The Society Of United Irishmen – who hoped for French support for a rebellion in Ireland – could not meet openly while France and Britain were at war. In Belfast, meetings were held at Dr [Benjamin] Franklin’s tavern in Sugarhouse Entry, also called “Peggy Barclay’s” after its owner, under the guise of a social group called the Muddlers’ Club.
There is today a restaurant called The Muddlers’ Club, named after the society, in Warehouse Lane. The piece above shows a skull, a scythe, a pair of wings, and the Square & Compasses of the Freemasons (with a “G” for “God” or “geometry”). The second piece includes a skull, an eight-pointed star/compass, and an Eye Of Horus (familiar from Freemasons, the 1 dollar bill in US currency, and the Illuminati).
The piece on the left was painted by Visual Waste (web) in June, 2017; the one on the right was added later.
Two earlier pieces with similar imagery on the other side of the entry disappeared with the wall they were painted on: see God Approves Our Undertakings and The Wider Conspiracy.
See also the Visual History page on the Belfast Entries.
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