“100 years. Lıle na Cásca. Wear your Easter lily with pride. Tabhaır ómós do laochra na hÉıreann. [Pay respect to Ireland’s warriors]”
Shown here are Sınn Féın (web) and Lasaır Dhearg (web) invocations to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising. The lily as a symbol of the 1916 Easter Rising was introduced by Cumann Na mBan in 1926 as a fund-raising device. For a history and vintage posters from across the century, see An Phoblacht.
This is a new information board below the Ballymurphy Massacre board at the Glenalina Road corner with the Whiterock Road.
The first panel (on the left) reads, “On Monday 9th of August 1971 Internment Without Trial was introduced by the British Government. The policy was directed and implemented by the British Army with the stated aim to “shock and stun the civilian population”. Between 9th and 11th of August 1971 eleven people were killed in the Ballymurphy area of west Belfast. All eleven were murdered by the British Army’s Parachute Regiment. All eleven were unarmed civilians. One of the dead was a parish priest and another the mother of eight children. Fifty-seven children were left without a parent. There was No proper criminal investigation. The Royal military police were assigned as sole investigators. Not one member of the British Army was held to account. It is believed that had justice been administered and those held to account charged, the events of Bloody Sunday would not have happened.”
The remaining panels give a day-by-day account of the eleven deaths, of Father Hugh Mullan, Frank Quinn, Noel Philips, Joan Connolly, Danny Teggart, Joseph Murphy, Eddie Doherty, Joseph Laverty, Joseph Corr, Paddy McCarthy, John McKerr.
The main (Sınn Féın) Easter Rising commemoration in Belfast takes place today (Easter Sunday). A full list of commemorations over the holiday, including those hosted by anti-Agreement groups, can be found at Republican News. See also, for the IRSP/RSYM commemoration, To The People Of Ireland.
“Dé Domhnaıgh, 5ú Aıbreán, Comóradh Na Cásca Bhéal Feırste. Caınteoır: Deirdre Hargey MLA. Cruınnıgh ag Ascaıll [Ard] Na bhFeá 1.00 i.n., ag fágáıl ar bhuılle 1.30i.n. Cuımhnıgh ar Thírghráthóırí Marbha Na hÉıreann. Caıth Lıle Na Casca. Cumman Uaıgheann Na Laochra Gael.”
[Sunday, 5th April, Belfast Easter Commemoration. Speaker: Deirdre Hargey MLA. Assemble at Beech[mount] Avenue 1:00 p.m., departing at 1:30 p.m. precisely. Remember Ireland’s Dead Patriots. Wear an Easter Lily. Gaelic Heroes’ Grave Association (= National Graves Association).]
At the Felons’ Club, Falls Road, Andersonstown, west Belfast
“John Mitchel 1815 – 1875 After twenty years in exile for the sake of Ireland he returned with honour to die among his own people and he rests with his parents in the 1st Presbyterian old meeting house green at Newry.”
Mitchel graduated from Trinity at 19 and became an attorney in Newry and Banbridge before becoming a writer and editor for The Nation (the phrase “England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity” comes from an 1845 article) and then The United Irishman. After 16 editions, he was arrested and convicted of treason and sent to penal colonies in Bermuda and Tasmania. He escaped to the USA, where he was an ardent supporter of slavery. When slavery was abolished, he again took up the cause of Ireland, returned to Ireland, won the Westminster seat for Tipperary but was barred, as a felon, from taking it, and died unexpectedly at age 59 (WP).
John Mitchel Place, Newry, in front of St Colman’s Park.
The middle of the three upper plaques in the image above, as well as the blue plaque above them (in the third image), is dedicated to Thomas Raymond Kelly, a merchant seaman who died as he attempted to rescue a third person from heavy seas in the Bay Of Biscay. He was awarded the George Cross for his efforts (Newry Maritime Association).
The other plaques commemorate the SS Upas (Irish Wrecks); the Quo Vadis fishing boats (Mourne Maritime); SS Orior (Wrecksite); the “merchant seamen from Newry And Mourne who served with courage and valour through both World Wars”; SS Clew Bay, which took part in Operation Dynamo in Dunkirk; SS Dingle; the “Carlingford Lough Disaster” in 1916 – the collision of the SS Connemara and SS Retriever with the loss of 94 lives (BBC).
The IRSP/RSYM will commemorate the Easter Rising with wreath-laying in Derry (IRSP Derry Fb | RSYM Fb) on Saturday and a parade in Belfast on Easter Sunday (IRSP Lower Falls Fb). These posters of the seven signatories to the Proclamation are on the Falls Road, at Waterford Street/Dunville Park, west Belfast.
“Palestine bleeds. Over 20,000 children killed. That’s more than one child killed every hour. And 42,000 injured by the Israeli murder machine. Their revenge will be the laughter of their children. Andersonstown stands with Palestine. We are all Palestinians.” The figures perhaps come from a Save The Children report from September, 2025.
The campaign urging the GAA to sever its ties to sponsor Allianz (web) began in August 25th, after an update to a 2024 report by the UN urged businesses – including Allianz – to end their ties with Israel (UN | youtube). In response, a letter of protest, signed by 800 former and current players, was delivered to the GAA (RTÉ) but a vote in December retained the sponsorship (BBC | Irish Examiner). Protests have continued (e.g. at the GAA congress), among which is this message written in posters on the hoarding around Casement Park (for which, see Build Casement Now).
Belfast match-maker Maguire & Paterson made matches under the brands Buffalo, Swift, Bo-Peep, and City Hall (and perhaps others). The factory was on the Donegall Road, on what became, for a time, the site of West Side Stores (and is now a set of houses facing the Park Centre. Here is an aerial view (on Fb) of the factory in 1947, when Celtic Park was still standing.
This tribute to the Belfast match is by Leo Boyd (web) in Beechmount Avenue, west Belfast.
Paddy Duffy Collection 