Month: January 1999

Leonard Peltier

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“Leonard Peltier, Native American US political prisoner. “We must stand together to protect the rights of others. No child to go hungry, no woman denied the right to earn a living, no person denied health care or education, no prisoner held for political reasons.”” (The quote appears in a letter on Peltier’s web site.) Peltier, a member of the American Indian Movement, was convicted of the shooting of two FBI agents in a shootout at Pine Ridge in 1975 and sentenced to two life terms (WP).

Hillman Street, New Lodge, north Belfast

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Copyright © 1999 Paddy Duffy
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Out Of The Ashes Of 1798

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“I ndıl chuımhne – this plaque is dedicated to all those from the greater Newington area who lost their lives as a result of the conflict in this country.” Pikemen from the 1798 uprising stand on either side of a phoenix, with portraits above of Wolfe Tone, James Connolly, Henry Joy McCracken, and Mary Ann McCracken.

Newington Avenue, north Belfast

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Copyright © 1999 Paddy Duffy
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Looking For Lasting Peace!

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“Disband the RUC.” A fortune-teller sees the path to peace in an Irish News headline in her crystal ball: “RUC disbanded. New community peace force established”. Reform or replacement of the RUC is one of the top nationalist concerns in the peace process, after the release of POWs.

Market Street, Markets, south Belfast

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Copyright © 1999 Paddy Duffy
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Lesbians Are Everywhere

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This is a fake mural, painted for the film The Most Fertile Man In Ireland (O’Connell 2005) which is set in Belfast. The mural doesn’t seem to have made the final cut but there’s another fake mural – Gloria Hunniford and Robert Emmet together in a frame of Celtic knot-work – at 7m40s, and another at 52m44s. You can play ‘spot the location’ for yourself by watching the film on youtube.

This one combines the Union Flag, Irish tricolour, Ulster Banner, and shape of the UVF emblem, with portraits of Ellen DeGeneres, Billy Jean King, KD Laing and Queen Elizabeth I.

(h/t Jonathan McCormick – Album 8)

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Copyright © 1999 Paddy Duffy
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James Buchanan

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“”My Ulster blood is my most priceless heritage …” – James Buchanan 15th US president 1857-1861″. This is the first of the murals in the “From pioneers to presidents” series to be painted in Belfast, depicting James Buchanan. Three murals had already been painted in Londonderry, to Theodore Roosevelt, James Buchanan (which contains more information about Buchanan and his heritage), and George Washington.

The words along the bottom read, “250,000 Ulster Scots emigrated to America in the 1700s and were the driving force behind the American Revolution.”

The small plaque to the right reads, “Shankill Ulster-Scots Cultural Society. The Buchanan Mural. This mural was dedicated to the memory of those early Ulster-Scots emigrants by Ms Jane Benton Fort, US Consul General, on Thursday November 4th, 1999. Sae monie hairts gaed far frae hame – bot ilka yin oor ain fowk [So many hearts went far from home – but every one [is/remains] our own folk]. This project was funded by Belfast City Council and Making Belfast Work.”

See the Visual History page on Ulster-Scots Murals.

Ainsworth Street, Woodvale, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1999 Paddy Duffy (no date given)
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Lamh Dearg Abu

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On the left, volunteers from the Red Hand Commando with bare faces stand with lowered flags beside a plinth “in memory of Ulster’s fallen”.

On the right, “In memory of Ulster’s fallen.” “Lamh dearg abu” [= “Lámh dhearg abú”] [= “Red Hand to victory”], “Ulster to victory”, “It is not for glory or riches we fight but for our people” (from the Declaration Of Arbroath). With the insignia of the Red Hand Commando and a pair of bald-headed eagles.

Glenwood Street, upper Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1999 Paddy Duffy (no date given)
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UVF 2nd Battalion A Company Donegall Road

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“In loving memory of fallen volunteers [from the] Ulster Volunteer Force Belfast Brigade, Donegall Road 2nd Battalion, A Coy”. The two plaques unfortunately cannot be read.

The side wall shows volunteers with lowered weapons flanking a memorial “In proud and loving memory of Vol. Stevie McCrea, Friend Sammy Mehaffy”.

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Copyright © 1999 Paddy Duffy
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