These community murals were painted under the auspices of the Edgarstown Residents’ Association (Fb), which hosts a Drop-In, Kids’ Club, Evolve (NI World), Smile (ArmaghI), and PCBDT (Portadown Community-Based Detached Team) (NI World | NIHE). The sub-station was painted in March, 2022 (Fb) – in the early 2000s it bore a UVF mural (see D01333); the low wall reading “Welcome To Edgarstown” is from August of this year (2024).
West Street/Margaret Street and Union Street, Edgarstown, Portadown
Two plaques have been added to the Portadown True Blues mural in Edgarstown, Portadown (as compared with the images from 2021). They read “In loving memory of Richard “Dickie” Craven. Fondly remembered by the Portadown True Blues F.B.” and “In loving memory of Mark “E.T.” Elliott. Fondly remembered by the Portadown True Blues F.B.” Craven died in at the end of July, 2021, (Fb) and Elliott also in 2021 (Fb).
“In Deo speramus”. “Edgarstown Remembers” “our forty-two fallen sons who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving their tomorrow for our today in the Great War 1914-1918.” “Dear Lord, I am just a soldier, a protector of our land/A servant called to battle when my country takes a stand./I pray for strength and courage and a heart that will forgive/For peace and understanding in a world for all to live./My family’s prayers are with me, no matter where I roam./Please listen when I’m lonely and return me safely home – Unknown”
These are the UDA boards on Avenue Road, near Lurgan Park, which proved controversial when they were erected (in 2016), mainly because the second piece (below) “celebrat[es] 30 years of South Belfast/Lurgan 1 company D battalion” UDA and shows Troubles-era shows-of-strength (News Letter) and because it turned out the wall was owned by the Housing Executive (NIWorld).
The piece above describes the creation of the UDU in 1893, as a response to the second Home Rule bill, which was passed by the Commons but rejected in the Lords, and which Edward Saunderson celebrated by saying, “Home Rule is dead. It was dissected in the House of Commons, buried in the House of Lords, and even the Irish people would not trouble to give it a wake”. The UDU is as used an origin-story for the UDA, though often in vague terms, such as the verbiage here which reads “[the UDU] would become the birth stone of the Ulster Defence Association, as we looked to the patriotism of our forefathers to defend our communities”. (For more, see UDU-UFF-UDA. For Saunderson, see Union Is Strength.)
This year (2024), UVF lettering a stone’s throw away, on the other side of the entrance to the park, likewise drew criticism (BelTel | ArmaghI), but it has now been removed.
William III is the only member of the (Dutch) House Of Orange to rule the UK, as his marriage to Mary did not produce any offspring, and the crown passed to Mary’s sister Anne after both Mary (1694) and William (1702) had died (WP). Queen Elizabeth II was from the Saxe-Coburg And Gotha ‘house’ (changed during the Great War to “Windsor”) via her great-great-grandfather Prince Albert (of Victoria & Albert) but she symbolises Orangism to Northern Irish Protestants and in the portrait shown here she wears an orange jacket and an orange hat which has a band of orange lilies; the portrait is framed by a Union Flag and two clusters of orange lilies.
The plaque on the right reads “This mural is a tribute to her majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Funded by the loyal people of Portadown. To God be the glory.”
The ‘Lion Rampant’ in the crest of (Glasgow) Rangers FC comes from the Royal Banner Of Scotland (where it has a blue tongue and blue claws) (WP); the national flag of Scotland is the St Andrew’s Saltire, which appears in the centre of the trio at the top of this mural, between the red hand of Northern Ireland and the red lion. The “RFC” crest, including the word “Ready”, appeared on players’ shirts between 1990 and 1995 (WP).
There has been a version of this mural in Edgarstown, Portadown, since (at least) 2002, though previously it gave 1873 as the date of formation – see M04154 from 2008 and X00508 from 2011.
On July 1st, 1916, the Battle of Albert began, the first of many battles in what is known collectively as the Battle of the Somme. Soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Brigade went “over the top” at 7:28 a.m. By the end of the day, more than nineteen thousand British soldiers were dead, five thousand from the 36th.
Below the main panel, which shows combat at close quarters, are the words of Wilfrid Spender: “I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the 1st. July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world … the Ulster Volunteer Force, from which the Division was made, has won a name that equals any in history.”
Here is a gallery of the street art and wild-style writing painted in the tunnel at the redeveloped York Street Station (BBC), formerly Yorkgate Halt. Get in touch if you can supply any of the missing artists in the list below …
NOYS (ig) KONE (ig) JAM2 (ig) Karl Fenz (ig) SNAK (ig) Kyle McGinley (ig)
“”To embrace the story of Mesen/Messines and its spirit of brotherhood is to be freed from the slavery of bigotry and intolerance.” – Glen[n] Barr O.B.E. 2001″
Glenn Barr was a UDA brigadier and spokesperson for NUPRG and its policy of an independent Northern Ireland – see Common Sense. In the 1980s and beyond, his efforts were directed mainly at tackling youth unemployment in Londonderry, for which he received an OBE in 2005. He died in 2017. (WP)
The tower in the mural shown here is (perhaps) the round tower at the ‘Island Of Ireland Peace Park’ in Messines, a cross-community project of Barr’s and (former Donegal T.D.) Paddy Harte’s. The Park honours the soldiers – from both the 36th (Ulster) and 16th (Irish) divisions – who were killed or wounded in the Battle Of Messines Ridge in June, 1917. The source of Barr’s quotation is unknown but he made similar remarks on other occasions (NIWorld | ISPS).
The mural is in the Ebrington Centre’s car park, off Bond’s Street, Waterside, Londonderry. It joins three other murals to the Irish dead of WWI: The Cost of War (which also features the Peace Park) | We Are The Dead | Comrades In Arms.
Paddy Duffy Collection 