PUL – Page 49 – Paddy Duffy Collection

Ulster Says No To An ILA

2023-10-152024-08-27Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Resistance to IRA demands – “Every word spoken in Irish is like a bullet being fired in the struggle for Irish freedom” – Ulster says no to an ILA.” The precise wording and the author of the quotation are unclear. Nelson McCausland of the DUP gives it as “Now every phrase you learn is a bullet in the freedom struggle” and attributes it to Sınn Féın’s Pádraıg Ó Maolchraoıbhe in May 1982 (BelTel | Nelson’s View). The Irish language is not, of course, the exclusive property of militant republicanism, and, although the IRA has ceased its campaign and decommissioned its weapons, it is used here in conjunction with an image of a gunman firing an assault rifle in order to provoke fear against an Irish Language Act. The bill – enacted by Westminster rather than Stormont – became law last (2022) December (BBC). The poster dates from 2022 or 2021.

See previously: A Tale Of Two Protests | Acht Anoıs.

Below are “PSNIRA” targets and an old Leo Varadkar poster – see A Return To Violence.

Beechfield Avenue, Carrickfergus

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A Name That Equals Any In History

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“In memory to all who fought and gave their lives.” This is the tribute to the Ulster Division at the Carrickfergus Rangers Supporters’ Club, citing the words of Wilfrid Spender “I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the First of July [1916], as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world.” (For more of Spender’s tribute to the 36th Division, see I Am Not An Ulsterman.)

For the names and information of the nine VC recipients, see Victoria Crosses or Repaying Their Memory.

Also from the Club: Club: a gallery of Rangers’ Managers in We Welcome The Chase | commemorative murals to the UDR in Some Gave All | to the Highland Fusiliers.

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Some Gave All

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“All gave some; some gave all.” During its twenty-two years of operation, 197 UDR soldiers were killed. The scroll on the left gives the dates of the regiment’s operation: 1970 (April 1) was the year it replaced the Special Constabulary, and 1992 (May 31) was the year seven of the nine battalions were amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers’ two battalions to form the (modern) Royal Irish Regiment (WP) – the piper in the top right is carrying a flag of the Royal Irish Regiment.

The inscription on the plaque reads: “Ulster Defence Regiment mural, dedicated on the 19th March 2016 by Chairman Roy Burton, Carrickfergus Glasgow Rangers Supporters Club [and] Chairman Stephen Weir, Carrickfergus Ulster Defence Regiment Association CGC. Lest we forget.”

The mural is at the Carrickfergus Rangers Supporters Club (Fb). Also from the Club: Club: a gallery of Rangers’ Managers in We Welcome The Chase | commemorative murals to the 36th Division in A Name That Equals Any In History | and to the Highland Fusiliers.

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Highland Fusiliers

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March 10th was the 52nd anniversary of the killings of three Highland Fusiliers, Dougald McCaughey and teen-aged brothers Joseph and John McCaig, who were drinking in a city centre pub and lured to their deaths in north Belfast at the hands of the (Provisional) IRA. The killings led to the resignation of NI prime minister James Chichester-Clark and an increase, to 18, in the minimum age for service (WP).

There is a monument in Ballysillan and a stone to the three in Ligoniel near the spot where they were executed, and a mural in Rathcoole.

This mural is at the Rangers Supporters’ Club in Carrickfergus. Also from the Club: a gallery of Rangers’ Managers in We Welcome The Chase | commemorative murals to the 36th Division in A Name That Equals Any In History | to the UDR in Some Gave All.

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Royal Visits To Carrickfergus

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William was granted the peerage “baron Carrickfergus” as a wedding present in 2011, which made Catherine/Kate baroness (WP). They visited the town in 2022 (BBC). The black-and-white photograph on the left is of Queen Elizabeth visiting in 1961 (youtube).

Replaces the kids mural We Are Friends in Hawthorn Avenue, Carrickfergus.

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100 Years Of The Covenant

2023-10-152026-03-31Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The mural above uses the text of the Ulster Covenant, signed in September, 1912, as a backdrop to a composite of two photographs from 1914, showing Edward Carson speaking and a row of Ulster Volunteers, which were formed in January 1913.

Alain Miossec/Murals Irlande Du Nord has an image of the previous printed version, which is almost identical, apart from Stormont as a backdrop rather than the text of the Covenant.

Painted by Dee Craig (Fb) in Carnhill Walk, Castlemara, Carrickfergus.

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New Birth

2023-10-152026-02-07Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Dahlias by emic (ig) replacing a NI Centenary board in Thomas Street, Carrickfergus, replacing a pair of NI Centenary boards.

Spells Joy

2023-10-062024-08-27Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Vault artists have moved out of the old Belfast Met building in east Belfast (see Do You Own A Giant Building? | The Vault Is Empty | Locked Vault) and set up shop in Marlborough House in the city centre and the Shankill Mission in west Belfast. The group have a new web site: vaultartiststudios.com. The inaugural event at “Marly” took place this weekend, called It’s All Your Vault. There will also be a launch event at the Shankill Mission at some point. In the meantime, here are three from the side of the Shankill Mission, from (bottom) emic (ig), (below) Rob Hilken (ig), and (above) Kerrie Hannah (ig) who takes her inspiration from stained glass windows in Townsend Presbyterian by Wilhelmina Geddes (see On The Other Side).

In The Shadows Of Our Community

2023-10-052026-04-01Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“It is not for riches, fame or glory that we remain in the shadows of our community, but for its protection.”

These words are echoed on the central stone in the garden of reflection, with adjacent North Down UDA roll of honour: “‘Who shall separate us?’ Right up to the present day, these words have been the inspiration and motivation of numerous men and women to serve, fight and die for the defence of their homeland, its people and its heritage. This selfless action is not for riches, fame or glory, but is freely given out of a love of freedom, commitment to the faith and culture of our nation, and a desire that all future generation in all communities can live in peace.”

Movilla Street and Wallace’s Street, off Upper Movilla Street. “Loyalist Movilla” in Newtownards.

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“This garden of reflection is paying tribute to the men and women who have lost their lives in all wars and conflicts, past and present, here in Northern Ireland and throughout the world, in the hope that one day we can all live together, side by side in peace regardless of religion, colour or creed.
“‘Who shall separate us?’ Right up to the present day, these words have been the inspiration and motivation of numerous men and women to serve, fight and die for the defence of their homeland, its people and its heritage. This selfless action is not for riches, fame or glory, but is freely given out of a love of freedom, commitment to the faith and culture of our nation, and a desire that all future generation in all communities can live in peace. Their sacrifice, commitment and dedication will always be appreciated and will never be forgotten.”
“In our past the soldiers fought, for freedom and for pride, some of them were wounded, many of them died. With poppies we remember the soldiers that have died, with them we now have freedom, because they fought with pride. There they lie in Flanders Fields, where bright red poppies grow. In the war they fought for, and that we’ll always know. Freedom is never free.”