Famous faces and landmarks from east Belfast: Van Morrison, CS Lewis, George Best, David Holmes, Harland & Wolff, Holywood Arches, Strand Arts Centre, Danny Blanchflower, Lucy Caldwell, Marie Jones, Sam McCready, Gary Moore, James Ellis, St Mark’s Dundela, Eric Bell, Dee Craig (the artist).
Connswater Street, east Belfast
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The statues in CS Lewis Square are by sculptor Maurice Harron (who also did the Hands Across The Divide statue in London-/Derry). The seven statues are of Aslan the lion, Mr. Tumnus, Jadis the White Witch, Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, the stone table (in granite), Robin Red Breast, and, Maugrim, the talking wolf who is head of the Witch’s secret police. Most of the figures are in bronze but Maugrim – shown above – is made of about 5,500 pieces of stainless steel welded to a steel frame (Loop).
For images of the murals (by Friz – web | tw) in better condition, see Winter’s End; for the chain and ropes metal-work, see Of The River.
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Two types of mourner at the grave of a fallen WWI soldier: on the left, comrades in arms; on the right, members of the family they left behind.
Work on the mural began in December, 2021, but progress seems to have stalled. One of the bayonets is in outline as is the giant poppy overheard. The effect is that the scene seems to be taking place under the stars.
Ashmore Street, west Belfast
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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On the left of this memorial board in Carrickfergus are five portraits from the later life of the child who began life in Greece as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. The family was exiled during the Greco-Turkish War. He ended up in Britain where he later joined the navy and stopped using his titles when he became the British subject, Philip Mountbatten. When he married Elizabeth he became Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His life-time matches that of the Northern Irish state (see in the second image): he was born a month after its creation and died in 2021 at the age of 99, a month shy of its centenary.
These boards and banners are in Albert Road and Thomas Street, Carrickfergus, near the Orange lodge, (for which see On Foreign Fields). They are perhaps all sponsored by the Ulster Grenadiers flute band. “Carrickfergus says “No” to Irish Sea border”
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“Sgt. Thomas George Wortley , “D Coy” 14th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles, Service No. 14/17063, Died Messines 07-06-1917, Spanbroekmolen British Cemetary Grave C10″. Wortley was born in Carrickfergus, lived in Belfast, died on the first day of the battle at Messines (findagrave), buried in a small cemetery of British soldiers, many from the 36th (Ulster) Division, in Spanbroekmolen on the Ypres Salient in Flanders (WP) – shown in the mural – and is remembered in Carrickfergus with a parade each year on the date of his death (carrickfergusrollofhonour).
Maple Gardens, Carrickfergus
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“This we will always maintain.” The Northern Ireland government’s coat of arms was approved for use in 1924, three years after the government was established. Its “supporters” – the red lion of Scotland and an Irish elk, carrying (respectively) Irish harp and De Burgh flags, and standing on a grassy mound with flax plants – were added later.
This mural celebrating the centenary of Northern Ireland’s creation, in the Woodburn estate, Carrickfergus, accurately shows the Tudor crown on the arms, as was used at the time of creation and prior to the Edwardian crown (WP).
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The new panels shown here re-re-image the side-wall of the mural on the left (see For Valour), which was dedicated to the Royal Irish Rifles of the Great War. We now see hooded UVF gunmen from the 1st East Antrim battalion, and an interesting quote from Edward Carson.
In September, 1914, six weeks after the Great War had begun, Edward Carson wrote to the Ulster Volunteers entreating “those who have not already responded” to “my call for Defenders of the Empire” to “enlist at once for the Ulster Division in Lord Kitchener’s Army”, fighting alongside “our fellow Britishers”: “Quit yourselves like men and comply with your country’s demand”. The impulse for the display of force shown here is the other, original, motivation for the paramilitary force, which Carson describes as “to defend our citizenship in the United Kingdom” (Strachan & Nally).
The Larches, Carrickfergus
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“Greenisland 3rd Battalion, South-East Antrim Brigade [UDA]. This memorial is dedicated to the memory of the officers and members of our organisation who were murdered by the enemies of Ulster and to those who paid the extreme sacrifice whilst on active service during the present conflict. Quis separabit. UFF. UDA, LPA”
At the shops in Glassillan Court, Greenisland.
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“Loyalist Woodburn celebrates 100th anniversary Northern Ireland”. Maintain the union of (left to right) England (St George’s Cross), Wales (The Red Dragon), Northern Ireland (Ulster Banner), Scotland (St Andrew’s Saltire). Along the fence we have the NI coat of arms and Captain Sir Tom Moore.
Sandes Ct, Carrickfergus
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Bowtown (Newtownards) marks the passing of Elizabeth Windsor in September, 2022, at the age of 96 and after 70 years as monarch of the United Kingdom and various Commonwealth realms, with two boards at the junction of Abbot Drive and Movilla Road: “Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II – the Bowtown est[ate] thanks you for your service 1926-2022.” “Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022 – grief is the price we pay for love.”
Previously: Your Local Supplier.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 