cultural

4000 Years Of Ulster Scots

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“4000 years of Ulster-Scots history and heritage. Ulster & Scotland – shared language, shared literature, shared culture.” 400 years takes us back to the plantation; 4000 years suggests an even deeper connection.

Ulster-Scots was included in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement under the principle of support for “linguistic diversity”. This mural celebrating Ulster-Scots and ties between Northern Ireland and Scotland dates to 1999, with the crests of St Andrew and St Patrick on the left, and an Ulster Banner and Scottish lion rampant on the right.

“Dinnae houl yer wheest, houl yer ain!” [Don’t hold your tongue, hold your own!]

Templemore Street, east Belfast

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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
M02321

Marching & Dancing

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This cross-cultural mural from inside the Cathedral Youth Club, in the Fountain, Londonderry, celebrates both the music of flute-and-drum bands and Irish dancing. The tune illustrated ‘There Is A Green Hill Far Away’ by Cecil Alexander, wife of Church Of Ireland bishop William Alexander. They lived in Strabane and the eponymous hill is said to be one outside the old walls of Derry.

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Copyright © 2004 Peter Moloney
M02154

George Washington

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“If defeated everywhere else I will make my final stand for liberty with the Scotch-Irish (Ulster-Scots) of my native Virginia.” George Washington commanded the Continental Army during the revolution and served as the first president of the United States beginning in 1789. His ancestry was English and the quote is undocumented, the closest being this statement from McKinley. The note in the corner reads “History records that almost half of Washington’s army were Ulster-Scots”; the basis for this claim might be General (Charles?) Lee’s report that “half the rebel Continental Army were from Ireland.” (See Chapter 2 of Bagenal, The American Irish and their Influence on Irish Politics.)

Previously: Theodore Roosevelt | James Buchanan.

Ebrington Street Lower, Londonderry

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Copyright © 2003 Peter Moloney
M02023

James Buchanan

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James Buchanan was “15th US president 1857-1861.” Buchanan’s father, also called James, was born in Ramelton, Co Donegal, and was living in Co Tyrone when he emigrated to the United States from Derry in 1783, (one of the “250,000 Ulster-Scots [who] emigrated to America in the 1700s”). James junior was born in 1791, the second of eleven children.

The confusion over the wording of the quote – “My Ulster blood is my most priceless [or simply: a priceless] heritage … [and I can never be too grateful to my grandparents from whom I derived it.]” – is matched by confusion over who said it (Buchanan junior or senior?); the source of the quote is unknown. Likewise we do not know where in Scotland the grandparents might have come from and perhaps the move to Ireland happened much earlier.

See also the Visual History page on Ulster-Scots murals.

Ebrington Street, Londonderry

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Copyright © 2003 Peter Moloney
M02022

Cearta Teanga, Cearta Daonna

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Pobal is a non-profit community development organisation. The mural above is in support of Irish-language rights. “Cearta teanga, cearta daonna – Language rights are human rights”, “An Ghaeılge thart tımpeall oraınn – Irish is all arond us”, “Ní mór an Bılle Ceart tosca saınıúla na Gaeılge a chur san áıreamh – The Bill of Human Rights must reflect the unique circumstances of the Irish language.” Brighton Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2003 Peter Moloney
M01995

The Felons

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The [Irish republican] Felons’ Club or Cumann Na Méırleach Poblachtach Éıreannach (Fb | tw) in 2003. The club was described by Danny Morrison for The Guardian in 1999; despite his pessimism, the club survives to this day (2017).

Falls Road, west Belfast.

Featured previously: an Easter Rising mural inside the club.

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Copyright © 2003 Peter Moloney
M01947