Harbour Highway underpass in Larne was re-painted in late October (2022) by (in order of appearance) Alana McDowell (ig), Rob Hilken (ig), emic (ig) (Lí Ban and/as otter, which was also the inspiration for iota’s piece in the town – see Shaped By Sea And Stone), Codo (ig), and FGB (ig).
With support from Seedheard Arts (ig) and Mid- & East Antrim council (ig).
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Bullets versus bonfires in Craigyhill, Larne: the hooded gunman shown above is next to the boards shown in The Loyalist Executioner in Glenfarne Place, Craigyhill (Larne). Both it and the second image (from the top of Cairngorm Drive) have been added since July, 2022. The image of a pair of assault rifles, is in Fanad Drive. The final image is of the board that (in 2019?) replaced the controversial Craigyhill Provost Team board that showed a hooded gunman with a pistol.
For the claim to be the “world’s tallest bonfire”, see Commonwealth Handling Equipment.
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Boards have been added to the WWI memorial plaque in Stoneyford. On the right, the 36th Division go over the top in Beadle’s ‘Attack Of The Ulster Division’ (see Over The Top); the board on left more specifically commemorates the 2nd battalion of the South Antrim Ulster Volunteers, flanked by the leaders of the anti-Home Rule movement – Carson, Craig, Crawford, and Bonar Law.
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Sources:
Image from North Antrim Horse of Viscount Masserene and other leaders of the Ulster Volunteers at Antrim Castle
Image from Balmoral Perspective of the gun-running at Donaghadee
19-year-old Andrew “Macey” Mason was wearing his Hillhall band uniform and a UDA badge while en route to visit his girlfriend on April 19th, 1987, when he was set upon by two men near Carnlough on the Antrim coast. The gruesome details of the beatings and stabbings that followed are given in Lost Lives (#2827).
This is the second (see previously 2010 – M05938) memorial board to Mason in Hillhall. The memorial plaque (below) is a new version of the older plaque to John McMichael, Raymond Smallwood[s], Jim Guiney, and Mason.
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T02320 T02321 T02319 Hillhall Gardens “Sons of Ulster do not be anxious for we will never forget you as long as the sun shines and the wind blows and the rain falls and the rivers of Ulster flow to the sea. Always remembered by volunteers from Hillhall C Company.”
Memorial boards to Queen Elizabeth have been added to the ‘our community transformation’ board and community garden in Old Warren.
An image of the old “You are now entering loyalist Old Warren” display that is shown in the ‘before’ side of the board above is included below. On the ‘after’ side are the youth centre, the new houses at the top of Drumbeg Drive, and the Lagan View enterprise centre. For a brief history of the area, see Through Your Eyes.
The previous board on this wall – a UDA B Company board – can be seen in C02674 and its predecessor in M05916.
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The Priory Park tunnel goes links Priory park with Seapark Bay in Holywood by going under the A2. On the one side are images from the countryside (with a few lines from Frost’s ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening‘) and on the other are images from the seashore. “The creation of these works has been supported by NIHE and the Holywood Residents Assoc.” “urbanartsni.com” is a dead link.
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The South Belfast UDA/UFF commander John McMichael (1948-1987) was killed by an IRA car bomb. In addition to organising a team of assassins in the 70s and 80s, he founded a Political Research Group and wrote two documents proposing an independent Northern Ireland, 1979’s Beyond the Religious Divide and 1987’s Common Sense (available at CAIN), promoting the philosophy of ‘Ulster nationalism’. The quote on the board comes from the end of the Introduction to Common Sense:
“There is no section of this divided Ulster community which is totally innocent or indeed totally guilty, totally right or totally wrong. We all share the responsibility for creating the situation, either by deed or by acquiescence. Therefore we must share the responsibility for finding a settlement and then share the responsibility of maintaining good government.”
Above: “Old Warren A Coy/B Coy”. Right: “One man, one love, one country. Commonsense. In loving memory. Quis separabit.” around a portrait of McMichael. Left: “Common sense” with an Ulster Banner Northern Ireland.
Drumbeg Drive, Lisburn
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“We cherish too the poppy red/That grows in fields where valour led/It seems to signal to the skies/The blood of heroes never dies.” From Moina Michael’s poem We Shall Keep The Faith.
This is an update to the 2016 entry in the Seosamh Mac Coılle collection that showed the mural in new condition. Seven years on, there has been much fading and peeling of paint.
Ballyduff Gardens, Newtownabbey
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This hooded gunman from the UVF’s North Belfast/3rd battalion will keep an eye on your wains while they play in the playground across the street. This mural replaces a kids’ mural that read “New Mossley estate recognises the importance of its young people.” (Street View)
Ballyearl Drive, New Mossley, Newtownabbey.
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“Officer in command Vol. Ernest “Ernie” Dougan (30/04/65-22/03/20) Ballyduff/Glengormley Ulster Volunteer Force 1st East Antrim Battalion.” Dougan died at the beginning of lockdown and so the public commemoration of his passing did not take place until 2022. He was also involved in the Ballyduff Community Redevelopment Group (Fb). According to a Sunday World article, Dougan did not join the UVF until sometime after the Agreement, after he was given a punishment beating by the UDA in north Belfast (see Irish Times | Mirror) and moved out to Ballyduff.
Ernie was the brother of Robert Dougan, who was killed by the IRA in 1998 – see Everyone’s Friend | Gone But Not Forgotten.
The two long sides of the electrical box were seen The Ultimate Sacrifice and If Needed We Shall Rise Again. The Ulster Banner with charging soldier on the other short end replaces Carnmoney Remembers.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 