“Fáılte Go Dtí Ard Eoın. Ardoyne – a confident, colourful, creative community, and the people who made it so” particularly the local schools, whose insignia are shown on the left: “Thnx 2 all r teachers past and present.” The previous mural in this spot (M01783) is invoked by the banner across the top: “Everyone has the right to live free from sectarian harassment” and the inclusion of Holy Cross Girls among the schools.
Whitney Houston and Bobby Sands are invoked on the right “We believe the children are the future – value the laughter of our children“.
For this year’s Twelfth, the famous UVF “Prepared for peace, ready for war” mural that has stood over the entrance to Mount Vernon for twenty years was retouched. The most obvious change is in the apex, as a different UVF symbol – with flags – has been included, along with the words “3rd Battalion” which had been in the much earlier version of this mural on another wall.
This metal gate of poppies opens onto a cluster of blue metalworks showing scenes from WWI and a map of the area around Messines. The silver emblems are of the 36th and 16th divisions.
For more, including the panels to John Cordon and William McFadzean, see M07770.
“Mol an óıge agus tıocfaıdh sÍ”. [Praise youth and it will flourish/Youth responds to praise] Above is the Joe Cahill mural in Beechview Park, next to the GAA pitch. The mural was unveiled on September 2nd, 2013. (Images of the unveiling from An Phoblacht.) Joe Cahill (WP) holds the cup aloft. The group in the bottom left corner (see the second image, below) are Pat O’Hare, Frank Cahill, Tom Cahill, (the three Cahills were featured in the previous mural) Ned Maguire, Jr., Ned Maguire, Sr., Alec Crowe, Paddy Meenan, Tommy Crowe, Dal Delaney, and Hugh Elliot. In the crook of Cahill’s arm are Rita McParland, Sean Wallace, Paddy Corrigan, John Pettigrew, and John Stone. None of these adults is still alive; all were from the local area.
The chalet bungalows in the background on the left are gone, but you can see images of them on the Belfast Forum.
The plaque on the left names others in addition: Billy Kelly, Alice Cush, Kate Campbell, John Mulligan, Mary Mulligan, David Mulhern, Margaret Mulhern, John Clarke, Margaret Farrelly, Marie Williams, Kevin Sullivan, Michael Rock, John McColgan, Bridget Maguire, Martin Maguire, Sally Corrigan, Sonny O’Reilly, Maggie McArdle, Jimmy McArdle, Kathleen Wallace, Maragret McGuinness, John Flanagan, Maisie McGuckian, Charlie McGuckian, Anthony Muldoon, Jim Logue, Ellen Weir, Liam Mackie, Oliver McParland, Sadie McMahon, Tommy Crowe, Maddie Holden, Sarah Doyle, Jimmy Doyle, Kathleen Pettigrew, Mary Cushnihan, Bell Cosgrove, Gerry Campbell.
The career of Belfast blues/rock guitarist Rab McCullough spanned more than five decades, beginning with the formation of Baraka back in the 1970s, and included opening for Jimi Hendrix and a 20-year residency in the Empire. McCullough died in May (of 2021) after suffering a heart attack while swimming in Andersonstown leisure centre (BBC | BelTel | Belfast Media | Love Belfast). McCullough’s family is maintaining his Facebook page.
The mural was painted in Owenvarragh Park/Páırc Abhaınn Bhearach near his former home by Glen Molloy (ig). (Belfast Media)
A succession of Irish rebels is shown in this new mural in Andersonstown, west Belfast. It begins (top left) with the rebellion of 1798 and then to the Easter Rising of 1916 at the GPO in Dublin. In the lower left, a pious Padraıg Pearse awaits his execution with rosary beads in hand. There are then shown female figures from Cumann Na mBán and the IRA (see previously: United Irishwomen, Do You Care? and Mothering Sunday In Beechmount), and then Maıréad Farrell in Armagh Women’s Prison (for the original, see Prison Walls). In the bottom right corner there is a blanketman. The busts of Bobby Sands and Joe McDonnell float above the GPO and the last verse of Sands’s The Rhythm Of Timeform the epigraph: “It lights the dark of this prison cell, it thunders forth its might, it is the undauntable thought, my friend, the thought that says, “I’m right”.
On the side wall, “Ag fíorú na poblachta” means “Realising the republic”. It celebrates the centenary (“Céad Blıaın 1916 – 2016”) of the Easter Rising and shows a copy of the proclamation of the republic and an Easter lily. The next wall over (see below) shows portraits of the seven signatories to the Proclamation: Joseph Plunkett, Sean Mac Dıarmada, Thomas Clarke, James Connolly, Patrick Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, and Thomas McDonagh.
“Audemus jura nostra defendere – We dare to defend our rights”. The UDA/UFF/UYM/LPA mural above shows hooded gunmen standing either side of a view of Carrickfergus castle. The phrase “The price of peace is eternal vigilance” is associated with British politician Leonard Courtney (who also said “Lies – damned lies – and statistics) though it probably goes further back. As can be seen from the second image, the mural watches over Woodlawn primary school. The third image shows the memorial garden off to the right-hand side; the plaque is shown fourth: “This memorial is dedicated to the memory of the officers and members of our organisation who were murdered by the enemies of Ulster and to those who paid the supreme sacrifice whilst on active service during the present conflict. Quis separabit.”
The memorial garden in Mount Vernon, has a “cut-out” mural to the 36th (Ulster) Division and memorial plaques to six UVF members who died between 1974 and 2000, including (lhs of the final image) Joe Shaw, who was shot by the UDA during the 1974-1975 feud. (For details of the killings and its aftermath, see this Balaclava Street article.) The stone in the centre is dedicated to the “3rd battalion North Belfast” Ulster Volunteer Force.
The UVF 1st East Antrim Battalion is “Still ready & willing to defend the people of Ulster against all foes” including the British government that – even as Northern Ireland marks its centenary – has “deserted” it over the NI Protocol that involves checks on goods moving between Britain and Ireland (whether north or south) but no (new) checks on goods moving between north and south (gov.uk). The “still” goes all the way back to 1912, when the British government of the day proposed (for a third time) “Home Rule” for Ireland and the Ulster Volunteers were formed – though the original “deserted” postcard and previous murals show the date as 1914.
“Show no mercy and expect none”. Iron Maiden’s Eddie the trooper, armed with an assault rifle and carrying a UDA flag, leads the grim reaper over the graves of “G. Adams”, “McGuinness” and “A. Maskey”. UDA/UFF mural in Castlemara, Carrickfergus.
Paddy Duffy Collection 