painted wall

Time For Peace

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A three-stone memorial to army soldiers in Tullycarnet, featuring a line from the gospel of John (“Greater love has no-one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” 15:13) and a song by Randall Wallace for the 2002  movie We Were Soldiers called ‘The Mansions of the Lord’: To fallen soldiers let us sing, where no rockets fly nor bullets wing, our broken brothers let us bring, to the mansions of the Lord. No more weeping, no more fight, no prayers pleading through the night, just divine embrace, eternal light, in the mansions of the Lord. Where no mothers cry and no children weep, we will stand and guard though the angels sleep, Oh through the ages safely keep, the mansions of the Lord.”

By Ross Wilson with support from the International Fund For Ireland (IFI)

The garden of reflection is in front of a mural reading “Time for peace. Invest in kids … not war!”. The image of a boy playing with a ball against a wall is based on a 1994 photograph by Crispin Rodwell. The slogan in the photograph, originally, was “Time for peace; time to go” but for publication, as here, the second part was cropped out.

King’s Road, Tullycarnet

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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What Do We Forget When We Remember

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Two poems are featured prominently and another two alluded to in this Newtownards mural and memorial garden to WWI soldiers. The central panel features part of an anti-war work by by Owen Griffiths, Lest We Forget. Robert Laurence Binyon’s For The Fallen is featured on the stone, above a line of Latin from Horace’s Odes (III.2) – On Virtue (which most famously re-appears in Owen’s Dulce Et Decorum Est). On the left and right there appear the mottos of the Royal Irish Rifles – ‘Quis separabit’, which comes from Romans 8:35 – and the Royal Artillery – ‘Ubique – Quo Fas Et Gloria Ducunt’, which comes from Kipling’s Ubique.

For the (WWI) 13th battalion RIR, see Regimental List and similarly for the 16th (rather than the 17th) “Pioneers”. For the (WWII) 5th Anti-Aircraft battery, see Newtownards History.

Tower Court, Newtownards

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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Operation Motorman

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Operation Motorman, the British Army’s retaking of ‘Free Derry’, took place on July 31st, 1972. This is the repainted mural (the in-progress shot is from April); for the 2001 original, see M01426. (Part of The People’s Gallery by the Bogside Artists.)

For the installation to Seamus Bradley, who died during the operation, (and for the photo the mural is based upon) see X01130.

The plaque is to Patrick Shiels (M03583).

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Copyright © 2013 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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Na Fıanna Ard Eoın

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“Strength in our hearts, strength of our limbs, consistency of our tongues.” “Na Fıanna Ard Eoın 1909-2009 – one hundred years of resistance. In proud memory Fıan Davy McAuley … Josh Campbell … Josie McComiskey … Bernard Fox. ‘You may kill the revolutionary, but never the revolution.’ Dedicated by the Republican Network for Unity.” The four deceased are portrayed on four small boards, along with standing figures of Fianna from both centuries.

The plaque (alone) was seen in 2011.

Berwick Road, Belfast

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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Red Hand Defenders

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There are four loyalist paintings on the street surface in Portavogie, beginning with the crest of the Red Hand Defenders flute band (Fb) “Formed in 1979” and the Portavogie Young Volunteers.

Harbour Road and Main Road, Portavogie

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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Volunteer Denver Smith

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“In memory of Vol. Denver Smith, murdered by cowards 1st January 2000. Here lies a soldier. He gave his life whilst serving his community. Lest we forget.” Smith was killed by a gang of six men with machetes and pikes; the incident was perhaps drugs-related (Guardian | BBC-NI. For the wider picture An Phoblacht | Irish Times).

The mural originally appeared with seven plaques, then with three plaques, and now with graveside mourners on either side of a single stone, and a bench and three flag-poles to the right.

The UVF flag is between the the Denver Smith and All Gave Some gables.

Parkhall Road, Antrim

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Copyright © 2013 Peter Moloney
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