mosaic

The Courage And Sacrifice Of The Hunger Strikers

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Here is a close-up of the the middle of the Hunger Strike board above the Clowney Street phoenix (which is the Oldest Mural in Belfast) seen previously in 2013.

For an image of the writing – “Bobby Sands murdered 1.17 am. 5th May 1981. ‘My position is in total contrast to that of an ordinary prisoner: I am a political prisoner.”” – see the Homer Sykes collection. The quotation is from Sands’s ‘The Lark And The Freedom Fighter’ (pdf).

For “Thirty thousand can’t be wrong” see this episode of Thames TV’s ‘TV Eye’ (youtube).

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Copyright © 2015 Peter Moloney
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Don’t Let Our Brave Men Die In Vain

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The Clowney Street phoenix, originally painted in 1981, is repainted – for a history, see The Oldest Murals.

Above, the board at the centre of the mosaics has changed, from an image of blanketmen to a montage of photographs “commemorating the courage and sacrifice of the hunger strikers”.

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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Bobby Sands Corner

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Bobby Sands grew up and went to school in Rathcoole but in 1972, when he was eighteen, the family home was attacked. They moved to Twinbrook, where Sands joined the IRA (Bobby Sands Trust | WP). A nearby installation on the footpath claims that Twinbrook is the “Home Of Bobby Sands“.

This mosaic is near the Twinbrook home, on the same wall that was the site of the Carol-Ann Kelly mural. Kelly was killed two weeks after Sands’s death.

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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Town And Country

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“This ceramic panel is a memorial to the staff of Ulsterbus and Citybus who were killed in the course of their duties during the troubles. The names of the twelve who died are shown on the buses enclosing the lower section of the design. The upper half of the panel representing Belfast includes the old Oxford Street Bus Station, whilst the lower half represents town and country services throughout the province. Dividing the two sections is a river representing the journey from one life to another. Designed and crafted by Diane McCormick, the panel was formally unveiled by Neville Whitehead, Chairman of Citybus, Northern Ireland Railways and Ulsterbus, on the occasion of the opening of Laganside Buscentre on 1 May 1996.”

Princes Street, Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Peter Moloney
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Hunger Striker Mosaics

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For the 30th anniversary of the 1981 hunger strike, the mosaics of the Troubles-era hunger strikers are mounted around the blanket-men board and above the Phoenix in Clowney Street; for a few years they were previously at the Falls-Beechmount corner.

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Copyright © 2011 Peter Moloney
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Our Patriot Dead

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Updates are made to the Westrock memorial garden: Sean Doyle’s plaque is moved to the garden from Britton’s Drive, a new plaque to the IRA’s 2 battalion F company is added, and the painted brick background wall is dashed over.

Seen previously in 2001 and 2005.

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Copyright © 2010 Peter Moloney
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Welcome To New Mossley

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2010 image of the New Mossley mosaic (2009) in Ballyearl Drive, with various UVF insignia above from previous murals. “This mosaic reflects the cultural & industrial heritage of the area. New Mossley Community Group is proud to be part of this project and hope it gives pleasure to everyone. We would like to thank the Arts Council and Groundwork for their help and support. Unveiled by Jeanette Ervine, Dawn Purvis MLA, Mena Mitchell 17th January 2009.”

The mosaic shows/references Lillian Bland, the first woman to fly solo (1910); Pattersons Spade Mill; Mossley Mill, 50 years old in 2008; the 36th and 16th Divisions of World War I; local youth groups. The  work was developed by artist Martin McClure.

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Copyright © 2010 Peter Moloney
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Welcome To New Mossley

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These are images from Ballyearl Drive around the Twelfth.

The new moasic includes both the 36th and 16th Divisions. “This mosaic reflects the cultural & industrial heritage of the area. New Mossley Community Group is proud to be part of this project and hope it gives pleasure to everyone. We would like to thank the Arts Council and Groundwork for their help and support. Unveiled by Jeanette Ervine, Dawn Purvis MLA, Mena Mitchell 17th January 2009.”

Included from left to right are Lilian Bland Mayfly 1910, Pattersons [Spade Mill], Mossley Mill, Army Cadet Force, New Mossley Flames and 20th Old Boys (local soccer teams), “Septem in uno surgent” [seven rise as one] is the motto of Newtownabbey, created in 1958 from “the seven ancient villages of Whitehouse, Whiteabbey, Jordanstown, Glengormley, Whitewell, Monkstown and Carnmoney” along with an additional 20 townlands (Belfast Forum).

The UVF/YCV/RHC emblems on the upper border remain from the previous UVF murals.

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Copyright © 2009 Peter Moloney
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C Company 1st Battalion

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These are 2008 images of the left-hand mural and central plaque on Carnan Street (seen previously in 2005). UVF volunteers Robert Wadsworth, Robert McIntyre, James McGregor, Thomas Chapman, William Hannah, who died in the 1970s, are commemorated. 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).

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Copyright © 2008 Peter Moloney
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