“In proud and loving memory of Stevie ‘Top Gun’ McKeag, born 1970, died 2000, military commander, C coy, 2nd Batt, UFF. Sleeping where no shadows fall.” “Ulster Freedom Fighters – This mural is dedicated to memory of Stevie Top Gun McKeag.”
Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02479
Lower Shankill UDA/UFF mural, with a pair of balaclava’ed gunmen kneeling to either side of UDA and UFF flags. This mural is a survivor from the days of Johnny Adair (Visual History).
Hopewell Crescent, west Belfast
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02478
2000 mural placing Ulster Freedom Fighters/Ulster Defence Association (UFF/UDA) in historical context of the Ulster Defence Union. The motto of the organisation was “Quis separabit” (which is the same as the UDA’s). The Union faded away in the 1910s, but the name was revived by the UDA in 2007 (NewsLetter). The manifesto was launched on St Patrick’s day 1893, in response to the 2nd Home Rule bill. Membership was closed on June 1st, by which time 170,000 people had signed up (Bygone Days).
A side wall would later be added along with other small changes made during a repaint: “UFF member” would be moved below the gunman and “Est.” on both sides would become “Formed” – see X00284.
Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02474
UVF volunteers Robert Wadsworth, Robert McIntyre, James McGregor, Thomas Chapman, William Hannah, who died in the 1970s, are commemorated with a plaque and a mural in Carnan Street, Belfast. The plaque includes lines from Binyon’s WWI poem For The Fallen: “They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old/Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn/At the going down of the sun and in the morning/We will remember them” with “in our hearts forever” added; the flowers of the four home nations also suggests WWI. The “Four Step” was a pub bombed in 1971 (see X02393).
For the previous version of the hooded gunmen, see T00242.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02436 M02437 M02435
“This mural is dedicated to the fallen volunteers of No 4 Pltn A Coy, 1st Belfast Battn, Ulster Volunteer Force who dutifully served this community in the years of conflict. It pays tribute to those who died in active engagement and to the many who passed peacefully from service having fulfilled their duties. Their names and deeds are eternally venerated by their comrades in arms who humbly serve in their honour. They remained staunch to the end against odds uncounted, they fell with their faces to the foe, their name liveth forevermore.“
Glenwood Street, Belfast
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02432
Copyright © 2006 Peter Moloney
M02715 M02714 M02716
A close-up from Seosamh Mac Coılle (2013 X01044).
“Same old mural, same old force”. According to this board on Oldpark Road, Belfast, the PSNI is still the same as the old RUC, colluding with loyalist paramilitaries.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02415
Sixteen year-old Glen “Spacer” Branagh was killed by a premature blast bomb during a riot on Remembrance Sunday, 2001. His portrait is on a board at the centre of UDA flags and guns (and the tigers of Tigers Bay).
“If the Provos and the pan nationalist front and the British and Irish governments keep trying to succeed in a united Ireland then they may prepare themselves for another 30 bloody years for the battle will have just begun.”
The term “Pan Nationalist Front” was used (first by nationalists) to describe the co-operation between John Hume (SDLP) and Gerry Adams (Sinn Féin) in 1994 that led to the IRA ceasefire and the Downing Street Declaration.
Edlingham Street, north Belfast
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02413 M02412 M02414
Volunteers from the IRA’s 3rd battalion, Belfast Brigade, Billy Reid, Sean McIlvenna, Rosemary Bleakley, and Michael Kane are shown walking down New Lodge Road. Gibraltar victim Dan McCann is included in the 16 faces in the apex. The main image is on boards while the knotwork and dedication are on brick. “I measc laochra na nGael go raıbh a nanamacha.”
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02409 [M04401] [M04402] M04403 [M04404]
The UVF emblem is broken in two. For the whole, see C01427.
Wellwood Street, Sandy Row, south Belfast
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02407
The graffitied UFF mural in (the former) Albion Street, Belfast, previously seen in 2001, is repainted and the background changed to blue from white.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02405
Peter Moloney Collection 