Derry IRA man Neil McMonagle is placed among the seven signatories of the proclamation of the provisional government of the Irish Republic.
The board is in Leafair Park, Derry, close to the spot where McMonagle, aged 23, along with friend Liam Duffy, were shot by undercover British soldiers (specifically Sergeant Paul Oram of 14 Intelligence Company (WP)) on February 2, 1983. McMonagle died instantly while Duffy was wounded but survived. The official account alleged that both McMonagle and Duffy were armed; locals deny this. For an account of the killing and a tribute, see these obituaries from republican publications in 1983.
“Vol Neil McMonagle, Derry Brigade INLA. Killed in action 2nd February 1983. “They may kill the revolutionary but never the revolution.””
The Maritime Festival (web) in various years held a ‘bubble challenge’ that involved people running inside a large inflated tube (youtube video from 2016). Aquatic animals on the other hand come up the river Foyle under their own power, such as Dopey Dick (shown above), an orca who swam up the Foyle in 1977 (Derry Journal) and the otters (in the final two images below) painted by HM Constance (web).
We also see two musical crows – one is playing DJ and the other is carrying a cassette tape – and five humans, who also didn’t come up the Foyle in a bubble – “I didn’t come up (or “float up”) the Foyle in a bubble” means “I’m no fool” or “I wasn’t born yesterday”.
This was the banner on the back of Free Derry Corner announcing the (53rd) annual march in remembrance of Bloody Sunday, which starts from the Creggan shops and makes its way down to the Bogside, retracing the route taken in 1972. The march goes up Westland Street and across to Creggan Street and William Street. The background image shows the crowd (in 1972) in William Street a minute before the paratroop regiment opened fire. For the original Gilles Peress photograph (and a flyer using it in Derry in 1996), see And The Next Moment …
Rapper Biggie Smalls/Notorious BIG shares his name with Derry’s Notorious Street Food (Fb | ig | BelfastLive profile). The art is by Peaball (web) in Northside Village, Glengalliagh Road, Derry, where the truck is parked (Fb).
Amelia Earhart was the first woman to complete a solo trans-Atlantic flight when she flew a Lockheed Vega from Canada to Ireland in 1932. This Galliagh bus shelter has been covered with “Artwork and design: [by] Joe Campbell”, who also did another Earhart piece But What Do Dreams Know Of Boundaries? (as well as The Factory Girls). There is also a large mosaic to Earhart by Tom Agnew in Leafair Park – see Flying Solo – and a piece of street art in the city centre – see Gaining Altitude.
The internal verbiage reads: “On May 21st, 1932, 34-year-old American flyer, Amelia Earhart, became the first woman to fly solo, 2000 miles, non-stop, across the Atlantic Ocean, finally landing in a field in Ballyarnett, less than one mile from this bus stop. She had taken off from Newfoundland, Canada, in her bright red Lockheed Vega plane [NR-7952] at 7 pm the previous evening. Four hours out she encountered a bad storm that damaged the place and blew her way off course. She had been aiming for Paris, but after a flight of nearly fifteen hors, she sighted land. She came inland over Donegal looking for a likely landing site since there was now smoke coming from her exhaust. Unable to find an airfield she followed railway lines that eventually brought her over Derry. After circling the city, watched by the citizens below, she sighted a likely emergency landing spot in a field on the outskirts of the city of Ballyarnett, at what is now Ballyarnett Country Park. She managed to land, clipping hedges, stampeding cattle and nearly taking the heads off two farm workers who were mending fences (Dan McCallion and Jim McGeady). After the landing the two men rushed to see if the pilot was okay. Expecting a man, they were amazed to see a tousle-haired, young woman emerge from the top of the aircraft. “Where am I?” she asked, expecting the answer ‘Ireland’. “Why, you’re in Gallagher’s Field!” came the reply. [Here is an audio recording (youtube) of Mrs Gallagher recounting Earhart’s arrival and stay.] And then Hugh McLaughlin, who had joined them, asked the now famous question, “Have ye come far?” To which Miss Earhart replied, “Only from America.” Over the next 24 hours, Derry became the focus of the world. Thousands came to Gallagher’s Field to catch a glimpse of the world famous aviator and to have their photo taken with her ‘Little Red Bus’ (the nickname she gave to her plane.) Amelia’s record-breaking flight is now considered one of the most daring and significant events of the 20th Century.”
There are also quotes from Jim McGeady and the Reverend Francis Coyle on the exterior.
This Galliagh art encourages “RESPECT” for families and the elderly. The first (“R”) panel is the odd one out, as it includes a (Star Wars) storm-trooper’s helmet and a tribute to Oran McClintock, who died in July (2024) (Derry Now | Funeral Times). The electrical sub-station is near the family home in Moss Park. “May the force be with you!”
This is (presumably) a RAZER (ig) piece, along with young people from Galliagh Community Response (Fb gallery).
Paddy Duffy Collection 