PUL

Doury Road

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The official title of this piece is ‘The Estate With Love In It’ (Love Ballymena) but the figure at the centre of it appears to be heading toward some faraway land. Nonetheless, efforts are being made by the proud residents (Fb group) to improve the estate, compared to conditions a decade ago – see the short film from 2013 at Poverty & Social Exclusion.

The work is by Carly Wright (web) and Sam McAleese – who also did Beacon Of Hope in the town’s Ballykeel estate, and a piece in Belfast for HTN 2023 – in September 2023, with support from the Doury Road Development Group (Fb) and the Housing Executive.

Alexandra Park, Ballymena

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Flamingo Ballroom

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The Flamingo Ballroom was open from 1960 to 1980 and the building was demolished in 2017 (BBC | BelTel) but it is fondly remembered by fans who got to see some of the biggest names in rock and pop, including the Rolling Stones, Chubby Checker, the Everly Brothers, Thin Lizzie, Rory Gallagher, and Pink Floyd, as well as Irish showbands (here is the bill from September 1961).

Here is an image of a sax player with local band the Cossacks with the tall flamingo inside the club – and this provides the inspiration for this street art by Woskerski (web).

Greenvale Street, Ballymena. (The face in the window in the image above belongs to the Goose Herder opposite.)

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The Rivers Flow Not Past But Through Us

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The Braid River rises in the Antrim hills between Carnlough and The Sheddings. It then flows (west) past Broughshane and Ballymena before joining the Maine and flowing into Lough Neagh. The river is at the centre of this new piece of street art by Shane O’Driscoll (ig) in Ballymoney Street, Ballymena.

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Mill Street, Ballymena

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These shutters of a solicitor’s office in Mill Street, Ballymena, are painted with a view of the street from around the turn of the (20th) century.

The original photograph, by photographer Robert French, can be seen in the National Library Of Ireland. French died in 1917, which provides an upper limit for the date of the scene.

In the misty distance is the tower of St Patrick’s (CI) church (WP) and closer to the camera (on the right of the left-hand panel) is the steeple on top of the old town hall, which was built in 1684 (one of the old “seven towers” in the town) and rebuilt in 1928 (WP).

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Donaghadee Harbour

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Donaghadee harbour celebrated the bicentennial of its construction (which took from 1821-1834) with a mural towards the bottom of Manor Street. From left to right, we can see the “motte” or “moat”, an Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey castle from the 1100s; the lifeboat (behind the crew) is the Sir Samuel Kelly, named for a hero of the Princess Victoria sinking in 1953 (Historic UK) – the station was established in 1910; the Copeland Islands and holiday-makers; Tom Blower, who left from Donaghadee to swim the North Channel in 1947; Bobby Simpson hiring out row-boats below the lighthouse, which was built in 1836.

The work is by Verz (ig) and Ed Reynolds (web).

(Sources: WP | Ards & North Down council Fb | web | News Letter)

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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