Gone But Not Forgotten

“In memory of all our fallen comrades both in the 1st WW Battle Of The Somme and the fight against republicanism from the officers and volunteers of Newtownards – East Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force. Gone but not forgotten.” WWI regimental flags are suspended above the memorial. The actual Scrabo tower, depicted in the left medallion, is visible to the right of frame.

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
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The People’s Army

The title of the post comes from the previous location of this Ulster Volunteers/UVF board. The image above is from Seymour Gardens, Londonderry, but previously the board was on the main road (Sperrin Park) in the Caw with a black background and title-board above, and side-fence of insignia. From the period of the Ulster Volunteers, the board features the Carson, the Clyde Valley, the Covenant, and the UDU (Ulster Defence Union) manifesto of 1893.

Previously in this location: McFadzean.

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
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Female Guardians

This pair of images — “Deserted! Well – I can stand alone” from the anti-Home Rule campaign that continued during WWI and the other a more contemporary scene of “a protestant farmer’s wife guard[ing] her husband against sectarian attack from across the border” — was previously painted in (what remains of) Moscow Street, next to the Rex bar on the Shankill. (See X00066. See also M00558 lower Shankill | M00621 east Belfast | M02302 east Belfast). The plaque on the right was not originally part of the mural (see J2395) and the mural would later be modified by the removal of the Orange Order and St Andrew’s flags (but not the UVF emblem), replaced by a shamrock-strewn banner reading “Fight To A Finish” (M08026).

Drumtara, Ballymena

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
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Lamh Dearg Abu

The UVF’s Red Hand Commando are inspired by the British Army’s SAS and uses a similar image for its emblem: instead of wings on a sword, RHC uses wings on a red hand. [East Belfast] C company mural in Ballybeen. ‘Lamh dearg abu’ = ‘red hand to victory’.

Upper Newtownards Road

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
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Ballybeen Remembers

The “UVF” on the storage units would be painted over, leaving only the memorial to the 36th (Ulster) Division. The Ballybeen RHC memorial mural on the side would remain until the building was redeveloped and both murals were replaced by a memorial garden.

Craignish Crescent, Davarr Avenue.

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
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Proud Men

“Where so ever, how so ever or whenever we are called upon to make our exit, we shall do so as proud men.” (Another UVF mural in east Belfast has “as free men”.) A hooded gunman from the Red Hand Commando stands at the ready. The first of the four crests is the (rare, possibly restricted to the Morven Park murals) “RHC Youth”; then PAF, UVF, and YCV.

Morven Park, Ballybeen

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
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