painted wall

Eamonn Lafferty

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19 year-old Provisional IRA volunteer Eamonn Lafferty was “killed on active service 18th August 1971”, in a gun-battle with British Army forces who were attempting to dismantle barricades in republican “Free Derry”.

Kildrum Gardens, Derry

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
[M03591] [M03592] [M03593] [M03594] M03595 M03596

Patrick Sheils

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A plaque “dedicated to the memory of Patrick Shiels Óglaıgh Na hÉıreann 1878-1957. Erected by the republican movement 11th April 2007 to mark his 50th anniversary. I measc laochra na nGael go raıbh sé” is added to the Operation Motorman mural in Rossville Street, Derry. Paddy Shiels took part in the Easter Rising and was later Derry OC. See BMH testimony #676 by Liam Brady.

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
M03582 M03583

Female Guardians

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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
M03578

Bernadette

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The Bernadette mural by the Bogside Artists is prepared for an update, ten years after originally being painted, in 1997.

“The Artists’ first coloured mural is a tribute to the women of Derry and their role in the civil rights campaign. Bernadette Devlin, Britain’s youngest MP, addresses the crowd during the Battle of the Bogside: her actions resulted in a six month jail sentence for inciting and taking part in a riot. The woman to her left bangs a dustbin lid on the ground to alert neighbours to the arrival of the authorities. The triable motif inspired by the gable end is repeated throughout the painting. Our job is to do justice to our history and the price people have paid for their democratic rights. That’s what we are about.“

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
M03414 [M03933] M03861

The Famine

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“Nature sent the potato blight, government & landlords created the famine.” 1845-1849 saw one million Irish people die and a million more emigrate. During the period, the full range of other foodstuffs was produced and shipped to England, being too expensive for the native population.

Lenadoon Avenue, Belfast

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
M03538

Stop At Nothing

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“Our rulers will stop at nothing to attain their ends. They will continue to rule and rob until confronted by men who will stop at [nothing to overthrow them].” The quote is from James Connolly on Conscription. Local volunteer Joe McDonnell is portrayed between the names of the ten deceased 1981 hunger strikers. 

Lenadoon Avenue, Belfast

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Copyright © 2007 Peter Moloney
M03537