“We salute all those who have fought, died and assisted in the fight for Irish freedom. Ar dheıs Dé go raıbh a n-anamacha. West Tyrone remembers.”
Above is a recent (2025-06) mural painted in Clady of IRA volunteers c. 1971 defending the bridge a stone’s throw outside the town, to prevent it from being blown up by the British Army. A history of the bridge, and the photograph which the mural reproduces, can be found at The Pensive Quill. The work of painting the mural and refreshing the window-boards of the building has been undertaken by the Joseph Plunkett 1916 Society Clady/Grebe (Fb).
The two monuments, to volunteers generally and Neal Lafferty (d. 1975) specifically (Fb), stand together at the junction with Cluney Gardens. There is also a memorial to James McPhelimy (d. 1988) on the other side of Urney Road, and one to Jim McGann (d. 1973) on the bridge.
This entry updates 2024’s Here Dead We Lie – the plaque to Boyle and Somerville remains as before (it was originally mounted in 2005) but all three of the boards have been updated. The two on the extremes have the same content as before, while the central board marks the “50th anniversary” of the death of “Volunteer Harris Boyle”, “eternally remembered by the officers and volunteers of Mid-Ulster UVF”. Both Boyle and Somerville were members of both the UDR and UVF; they were “killed in action” when the bomb they were planting on the minibus of the Miami Showband went off prematurely. A parade in Boye’s memory took place in Portadown (BBC). Surviving Showband members and their sympathisers also marked the anniversary – on July 31st, 2025 – with a service at the spot of the attack (BBC).
The boards are at the junction of Gloucester Avenue and Princess Way in Portadown – Boyle was from the Killicomaine estate; Somerville is individually commemorated in Moygashel.
This entry updates the images seen in November’s Lest We Forget, with the addition of six military insignia to either side of the ‘Old Comrades’ board that was added just after Remembrance Sunday.
On the left (top to bottom): Royal Irish Rifles (later the Royal Ulster Rifles), 36th (Ulster) Division, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers; on the right: Royal Irish Regiment, Order Of St Patrick, British Light Infantry.
The CIRA (Continuity IRA) is the military wing of Republican Sınn Féın (RSF web), which split from Provisional Sınn Féın in 1986, though the military campaign did not begin until the Provisional IRA ceasefire in 1994. Like all of the various IRAs, the CIRA claims to be continuing the fight for (all-island) Irish freedom begun with the 1916 Easter Rising – the board (above) commemorates the centenary of the Rising.
To the left is a slightly newer RSF board: “Stop the extradition of Liam Campbell now – don’t hand him over, don’t play England’s game”. Campbell was extradited from the Republic to Lithuania in 2022 (BBC) but was returned to Ireland later the same year when a court ruled the statute of limitations has expired (RN).
The CIRA’s armed campaign is represented by the hooded gunman in the ‘warning sign’ below.
Also included (last below) is a small IRSP (web) stencil.
The pieces are in the adjacent Meadowbrook and Drumbeg areas of Lurgan.
“25 years from home. In proud and loving memory of Inky & Candy. Gone but not forgotten.”
October 2000 was a violent month in Tiger’s Bay, north Belfast, as the UDA and UVF feuded. David “Candy” Annesley (commonly known as David Greer – BelTel) was shot in Mountcollyer Street on October 28th by the UVF. On the 31st, Bertie Rice, veteran UVF member and canvasser for the PUP, was killed by the UDA at his Canning Street house. Later the same day, Tommy “Inky” English – UDA commander in north Belfast who had previously lived in Tiger’s Bay – was shot death by the UVF at his Ballyduff home. Mark Quail of the UVF was shot in Rathcoole on November 1st. (BBC | BBC | WP) There were fears that the feud would end (An Phoblacht) but it was formally ended on December 15th, with a joint statement by both groups (RTÉ).
This twenty-fifth anniversary tarp is on the multi-use pitch on North Queen Street at Upper Canning Street.
This is a new version of the board seen in 2022, in which the central emblem was of the 8th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles, whereas it is now of the “East Belfast & North Down Veterans’ Association”.
Below, a small plaque reading “We were there yesterday, We are here today, We will be here tomorrow” has been added
On the left of this Newry memorial is a list of the “1916 Easter Rising Leaders executed by the British government: Thomas Clarke, Padraig Pearse, Thomas Mac Donagh, Joseph Plunkett, Willie Pearse, Ned Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan John Mac Bride, Eamonn Ceannt, Sean Heuston, Con Colbert, Michael Mallin, Thomas Kent, Sean Mac Diarmada, James Connolly, Roger Casement.”
