Author: Extramural Activity

Cuidich’N Righ

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The festive atmosphere depicted along the bottom of the Pride Of Ballybeen flute band’s new mural, with people clapping and waving and doing cartwheels as the parade passes by, is in contrast with the regimental emblems in the upper part of the mural: we see (on the left-hand side; first close-up below) the Highlanders (“Cuidich’n Righ” is Scots Gaelic for “Help the king”) and the Irish Guards (motto “quis separabit”; 1783 is the year the Order Of St Patrick was created), and (right-hand side, second close-up below), the Royal Irish Regiment and the Logistics Corp (motto “Honi soit qui mal y pense“). These are perhaps regiments in which band-members serve or have served; the band does not have a (public) internet presence.

For the previous mural, see Pride Of Ballybeen.

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Masker Aid

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This entry updates (with close-ups) the image seen in 2022’s Luminaries And Legends Of Eastside which showed (from afar) the ‘famous faces’ mural at Connswater/CS Lewis Square in east Belfast with a large “smiley” face over DJ David Holmes – a (presumably) unauthorised addition to the 2017 original. Word is that Holmes’s image was painted over because he is not from east Belfast. It’s not clear (from on-line sources) where exactly in Belfast Holmes is from; he lived in Los Angeles, California, for a time before returning c. 2014 (Irish Times).

(MaskerAid is an app that allows one to cover faces in photos with smiley-faces and other emoji.)

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Prepared For Space, Ready For Wall

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Storm Darragh originally took only the top third off the UVF “Prepared for peace, ready for war” mural in Mount Vernon (see Taken By Storm) but the entire wall was subsequently demolished – as shown in these images – due to concerns about its safety. The Sunday World reports that residents in the estate do not want the mural to be repainted; the wall is/was NIHE property (pdf).

See also: When It Blows Full Blast for the damage done in Northumberland Street.

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Everyday Adventure

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“Good vibes outside” is a series of “everyday adventure” guides from clothing brand Bleubird, which now has three physical shops, in Ballymena, Cookstown, and east Belfast, where you can find this street art by Cha Cha (Carla Hodgson ig) depicting many local adventure-spots – the list at the bottom suggests Wild Atlantic Way, Fermanagh Lakelands, Giants Causeway, Sperrins, Rathlin Island, Strangford Lough, Mourne Mountains.

Upper Newtownards Road, Ballyhackamore, east Belfast

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Bat-Bricks And Bouquets

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The fourth ‘Wild Belfast’ (web) mural project is aimed not at birds but at bats (above) and other nocturnal pollinators of flowers, such as moths (immediately below) (Bat Conservation Trust | Butterfly Conservation). Two “bat bricks” (fourth image) have been installed as part of this project in Landseer Street, south Belfast, above a two-part wall-painting by emic (web).

The three projects so far have been aimed at house martins (A Bird In The Hand), swifts (Swift-Tailored) and sparrows (Seeds For Sparrows).

(For more nocturnal activity, see also the Suggestions For Stargazing project in the Waterworks.)

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Seeds For Sparrows

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“The flowers that bloom tomorrow are the seeds you planted today” – this is another in the series of murals sponsored by Wild Belfast (web) as it attempts to increase the habitats for birds. The ‘house martin’ painting at Cliftonville and the ‘swifts’ painting in Bruce Street are now joined by a piece by Lost Lines (ig | Rhea Hanlon) in Rossmore Drive, south Belfast, featuring house sparrows. Like the others, this piece include bird boxes, mostly in the top right of the wide shot, last below.

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Today, Everyday, And Always

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There was a David Ervine mural (and memorial sculpture) on the building at the corner of Albertbridge Road and Montrose Street South in east Belfast but the corner unit was knocked down and over time the hoarding around the site became dilapidated and graffitied. The hoarding has been given a new coat of paint and decorated with WWI memorial banners and small children’s cut-outs.

The other David Ervine piece (to the right in the wide shot) remains.

Image of the hoarding in 2021:

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Copyright © 2021 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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