lily – orange – Paddy Duffy Collection

Cookstown Grenadiers

2026-10-212026-10-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The County Tyrone men from the Ulster Volunteers joined the 9th battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, which were put into the 109th brigade of the 36th Division. The Cookstown Grenadiers uses a (modern) emblem of the 36th – combining Union Flag, Maid Of Erin harp (symbol of the Royal Irish Rifles), and a red (right) hand on a field of poppies – as part of its band emblem (on the right, and on the board of photos, below); the WWI-era emblem of the 36th is the red (left) hand in the middle of the board.

The photographs on the second panel are labelled as follows: “First Parade 12th 2018. A special occasion for the band on its first outing. Accompanying our good friends in LOL 196 to the 12th demonstration in Stewartstown. A bond still strong to the present day.”; “Tribute to a volunteer. The band paying tribute to Vol. Gary Holdsworth (office commanding) [see also Along With The Brave And The Bold] at the local memorial in Monrush.”; “Remembering the fallen. A member of the band lays a wreath at Cookstown cenotaph.”; “Band on parade at the 12th of July demonstration in Coagh 2025.”; “Band on parade in Londonderry for the relief of Derry celebrations 2025.”

The third board shows shamrock, poppy, thistle, rose, and orange lily around the Mid-Ulster UVF emblem and the words, “In memory of volunteers from the east Tyrone area who took the first to militant republicanism. Their deeds and sacrifices will not be forgotten. For God and Ulster.”

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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We Can Turn This Place Around

2026-09-112026-09-27Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Here is a small gallery of images from the Redmanville and Corcrain estates in Portadown, specifically Westland Road and the bonfire site. To the trio of boards at the site (seen previously in January, 2026) has been added the board shown above: “In loving memory – from the fathers that shaped it to the son’s [sic] who continue it. It’s our year, every year.” The bonfire, which is lit on the 10th (of July) has its own Facebook page.

Elsewhere in the estates: An elderly woman is drawn spraying graffiti that reads “They’re ashamed of our youth … and that’s the truth” along with “Never give up, never back down. We can turn this place around!”, and an anti-immigrant placard, the same as the one recorded in January.

Westland Road, Corcrain/Redmanville, Portadown

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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William And Mary

2026-08-182026-08-27Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“King William III, King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1689-1702. ‘Prince of Orange’. “The enemy made some resistance but at length gave way, and we routed them entirely.” King William III, writing to Queen Mary after the battle of the Boyne: 1st July 1690″.

This gable-sized board – launched on July 10th, 2026 – replaces the UVF “Armed And Ready” centenary mural in the Westwinds estate.

The “parchment” in the lower-left corner describes the crisis in Protestantism caused by James II’s (conversion to Catholicism and) second marriage and birth of a son, thereby threatening to establish a Catholic line of monarchs.

It then includes some of the letter from the Immortal Seven inviting William, who was already married to James’s (Protestant) daughter (and presumptive heir) Mary, to take over. As the dates-of-death on the board make clear, Mary died young, at age 32, of smallpox (WP), leaving William to rule alone for another eight years.

Blenheim Drive, Westwinds, Newtownards

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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King Billy’s On The Wall

2026-07-052026-07-08Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The “Roden Street Bonfire And Cultural Festival 2026” has events every day this week, leading up fireworks and the lighting of the bonfire on the Eleventh (Fb). This new board, at the Donegall Road end of Roden Street, was unveiled on June 28th (Fb video).

“William III and II, also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702.”

“Historical Significance. The Glorious Revolution: William was invited by English Protestant leaders to invade England depose his Catholic father-in-law, King James II. Battle of the Boyne (1690): He secured his rule in Ireland by defeating James II’s forces at this pivotal battle. Constitutional Monarchy: His reign with his wide, Mary II, marked a shift toward parliamentary power through the 1689 Bill of Rights.
Cultural Legacy. The Orange Order: A Protestant fraternal organisation named in his honour, which celebrates his victory at the Boyne annually on The Twelfth (July 12). Iconography: He is famoulsy depicted on murals in Northern Ireland, often riding a white horse and wearing an orange sash. Place Names: He is the namesake of Williamsburg, Virginia, and the College of William and Mary. ‘Remember 1690 – King Billy’s on the Wall [youtube]'”

The portrait of William on the left is by Godfrey Kneller and part of the collection in the National Gallery Of Scotland.

