The grey heron is common throughout Ireland (Ulster Wildlife) including the walls of the Cregagh Road (the side of Haus Of Hair, site of Glen Molloy’s tribute to Carrie Fisher).
The work is by Sheffield artist Peachzz (ig), organised by Cregagh-Woodstock Traders (Fb) with support from Belfast City Council (web).
Also in the Woodstock-Cregagh project: Down The Woodstock | Up The Cregagh | Back On The Streets
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Here are some images of jazz musicians on the exterior walls of the Bangor location of the Blue Chicago Grill (Fb)
Bloomfield Road, Bangor
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Landmarks of Enniskillen and Lough Erne are depicted in this “Enniskillen” mural by Danni Simpson (ig) and Karl Fenz (ig) for Experience Enniskillen (web).
Clockwise from the peaked roofs in the bottom left: Lough Erne resort, Enniskillen courthouse, Cole’s Monument, the Cuilcagh Boardwalk (which is featured in Stairway To Heaven), Enniskillen town hall, the bandstand at Cole’s Monument, the Butter Market, Enniskillen Castle, the red heart “selfie frame” in the Broadmeadow (Impartial Reporter), with Marble Arch Caves and fishing on Lough Erne (see also Pike Fishing In Enniskillen) at the bottom.
The piece is in East Street Bridge, on the side wall of Fermanagh Cottage Industries in front of the Presbyterian Church.
Also by the same pair in Cavehill, Belfast: Fowl Play (Swan) | Outfoxed | Squirrelled Away.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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“Greater love hath no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends – John Ch. 15 v13”
This memorial plaque is “in memory of [LVF] Brigadier Billy Wright (King Rat)”. Wright was killed in the Maze in December 1987 by members of the INLA (neither the INLA or LVF were on ceasefire).
Kilcoole Drive, Dungannon.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Here is a survey of PUL boards (from left to right) at the shops in the centre of the village of Moygashel, just south of Dungannon.
First is a British Army soldier in a firing position. Compare this board to Now Is The Time To Kneel in Clonduff, Castlereagh, which suggested that the time for soldiers to kneel was in mourning for Queen Elizabeth.
The subject of the second image is obscure. Vanguard as a political and activist group dissolved in 1977 (WP) and the name and emblem have been taken up by the Vanguard Bears, a Rangers supporters’ club (see e.g. Defending Our Traditions).
Third is a children’s mural, produced (in part) by children from Howard primary school.
The ‘Time To Decide’ and UDR 8th (Co. Tyrone) battalion roll of honour were seen previously, alongside two others which are now absent, in Belfast Agreement Null & Void.
Beyond those is a tarp celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s platinum jubilee, in 2022.
Finally, a Moygashel Youth Club (Fb) mural in disrepair.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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“If our shores are threatened/We will take up arms/To defend our loyal cause/Our culture and our heritage/Our freedoms and our laws.” Moygashel’s own (William) Wesley Somerville, a member of both the UVF and UDR, was killed by a bomb prematurely exploding as he placed it on the minibus of the Miami Showband in July of 1975. Three members of the band died, one of them Protestant, along with volunteers Somerville and Harris Boyle from Portadown (WP). “He died for Ulster” (on the plaque).
“When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”
Moygashel Park, Moygashel
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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This new three-storey mural by Dee Craig (Fb) is at the city end of Newtownards Road and so serves as a highly-visible introduction to east Belfast. People arriving in the area are now greeted with a vintage image of a smiling bearded man in a cloth cap, surrounded by occupations from the industrial era: “Cobbler, rag’n’bone man, fish monger, welder, builder, sweep, carpenter, window cleaner, butcher”, capped off by an inspirational “Be your best”, with yellow highlights that match the colour of the shipyard cranes Samson and Goliath.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Each quadrant of Down (north, south, east, west) gave rise to a battalion of Ulster Volunteers, and North Down comprised 15 companies, almost doubling the typical British-Army size of eight companies (History Ireland; see also another History Ireland article on the initially sporadic development of the Volunteers out of Unionist Clubs).
Upon the outbreak of the Great War, the Down volunteers joined the 13th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles, which were assigned to the 108th brigade of the 36th Division of the British Army.
The mural shown in this entry is a recent repainting; the previous version was painted in 2017 (and originally c. 2007 – see M03697).
See also: Only A Few Minutes – a memorial mural to Bangor native James Samuel Davidson, of the 108th and a North Down volunteer.
Clandeboye Road, at the bottom of the Kilcooley estate.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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This shelf of cassette tapes is a new mural by Blaze FX (web) at Portallo Street on the Woodstock Road, east Belfast, part of the wave of street art being along the avenue (see previously: Down The Woodstock | Up The Cregagh).
Van Morrison (who was with Them before going solo), Gary Moore, David Holmes, and members of Rudi (Spit) and The Defects (Spit), grew up in east Belfast, as did Thin Lizzy’s guitarist Eric Bell. (Comment/Get in touch if you know of any SLF connection to east Belfast.)
The odd tape out here is the Cut La Roc/David Holmes ‘Stars X2’ live recording from Coventry’s ‘Eclipse’ nightclub, which is from 1999 (Old Skool Anthems) while the rest are from the sixties and seventies.
The “Cregagh-Woodstock Traders” (Fb) pencil (on the right) is presumably for re-spooling the tape after you pull it out and fix the tangle.
See also: Morrison, Moore, Holmes and Bell are all included in the Luminaries And Legends mural at Connswater.
For the Belfast punk scene of the late 1970s and early 80s, see also Belfast Has The Reason.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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These UVF posters urge residents of east Belfast who owe money to loan sharks not to sell drugs or find some other way to pay it back, but instead to get in touch with a political representative.
The Sunday World reported that repayments are being withheld after the Shankill UVF ordered the leadership in East Belfast UVF to stand down (in November 2023 – IRN | BBC) and took over the operation. The posters thus come from the old (East Belfast) guard, trying to thwart the new bosses and hoping to resume collection themselves.
SDLP councillor Séamus De Faoıte commented (in the Irish News), “Anyone who has knowledge of criminal activity or exploitation of vulnerable people should report it to the relevant authorities, but people do not need to take any lessons from the UVF when it comes to upholding the law.” (Also: BelTel)
Meanwhile, the endingtheharm.com campaign (part of the Executive/DOJ’s programme designed to tackle “paramilitary activity and organised crime”) continues. See They Control You for a 2019 version.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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