Here are four new (late 2022) pieces in Alexandra Park. Get in touch if you know the artist – the signature is perhaps “AH” or “ASH”.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02931 [T02930] T02932 T02933 T02934 Not Ash Reynolds (CAP | BelTel | SMC Collection)
“O valiant hearts who to your glory came/Through dust of conflict and through battle flame//Tranquil you lie, your knightly virtue proved/Your memory hallowed [not “hollowed”] in the land you loved.” The hymn ‘O Valiant Hearts’ was a poem written during the first World War to commemorate the Allied dead, and was put to a variety of tunes during the 1920s, including arrangements by Vaughan Williams and Holst (WP); the most commonly sung tune, however, is that of Charles Harris (youtube, includes the full poem).
The memorial shown in the middle of the board is a Cross Of Sacrifice (see previously: One In Design And Intention) built on top of a German pill box at the centre of Tyne Cot cemetery, near Passchendaele, Belgium. The title of today’s post comes from remarks made by George V during a 1922 visit to the cemetery (History.org). The map in the background shows the area just south of Ypres (Canadian Soldiers).
The board is in Pim’s Avenue, Belfast, opposite the older YCV emblem shown below.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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A mammoth bonfire in Craigyhill (Larne) is again being built this year (for last year’s 202′ effort, see Commonwealth Handling Equipment). 30,000 pounds has already been spent on pallets (Sunday World) but the attempt to build a record bonfire and have the bonfire officially declared the world’s tallest by the Guinness Book Of World Records has now been substituted by a (justgiving) fundraiser for Larne child Pia-Grace who is suffering from cancer (Belfast Live). A two-day festival begins today (July 10th) at noon and the boney will be lit after dark on Eleventh Night.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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At the beginning of Joyce’s A Little Cloud (from Dubliners), Little Chandler is sitting at his desk in the King’s Inns (law school) rather than, as written here “the King’s Inn”, which is the nearby pub outside of which this painted electrical box can be found.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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The Cuilcagh Boardwalk is a 2.8-mile trail that ends in stairs that climb to the top of Cuilcagh Mountain [Binn Chuilceach, chalky mountain] and the views it offers of the surrounding territory – hence the name “Stairway To Heaven”. The distance from boggy plain to chalky pinnacle is 700m – and eight million years of geological history (Cuilcagh Geopark). Then you walk back the same way (Walk NI).
Work by Friz (ig) in Wickham Place, Enniskillen, at the Belmore motel.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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The troll under the East Bridge in Enniskillen is friendly, offering a flower to the sprites doing “The Dance” (the official name of the piece) to the music of a satyr. Mural by Kevin McHugh (ig).
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Fiddler John McManus (who died in 1987 – Fermanagh Herald) and other musicians – by Kevin McHugh (ig) on the wall of Pat’s bar in the Diamond, Enniskillen, where there’s a session each Friday at 7 (Fb).
Belfast Live report on the painting of the mural.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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AC-12 is based in the West Midlands of England but headed by former RUC-man Ted Hastings, who is famous for his Northern Irishisms, including “Now we’re suckin’ diesel”. (For “I didn’t float up the Lagan in a bubble”, see Mother Of God.) The Line Of Duty character is played by local Enniskillen actor Adrian Dunbar.
By Karl Fenton and Danni Simpson in Church Lane, Enniskillen.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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