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Our Wee Town

2026-02-122026-02-16Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

These placards for two local flute-bands are on light-poles in Markethill: above, the Kilcluney Volunteers flute band (Fb), below, the Markethill Protestant Boys (Fb). The crossed rifles and RIR emblem, and the graveside mourner and poppies, are WWI imagery; Markethill men joined the second battalion of the Armagh brigade of the Ulster Volunteers and (in the Great War) the ninth battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. (See also UVF 3rd Battalion Armagh in Tandragee).

Main Street, Markethill, Co Armagh

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Ulster Says No!

2026-01-022026-02-10Extramural Activity1 Comment

This is the scene at the Corcrain-Redmanville bonfire (Fb) site, along Drumilly Green, where the hut has been moved to the south side of the Green, to join the Union Flag and Ulster Banner.

The 2025 bonfire topped 100 feet in height (News Letter); collecting for the 2026 pyre has yet to begin.

Westland Road, Portadown

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Ballyclare Remembers

2025-07-232026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Modern UVF volunteers in balaclavas stand with heads bowed on either side of the Ulster Tower in Thiepval, standing among orange lilies and red poppies.

On the left the 10th Scottish Rifles (AWM) commence a raid, below the emblem of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and on the right, the Royal Fusiliers appear to march off to war in a press photograph (Flickr), below the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division.

In Grange Drive, Ballyclare, on the same as wall, and using part of the frame from, a previous UDA board: Young Guns.

The Glorious Revolution

2024-11-152026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The story of William in Ireland has been a recent favourite in PUL displays (e.g. Newtownabbey | Carrickfergus | Shankill); this version is novel in adding a letter from June 30th, 1688, both in transcription and facsimile, under the heading of the “Glorious Revolution”. In it, the “Immortal Seven” tell William, the Prince Of Orange, that 95% of English people want a change in monarch. William arrived in England in November, 1688, and in Ireland in June, 1690.

The Williamite Trail (from October) joins an earlier tribute (June) to Elizabeth II on the years of her silver, ruby, gold, diamond, sapphire, and platinum jubilees (1977, 1992, 2002, 2012, 2017, and 2022).

For another combination of William and Elizabeth, see Elizabeth, Queen Of Orange.

This sub-station is the site of the infamous “Join The UDA” mural of 2015 (one | two).

Oakfield Crescent, Oakfield/Glenfield, Carrickfergus

Ballycraigy Bonfire

2024-09-132024-11-24Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Ballycraigy bonfire from 2021 (Fb) is at the centre of a new free-standing board that was added this (2024) summer. Around the outside, the rose and thistle are joined by the orange lily and the poppy, rather than the shamrock and daffodil of the “four nations”.

For the similar board on the gable wall in the distance, see Lead The Way.

On the green at Hollowburn Road, in the Ballycraigy estate, Antrim.

Preserving Identity

2024-08-282024-09-03Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Promoting Culture, Preserving Identity”. Here are a pair of new boards Mount Vernon Park, north Belfast, launched on August 11th, 2024, celebrating three Scottish bands and the local Fifes And Drums. Each of the bands’ emblems includes the Roman numeral “III”, which also appears in the bottom corner of the ‘Band Of Brothers’ board. It stands for the 3rd Belfast (i.e. north Belfast) battalion of the UVF, “Tiger’s Bay”. The St George’s Cross in the top-left corner and the purple background (of the ‘Band Of Brothers’ board) come from the UVF flag, which typically also has an orange star in the bottom right, here replaced by a swirling musical staff and Union Flag.

“Band Of Brothers. This artwork is a tribute to the unbreakable bond that we in North Belfast, share along with the following bands: Craigneuk [Scotland] True Defenders flute band, formed 1947 [Fb]; Andrew Murphy Memorial flute band [Scotland], formed 1988 [Fb]; City Of Belfast Fifes And Drums, formed 2003 [Fb]; Bellshill [Scotland] Defenders flute band, formed in 2017 [Fb]. For decades, these bands have remained faithful, and been a credit to the loyalist cause that binds us. When on parade, the honour and dignity displayed by each band, is impeccable. In timeless memory of the Fallen, each band proudly and respectfully bears the Colours and Emblems of: the Ulster Volunteer Force, the Young Citizen Volunteers, the 36th (Ulster) Division. ‘More than friends, comrades’.”