“With growth comes transformation, with transformation comes change.” This is a 2012 piece – now much the worse for wear – by Chuck Hoffman (Genesis Art) and a team of five students from Kansas (including Sam Fine) in the Bridge End tunnel (east Belfast).
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The portrait on the right is probably William McFadzean, familiar from murals such as in the Caw, Londonderry, and in Cregagh, Belfast (though the photo is unknown). The face on the left is John Travers “Jack” Cornwell, “the boy hero of Jutland”, who was awarded the VC for staying at his post as a sight-setter on the HMS Chester (the picture is from an earlier posting, on the HMS Lancaster) when it was hit by German light cruisers on May 31st, 1916. Cornwell died from shrapnel wounds on June 2nd (Mary Evans).
It’s not clear why Cornwell is included here, as he was from, and is buried in, east London, rather than Belfast or Ireland, and does not seem to be associated with the 36th Division. Please get in touch if you can explain his inclusion here. See also: Battle Of Jutland and HMS Caroline.
Dee Street, east Belfast, on the fence seen previously in My God-Given Right To Rule.
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Unlike the book of Lamentations (see Our Homes Have Been Given To Foreigners), the book of Jeremiah contains a promise that the peoples of Judah and Israel will return from Babylonian captivity and that the palaces of Judah will be rebuilt. In the New Living Translation, Jeremiah 33 v6 is rendered as, “Nevertheless, the time will come when I will heal Jerusalem’s wounds and give it prosperity and true peace.”
In addition to the Ulster Banner and Israeli flag (in the shape of hearts) we also see the emblem of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) – צבא ההגנה לישראל/Tzva Hahaganah leYisrael – and below that אי כניעה or “no surrender” in Hebrew.
“We are at war and we will win” was Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the Hamas attack of October 7th (Times Of Israel)
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The name “Ulster-Scots” refers to the emigrants to North America from Ulster that had previously come from Scotland and the English borders, and most of the Ulster-Scots murals in the 2000s focused on emigration to America and on US Presidents with Scotch-Irish heritage (see the Visual History page of Ulster-Scots murals).
In 2017, a series of boards along York Street focused on industrialists in Northern Ireland with Scottish backgrounds: 13 panels in five posts: one | two | three | four | five. And this new collection of “Ulster-Scots” luminaries (which is 100 paces away) likewise presents figures who are associated with Northern Ireland rather than America. Modern folk such as those portrayed in these new boards presumably have Scottish heritage rather than Scotch-Irish. (The title of this entry – The Scots In Ulster – comes from a Discover Ulster Scots poster about the Scots who came to Ulster in the 1600s, regardless of whether or not they or their descendants later moved to America.)
From left to right, the people shown are as follows. (Links are to previous entries in the Extramural collection.)
Mountcollyer: motorcyclist Rex McCandless, author CS Lewis, physicist John Stewart Bell, song-writer Jimmy Kennedy, medical inventor Frank Pantridge
York Rd: snooker player Alex Higgins, singer Ruby Murray, soldier Blair Mayne, agricultural inventor Harry Ferguson, missionary Amy Carmichael
For the political tarp on the gable in the background, see Choose One Or The Other.
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The corner at Limestone Road and North Queen Street has been finding a biblical passage to express the jubilations and tribulations of God’s chosen people since 2016, when Revelations 18:4 was cited on the gable wall in support of Brexit; in 2021 this was changed to Psalms 95:7 – visible in the images in the wide shot, below – in reference to the chosen people’s soccer team, Rangers.
The lower wall used Genesis 38:28 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation (2017), along with Luke 1:31-33 and 2 Samuel 7:16 to proclaim the everlasting Christian order; then in 2018 John 15:13 was used to mark the centenary of armistice that ended WWI in 1918; and in 2020 2 Chronicles 7:14 was deployed as an exhortation to pray to the Lord for relief from Covid-19.
And this brings us to the newest quotation, which places an Israeli flag above Lamentations 5:1-2: “Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace./Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners” (NIV). The lamentation is for Jerusalem, which in 589-586 BCE was besieged and overrun by the Babylonians and the Jews exiled to Babylon. The present-day analogue would presumably be the Hamas attacks on October 7th, 2023, against communities and bases near the Gaza Strip, in which around 1,200 people were killed (Reuters) and approximately 240 people were taken hostage (NYTimes).
It is not clear whether a further analogy with the Protestants of Northern Ireland is intended. This one might be simply to express support with the Israelis.
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“A taste of tradition: Whiterock flute band. Est. 1962. West Belfast, Northern Ireland. New Barnsley, Moyard, Springmartin, Woodvale, Whiterock, Springfield, Highfield, Shankill.” The Whiterock Flute Band board at the top of the Shankill has been updated to reflect the changing of the monarch – the passing of Queen Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles III – and also to mark the band’s 60th anniversary in 2022.
The memorial to Elizabeth on the left-hand side replaces the memorial to Alex Thompson (seen in 2021) which had been appended to the 50th anniversary board (A Taste Of Tradition). Thompson is included at the top of the next column, “recognition of loyal service”. The columns on either side of the emblem show photographs from the various deacdes, including the 50th anniversary celebrations. Above the doorways are the names of “members past and present” above drawings by local children of “my favourite image” and a link for the band’s music.
“Embrace the past. Ignite tradition. Inspire the future.” Whiterock Flute Band appear to have fallen under the influence of a public-relations consultant.
November 21st:
September 18th, 2022:
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community cohesion with local children
If you’re riding Shank’s mare, the combined length of the Cregagh and Woodstock roads is two miles; where they meet (opposite Ravenhill Avenue) you’ll find this new street-art by Zippy (ig) with support from Decowell Restoration (web), Bethany Fruit (web) and Astrl Fibres (ig), and funding from Belfast City Council).
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Here is a galley of images of the street art from a November, 2023, jam in Bangor, from PENS (ig), Ana Fish (ig), FGB (ig), Soaring Tides (ig). There were also jams in April (Around Every Corner) and January 2023 (This Is Not The Same As Other Days). The wall is off Queen’s Parade in the Bangor Marine regeneration area (DfC | Bangor By The Sea).
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season of the bad guys
This is the new Vanguard Bears (web) board at the Ulster Rangers Supporters’ Club on the Shankill Road. It replaces the board that celebrated the 55th championships of Rangers and Linfield. In the close-up above of the left-hand side, below King Charles III and formed into the numeral 66, are the names of the fans who were crushed to death as they left Ibrox after the Old Firm derby on January 2nd, 1971 (WP).
There used to be a Vanguard Bears board in Sugarfield Street, on the other side of the Shankill Road – see The Boys In Blue – and another is still in place in Barrington Street (Sandy Row) – see Follow, Follow.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 