Introduction To The Visual History Pages
There are 11 main Visual History pages. These present a history of murals from the Protestant/unionist/loyalist (PUL) and Catholic/nationalist/republican (CNR) communities in the north of/Northern Ireland from 1900 to the present.
Visual History 01 covers early PUL muraling and Visual History 02 covers early CNR muraling. By “early” we mean up to (roughly) 1981. Even though the period commonly known as “The Troubles” begins in 1969 (and so 1981 is well into the Troubles), we use 1981 as a dividing line because it is in 1981 that a new and dramatic wave of CNR muraling begins.
In the appendices to Visual History 01 and 02 we are attempting to gather complete lists of early PUL (Visual History 01) and early CNR (Visual History 02) murals. If you know of any not included, please get in touch.
Visual Histories 03, 04, 05, and 06 cover the period from 1981 (the hunger strikes) to 1994 (the ceasefire). Further Histories then cover the post-Troubles or post-ceasefire period: 07, 08, and 09 cover (roughly) the years 1994 to 2003, in which CNR and PUL communities press their claims, while 10 and 11 cover the period from 2003 to the present, adding the state as a third source of murals and street artists as a fourth.
In addition to the main pages, we provide …
a general introduction to muraling and a glossary of the terms used on the site,
a map,
and also a number of pages on specific …
locations (such as Free Derry Corner),
themes (such as International Solidarity),
icons (such as Bobby Sands or Eddie The Head),
and painters (such as Bobby Jackson, Alan Skillen, or Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly).
These are included in the list below alongside the Visual History page where they are first mentioned.
!!Please note!!
The pages are spread across two sites – ‘Extramural Activity’ and ‘Peter Moloney Collection – Murals’; do not be alarmed if the frame of the page changes.
Comments and corrections are greatly appreciated, to extramuralactivity at gmail.com
The “Oldest” Murals – An overview of the “oldest” murals in a variety of senses including first painted (by each sect) and longest-lasting (with and without repainting).
Visual History 01 – The Protestant Ascendancy – Early PUL muraling.
The Jackson Murals – in Londonderry’s Fountain area (PUL)
Visual History 02 – The Catholic Insurgency – Pre-hunger-strike CNR muraling.
Free Derry Corner – first painted in 1969 in Derry’s Bogside (CNR); see also Free Derry Corner – Rear
Visual History 03 – The Prison Protests (1981)
Beechmount/Falls Corner in (CNR) west Belfast – the most often painted wall (apart from Free Derry Corner)
Visual History 04 – Paramilitary Murals (1981-1982)
The 1981 CNR Murals – Both ‘prison protests’ and ‘paramilitary’
Visual History 05 – (1983-1988)
The Alan Skillen Murals – in Percy Place, Belfast, 1984 (PUL)
Gerard ‘Mo Chara’ Kelly – separate web site with autobiography, catalogue, and images from Mo Chara’s life
The Influence Of Jim Fitzpatrick – the iconic Che Guevara poster and detailed Celtic imagery
Visual History 06 – (1988-1993)
Sevastopol Street (Bobby Sands) Falls Road, Belfast (CNR)
The People’s Gallery – Bogside, Derry (CNR)
Visual History 07 – Ceasefire (1994-1996)
“Hawks” & Doves – Tracks the replacement of the phoenix and lark by the dove during the peace process (CNR)
The Great Hunger or famine in murals (CNR)
Eddie The Trooper – A collection of the known images of Iron Maiden’s ‘Eddie The Head’ in the guise of a British Red Coat from the Crimean War (PUL)
Visual History 08 – The Peace Process (1996-2001)
The (so-called) International Wall on Divis Street, which marks the entrance to CNR west Belfast
Walter Paget’s The Birth Of The Irish Republic (CNR)
Visual History 09 – Winning The Peace (2001-2003)
Map of the Hunger Strikers on the New Lodge flats (CNR)
Visual History 10 – Re-Imaging (2003-2009)
State Art Vs. Graffiti On The West Belfast “Peace” Line
The Andytown RUC Barracks (CNR)
Northumberland Street – an extension of the International Wall (CNR)
Mountpottinger Road – in Short Strand, east Belfast (CNR)
Sliabh Dubh/Black Mountain – the lettering on the mountain by Gael Force Art (CNR)
Visual History 11 (2009-present)
Belfast Canvas Project (Painted Utility Boxes) (2019-2022)
Belfast Entries Project (Art In The Alleyways) (2020-2022)
peter moloney collection 