Above, a recruitment tarp for the Blues And Royals flute band (Fb).
Below, (and on the wall above the flute band’s tarp) a NI Centenary board using the St Patrick’s saltire in the background. The saltire is an Anglo symbol of Ireland and was included in the Union Flag when the union was between Britain and Ireland and thus – like the word “Ulster” – has been reduced to signifying Northern Ireland after partition.
Jim McCabe, “life-long campaigner for truth and justice” after his wife Norah was killed by a plastic bullet in 1981, returns to the “International Wall” (Visual History) on Divis Street. The original mural – from a few months after his death in January 2023 – was replaced by A Window To A Free Country, one of the Palestinian-inspired murals. This new version replaces The Land Is Ours.
“In memory of all the innocent victims murdered and seriously injured by British Crown forces.”
The image above is from August 2nd; the images below are from July.
Here is a gallery of small boards on flower boxes in “the Village Green community park of remembrance”: “The Protestant faith we will maintain. Your culture needs you. Join your local band, Orange lodge, Apprentice Boys, Royal Black historical group”, with Kitchener pointing at the viewer; “Deserted – Well, I can stand alone!“; “Ulster Day, 28th September, 1912“; “No Home Rule. Let our flag run out straight in the wind. The old red shall be floated again. When the ranks that are thinned shall be thinned. When the names that are twenty are ten“; – Edward Carson and the formation of the Ulster Volunteers in 1913; – All nine counties of Ulster are “Hands up!” “against Home Rule”.
Roden Street was divided in two when the Westlink was built along the path of the Blackstaff to join the M1 at Broadway with the Grosvenor Road. (This portion of the Westlink opened in 1981; a Klaus Fröhlich photograph of a blocked-off Roden Street on the CNR side, looking towards Divis, is included at the end of the post.) The vintage mural in the top left of the first board (above) was in Clifford Street and is now on the Grosvenor Road (CNR) side of the motorway. (The mural can be seen in Visual History 01.)
“How cool is it that the same God that created oceans and mountains and galaxies looked at you and thought the world needed one you too”, “Be the light”, “God is love”, “Let your light shine”.
Uplifting religious messages in Sixmilewater Park, below Main Street, Ballyclare.
Modern UVF volunteers in balaclavas stand with heads bowed on either side of the Ulster Tower in Thiepval, standing among orange lilies and red poppies.
On the left the 10th Scottish Rifles (AWM) commence a raid, below the emblem of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and on the right, the Royal Fusiliers appear to march off to war in a press photograph (Flickr), below the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
In Grange Drive, Ballyclare, on the same as wall, and using part of the frame from, a previous UDA board: Young Guns.
The memorial wall in Erskine Park, Ballyclare, marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day – May 8th, 2025 – with a pair of printed boards wrapping around the corner of the low wall.
For views of the gable and the low wall with armed-forces emblems and plaques to Girvan and Erskine, see The Men From Ballyclare.
Six memorial plaques to members of the UVF’s 1st battalion (West Belfast), D company (Ballysillan) have been re-instated and two new one added alongside the 100 Years Of Conflict boards at Carr’s Glen. The plaques to Bingham, Phillips, McEvoy, the “officers and volunteers”, Stewart, and Taylor were on the old UVF mural on this wall (see the Peter Moloney Collection); the two new ones are to Kenny Howie and to Scottish supporters.
Left: “Lt Col John Dowey Bingham killed by the enemies of Ulster 14th September 1986. Remembered by officers and members of the 1st Batt D Coy Ballysillan. Lest we forget” [(WP)] “In memory of Major Patrick McEvoy. Lest we forget” “In memory of Kenny Howie 21.4.1977 – 8.4.2013. Lest we forget” “In proud memory of the officers and volunteers of D Company 1st Battalion Ulster Volunteer Force. For God and Ulster”.
Right: “In memory of Major Thomas Stewart. Lest we forget” [d. 1996 in a dispute over money (Irish Times | BelTel) “In memory of Martin Chin Taylor. Lest we forget” [d. 2000 killed by the LVF (BBC)] “In proud memory of Volunteer David (Davey) Phillips, taken by cowards Sunday 12th July 1998. Sadly missed by his friends and comrades of ‘D’ Company Ballysillan. Lest we forget” [possibly d. 1998 (BelTel)] “In memory of fallen volunteers 1st Battalion D. Company Ulster Volunteer Force Scotland”
Three plaques at the Ballynafeigh Apprentice Boys social club on Blackwood Street:
“In loving memory of Allison Jane Smith – you’re missed so much by so many who knew you in Ballynafeigh”, “Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the foundation of Northern Ireland – Northern Ireland centennial 3rd May 2021”, “In memory of all our past members”.
Paddy Duffy Collection 