Paddy Duffy Collection

These faded Armagh murals have the titles “UVF Gun-Smuggler 1913” and “Arms Training 1913”.

The gun-smuggling mural features not the 1914 gun-running on Clyde Valley – the ship that brought in the weapons and ammunition into Larne – but a motor-car. There was earlier gun-running or bulk gun-purchasing – 175 rifles were bought from Harrods by the Earl Of Lanesborough and sent to Enniskillen (Balaclava Street) and 500 rifles were brought from Manchester in August 1913 (Irish Bayonets). (See also History Ireland.) These perhaps used automobiles for distribution, and the Larne gun-running is described as the first time that the horseless carriage was used in a military operation – there were about 350 vehicles in the “Motor Corps” (Angelsey p. 3). 

The location of the car, and of the ‘arms training’ in the second mural, are unknown. Here is a 1914 image (Getty) showing tents and a single machine-gun at Ballywalter. The sources of both paintings are unknown.

The murals date back to at least 2012 (see the Peter Moloney Collection).

Gough Avenue, Barrack Hill, Armagh

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