Local storyteller Hugh Dillon in Castle Street, Ballycastle, by JMK (Jonny McKerr). The original photograph, of Dillon in Leyland Road, Ballycastle, in 1956 and is available at Dúchas.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Glentaisie Drive – site of this mural by Friz (web) – is named for Glentaisie, the glen – one of the nine Glens Of Antrim, at the foot of which lies Ballycastle – and Glentaisie is named for Taise Taobhgheal (Taise the bright-cheeked), daughter of King Donn of Rathlin island, renowned for her beauty, and who lived in the glen with her husband Congal, who had to kill the Norwegian king Nabghdon to prevent her being carried off (Archaeology Ireland). Or so they say. She also inspired the name “Fair Head” for the local cliffs. Or so they say.
In later years (1565), Sorley Boy MacDonnell was taken prisoner by the O’Neill’s after a battle in Glentaisie (WP).
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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14 year-old Noah Donohoe went missing on June 21st while cycling in the York Road area en route from his south Belfast home to the Cave Hill. His body was found in a north Belfast storm drain six days later and the postmortem showed death by drowning (Irish News). Many details of his last hours remain unknown, however, including how he came to drown in the drain. His mother, Fiona, started a campaign on August 11th on Facebook and Twitter to press for answers and signatures are being collected for a petition into the PSNI handling of the case.
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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“Stand against the legacy legislation – state murder is murder! – bill of shame”
The UK parliament adopted the “Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023” on Septetmber 6th and it became law on the 18th, preventing future inquests and civil cases. Twenty challenges have been lodged against the bill and a hearing is due to begin on November 20th with a primary focus on whether or not the bill is compatible with the European Convention On Human Rights (ITv | BBC). In the meantime – prior to the May 1st, 2024 deadline — the Springhill-Westrock inquest continues on Monday (RFJ).
This mural showing Lady Justice gagged but with a raised fist, by Iliana Edwards (ig), is on a wall outside the offices of Relatives For Justice (web).
Update: February 28, 2024: The High Court has ruled against the Act (BBC).
See previously: a call to a rally in September.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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RNU unveiled a new monument in Milltown as part of their Easter Rising commeration on April 9th, 2023. This photo of it is on a new board on the Falls Road, next to the Rook O’Prey board.
For the stone itself, see An Attitude Of Rebellion. There do not appear to be any images of the new monument on the RNU Fb or tw accounts.
“Republican Network For Unity. Erected by the Belfast Commemoration Committe[e]. Miltown cemetery Easter 2023.”
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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These two boards are at Gort Na Móna CLG. The one above was put developed by young Gorts as they learned about the history of the club as part of a twentieth anniversary celebration of Terry Óg Enright (Fb) who was killed by the LVF in 1998. The second board, below, combines the two previous boards to Terry Óg, seen previously in No Such Thing As Failure and Páırc Mhıc Ionnrachtaıgh.
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“Welcome to Turf Lodge” — “Fáılte go dtí Lóıste Na Móna”. Turf Lodge was one of a number of estates built in the foothills of Black Mountain — including Westrock, Springhill, Ballymurphy, New Barnsley, and Dermot Hill — meant to house an underserved Catholic population and displaced families from other areas of Belfast.
The estate was built over a number of years but most people moved in between 1960 and 1962. (Northern Visions made a documentary about the history and people of the Turf Lodge estate that includes descriptions of the various ways in which the estate was left unfinished even as people took up residence.)
For the sixtieth anniversary, the electrical boxes outside John Paul II (formerly St Aidan’s) were stencilled (above and immediately below). This year (2023), more boxes have been painted, with images of gaelic games (see Gort Na Móna), bluebells (see Féıle Na gCloıgíní Gorma), and the silver fáınne on red background (see #AchtAnoıs).
See also: Klaus Fröhlich has a gallery of photos of the flats in the middle of the estate in great disrepair in 1979 (at BAP).
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This post is an update to last year’s Gaırdín Na hÉıreann which showed various painted electrical boxes in Ballymurphy. To these have been added some boxes in Slıabh Dubh and New Barnsley.
The second Slıabh Dubh image (immediately below) is of Spiderman, to fit with the wall of superheroes that can be seen in the background (seen previously in Red Eye).
(After three from the top of Ballymurphy which were included in last year’s post,) there are five from the New Barnsley side of Springfield Road, including two featuring Newhill Youth/Football Club (Fb) ahead of its 50th anniversary, which will be celebrated in City Hall this Saturday, September 2nd (Fb).
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Irish-language rappers and provocateurs Kneecap (web | ig) unveiled another mural in Hawthorn Street yesterday afternoon ahead of their Falls Park gig last night.
The entry on last year’s mural (Níl Fáılte Roımh An RUC), Incendiary Device, included a shot of the sticker that has been turned into this year’s mural. The sticker, in turn, is based on a vintage mural painted in Strabane (England Get Out Of Ireland) and Belfast (Stad Maggie Anoıs).
Replaces the large GAA board.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Here are six images showing the full expanse of the new mural at the entrance to Bawnmore. From left to right we see: a mill, a swan, a train (there used to be a station in Bawnmore), a guitarist, a farmer gathering hay, a hurler, Molly Seaton (who was captain of the Irish women’s soccer squad in a 1927 match played in Bond’s Field, in the Waterside – Derry Journal), Greencastle Rovers (Fb), Bawnmore Community, Wolfe Tone CLG (Fb), elephants from Belfast Zoo (a baby elephant called Shiela stayed in the Whitewell home of its keeper during the WWII Blitz – BelTel), El Barto (Bart Simpson), St Mary’s Star Of The Sea primary school (web), a hand-heart containing the rainbow colours, and superheroes Spiderman, Iron Man, and Wonder Woman. (NIHE)
The new mural is by Visual Waste (ig) and replaces Glen Molloy’s Game Of Thrones/CS Lewis mural from 2018. With funding from the Housing Executive and Clanmil Housing Association.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Paddy Duffy Collection 