Craig in Edgar Street, Short Strand, east Belfast

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Prisoners & Ex-Prisoners

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Facing each other in the Brompton Park entrance to Ard Eoın: “Support the prisoners – restore political status now!” from post-peace republicanism, and Cumann na n-Iarchımí Poblachtacha/Republican Ex-Prisoners Association (along with SNAP – Safer Neighbourhood Ardoyne Project – and Glór An Tuaıscırt/Voice Of The North) representing the pre-peace volunteers.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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State-Sponsored Killings

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“This mural is dedicated to the memory of those killed and maimed by rubber & plastic bullets fired by the police & British Army. Not one member of the security forces ever served a day in jail for the deaths, many of them children, despite the courts ruling on the innocence of the victims. Plastic bullets are still being used on the streets of the north of Ireland today.”

There were initially nine panels (of 15 victims each) but as the wide shot above shows, six more have now been added, so that the memorial to seventeen people killed by rubber or plastic bullets since 1970 is at the centre of 15 panels of portraits, in a wall “dedicated to the families who have fought and are still fighting for truth and justice for their loved ones. It is also dedicated to all those who have died as a result of state-sponsored killings. This Project is a work in progress and is not conclusive. If you wish a loved one to be included please contact An Fhírınne … Tá an balla seo tıomnaıthe do na teaghlaıgh a throıd agus atá ag troıd go fóıll, thar ceann a muıntıre ıonúıne, ar son na fírınne agus na córa. Tá sé tıomnaıthe fosta dóıbh sıúd uılıg a fuaır bás de dheasca maruıthe státurraıthe. Obaır ıdır lamha atá sa tıonscnamh seo agus níl sé críochnaıthe go fóıll. Dá mba mhıan leat duıne de do mhuıntır ıonúın féın a bheıth curtha san áıreamh, ıarrtar ort teagmháıl a dhéanamh leıs An Fhírınne.”

Beechmount Avenue/Ascaıll Ard na bhFeá, Belfast

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney

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Struggling For Liberty, Equality And Fraternity

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“Fuaır sıad bás ar son na hÉıreann. To the memory of all members and friends of the Official IRA who gave their lives in pursuit of the establishment of a democratic socialist republic in Ireland, in common cause with men and women of all nations struggling for liberty, equality and fraternity between all the peoples of the world.” Joe McCann beneath the Plough In The Stars is shown in the bottom left.

Springfield Road, Belfast

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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