“The world’s best.” A new board has been mounted in Sandy Row to pay tribute to Lewis ‘The Croc’ Crocker, Sandy Row’s very own world champion, who “honed his craft at Cairn Lodge boxing club” on the West Circular and became “IBF world welterweight champion” at “Windsor Park, Belfast, 13th September 2025.” Crocker lost the title in June 2026, to the Australian Liam Paro.
On the right is soccer-player George Best, who grew up in Cregagh and debuted for Manchester United at the age of 17. “George Best at the age of 22 was awarded the prestigious Ballon d’Or on the 24th December 1968.”
“Portadown True Blues flute band, est. 1968 [Fb].” This is a trio of boards at the top of the Brownstown estate, on the fence overlooking the “Northway” that separates Brownstown from Edgarstown. The flute band draws from both estates and has murals in both.
Both the main panel (immediately below) and the one to the left features WWI soldiers and the 36th Division – the band is associated with the Mid-Ulster brigade UVF (see the old Edgarstown mural in the Peter Moloney Collection).
“Craigavon Protestant Boys flute band (Lurgan), 60 years unbroken, 1966-2026. Our only crime is loyalty.” Five new boards have been mounted at Mourne Road/Pollock Drive to celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of the Craigavon Protestant Boys (Fb).
The final/right-most board mostly concerns the transformation of the Ulster Volunteers and Young Citizen Volunteers into the 36th Division of the British Army in WWI but the central text alludes to the dispute in the 1980s between some bands and the Orange Order, over the conflation of the different forms of the “Ulster Volunteer Force” from the beginning and end of the twentieth century. It reads, “During the early years of the band the committee were gifted a number of flags but these never made it out on the road, and for the first 21 years the band didn’t have a colour party. That all changed in Spetember [sic] 1986 when the band made the decision to carry for the first time in our history going about the task of acquiring Ulster Division standards, being the first local band to carry this style of flag. While the band was very proud to carry these new standards it caused a lot of issues for the band in the early days due to lack of understanding and ignorance especially among some of the loyal orders at home and in Scotland with the threat of being banned from walking in Scotland hanging over the band for a number of years. Thankfully through education this is no longer the case and many bands now carry similar standards.”
The Orange Order was not happy that bands that were affiliated with paramilitary groups were carrying the flag and wearing uniforms of the 36th Division. In Scotland, Greengairs Thistle flute band – which is associated with the Shankill Protestant Boys and C Company in the west Belfast UVF (see the Peter Moloney Collection) – was banned in 1988 from marching in Orange parades (CAIN), though it continued to march in Apprentice Boys parades (Fb).
Nowadays, blending the Ulster Volunteers/36th Division with the Troubles-era UVF is standard practise among loyalist groups, even if the authorities disapprove. In Bangor, for example, funds were secured for a WWI memorial to which paramilitary stones were added at the last minute (see Shared Space).
“Loyalist culture – unbowed, unbroken.” The Sydenham Bonfire is constructed annually on the Inverary playing field and there is now a mural announcing the group who build it, to go along with the bonfire’s Facebook page. The phrase “unbowed, unbroken” has been frequently seen in CNR muraling, beginning with a 1996 mural in Lenadoon.
There is a memorial plaque in the top left: “Dedicated to Reece (Leeper) Leeman. To our friend that we hold dear, hard to believe that your [sic] not here. Thankful our memories won’t disappear. Always on our minds throughout the year.” Leeman, aged 21, was stabbed to death in 2019 (BBC) when he and a friend attempted to raid cannabis from the Kyle Street house of an aquaintance (ITv | News Letter).
Inverary pitches and bowling green, Sydenham, east Belfast
Demolition of Rathmoyne House and Coolmoyne House – the tower blocks at Seymour Hill – began in July (NIWorld | Belfast Media). Their rubble can be seen in the background of a new trio of boards on the railings, with freshly repainted Union Flag and Ulster Banner, and a new arched memorial to the dead of the Battle Of Albert on the first day of the Somme. The central poster reads, “1st July morning 1916 the brave men of the 36th (Ulster) division went over the top.” and the Maid Of Erin emblem of the Royal Irish Rifles appears on the left and the Red (right) Hand of the 36th (Ulster) Division on the right.
The Village Bonfire (Fb) proved controversial last year because of asbestos in an old factory roof lying near the site. The Council recommended that the bonfire be removed but the police refused to intervene; instead, the owners of the land secured the hazardous materials (BBC | BBC). This year, organisers were selling badges showing a person at the bonfire in a haz-mat suit (Reddit | image at Irish News Fb).
This writing is by Art With Park (ig), Alex Reed (ig), and Owen Watts (ig) in Maldon Street, Village, south Belfast
The walkway along the Six Mile Water below Main Street, Ballyclare, has been painted with biblical quotations which are transcribed below, replacing the inspirational messages seen in 2025’s Let Your Light Shine. There is also a comment suggesting that the religious art is a form of re-imaging or beautification (see Visual History 11): “Graffiti is a world-wide culture – please stop covering our culture”.
“I lift my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and Earth. – Psalm 121” “We love because he first loved us – 1 John 4:19” “Praise the Lord, proclaim his name, make known what he has done. – Isaiah 12:4” “How wide, how long, how high, how deep is the love of Christ! – Ephesians 3:12” “Greater Ballyclare Youth For Christ [Fb]”
Here are two paste-ups in Warehouse Lane, amongst the images from Belfast Exposed. Above “Expect nothing, appreciate everything” by DZ.B2B (ig) from Dublin, and below, a heart of flowers by tweet_streetart (ig) from Australia.
“Seamus Heaney 1929-2013.” Seamus Heaney was raised in Bellaghy and is buried in Bellaghy. Between these bookends, he attended boarding school in Derry and Queen’s in Belfast, and held academic positions in Belfast, California, Dublin, and Massachusetts. His poetry won him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 and made him a household name. Although he largely pre-dates the social-media era, this new mural in Derry suggests that he is – or could be – an influencer.
“Beneath Irish Skies (Inspired by Seamus Heaney) The grass is green when I step outside the door. The air is fresh like mint. The sun shines off the water like your eyes. The wind whistling like a flute. – by Jude Shiels, aged 12″
“Féile brought together young people from Bishop Street and Newbuildings youth clubs to work creatively alongside one another as part of a cross-community project. The young people worked with artists from Peaball [web] street art collective, helping to shape and influence the design of this mural. Through creative workshops and discussions the group explored the life of Seamus Heaney and how the landscape and the people within it influenced his work. What role in society does the modern influencer play … This project has been sponsored by PeacePlus, a programme managed by the Special EU Programmes body.”
The gas-works in Derry moved to the Bogside in 1865 (CAIN) and the site operated for more than a decade, burning coal to generate gas, and producing the smell and pollution that led Ewan McColl to write ‘Dirty Old Town’ (about the Salford gas-works), later covered by The Dubliners and The Pogues (among many others). There are images of the Derry gas-works on community Fb pages: black & white | colour | black & white. The refurbished site is now home to the Gasyard Development Trust (web) (and the Baby Jake mural).
This new street-art was painted by Peaball (web) just a little way further down Lecky Road, at the junction with St Columb’s Walk.
Paddy Duffy Collection 