On the right are five members of the local Óglaıgh na hÉıreann: Patrick Hughes, Edward Grant, Michael Hughes, Brendan Watters, Colum Marks.” Michael Hughes/Mıcheál Ó hAodha is commemorated at the western entrance to the estate and the plaque also mentions the death of his father, Patsy, and the death by premature explosion of his friend Eddie Grant in 1973. Brendan Watters likewise died by premature explosion (UPI). There is a memorial stone in Downpatrick at the spot where Colum Marks was killed.
Included last below is a Saoradh (web) board: “End British political policing”.
Rudyard Kipling’s 1912 poem ‘Ulster’ (Kipling Society) predicts destruction for Protestants under Home Rule and calls for violent resistance, even if it means sacrificing one’s own life: “Believe, we dare not boast/Believe, we do not fear/We stand to pay the cost/In all that men hold dear”.
As is well known, the Ulster Volunteers were founded and smuggled in weapons, but before they could be used, the Great War began and the Volunteers signed up for Kitchener’s Army – the flag on the left includes the battles in which the Central Antrim Regiment of the Royal Irish Rifles (as part of the 36th Division) participated, fighting “For King and Empire”.
The graveside mourner on the right, the 1st East Antrim Battalion UVF, and all of the smaller panels on the right, belong to the Troubles era. There is no information about Jim Curran in 1975; the image of Curran’s funeral appears to be AI-generated.
The previous tribute to Duke Elliott was installed in 2013 as the houses in Columbia Street were being rebuilt. Ernie “Duke” Elliott came from the Woodvale area (Leopold Street) and was a founder member of the Woodvale Defence Association in 1971, which was later folded into the UDA. He was also a Marxist. He was killed at age 28 in a pub brawl in December 1972 in a dispute over weapons (WP | Tele | Watching The Door).
The plaque “dedicated to the officers and members of ‘B’ Company WDA (UFF)” has been retained. Also included is an image of the plaque that was added (c. 2022) to the main mural, commemorating Jackie Parsons.
Ohio Street, Woodvale, west Belfast
Buster Adams, Noel Clements, Tommy Aiken, Allistair Cousins, Billy Andrews, Irene Craig, Davy Armstrong, Drew Crawford, Fred Bailie, John Crossett, Wilbur Barnes, Tommy Dinsmore, Mark Barr, Jimmy Dowie, Sam Black, Tony Duff, Tommy Black, Ray Dummigan, Tommy Boyd, Tom Edgar, Davy Bryson, Ernie Elliot, Jimmy Carberry, Brian Faulkner // Billy Fenton, Tommy Hill, Hedgie Ferguson, Trevor Hill, Billy Gardner, Keek Holmes, Lewis Gilbert, Tommy Howells, Billy Graham, Bertie Howells, Travis Grey, Jim Hutchinson, Dennis Grey, Geordie Johnston, Geordie Hall, Tom Johnston, Jimmy Hall, Maurice Kavanagh, Stephen Hamilton, John Kennedy, Bobby Harvey, John Kiltie, Billy Higginson
Geordie King, Lee McKeag, Hugh Linton, Betty McMillan, Billy Little, Bob McMillan, Harry Lockhart, Robert McMillan, Rab Lockhart, Norman McMillan, Drew McAllister, George McMurray, William McBride, Jimmy Millar, Bobby McCade, Archie Millar, Tommy McCormick, Victor Moody, Joe McCann, Wesley Morrison, John McCrea, Graham Murdock // Jonny Nelson, Tommy Totten, Freddie Parkinson, Billy Thompson, David Parker, Phillip Thompson, Jackie Parsons, Mark Turner, Bobby Patterson, Jimmy Welshman, Ned Pollock, Lou West, Charlie Quinn, Stanley West, Ray Riley, Cecil Williamson, Jackie Robinson, Silver Wilson, George Selby, Tucker Yates, Sammy Swain, Sandy Wright
The memorial garden in Barrington Gardens at long last appears to be finished. The house on the corner of Donegall Road was knocked down in 2012 or 2013 and work began converting the waste ground into a memorial to local Great War casualties in late November 2023. See this entry for images from both November 2023 and October 2024.
Since 2024, three pillars have been added below the main board, one each for the 10th (Irish) Division, 36th (Ulster) Division, and 16th (Irish Division) – for the service of the three divisions, see The Cost Of War, We Are The Dead, and (for the particular story of John Meeke and Willie Redmond) Comrades In Arms – and an iron bench to the 36th has been placed below the crests of the YCV, Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Fusiliers, and the Royal Irish Rifles on the side-wall to the left.
Silhouetted graveside mourners appear on either side of the main board and in the gates to the garden
Paddy Duffy Collection 