“How cool is it that the same God that created oceans and mountains and galaxies looked at you and thought the world needed one you too”, “Be the light”, “God is love”, “Let your light shine”.
Uplifting religious messages in Sixmilewater Park, below Main Street, Ballyclare.
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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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Modern UVF volunteers in balaclavas stand with heads bowed on either side of the Ulster Tower in Thiepval, standing among orange lilies and red poppies.
On the left the 10th Scottish Rifles (AWM) commence a raid, below the emblem of the Ulster Volunteer Force, and on the right, the Royal Fusiliers appear to march off to war in a press photograph (Flickr), below the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division.
In Grange Drive, Ballyclare, on the same as wall, and using part of the frame from, a previous UDA board: Young Guns.
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The memorial wall in Erskine Park, Ballyclare, marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day – May 8th, 2025 – with a pair of printed boards wrapping around the corner of the low wall.
For views of the gable and the low wall with armed-forces emblems and plaques to Girvan and Erskine, see The Men From Ballyclare.
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A grey heron (above) and a kingfisher (below) sit along the banks of the Six Mile Water. The river rises west of Larne and flows through Ballyclare on its way to Lough Neagh.
Abercorn Drive, Ballyclare, but best viewed from the Main Street bridge. Artist unknown.
See also: a street-art tribute to the river Braid in Ballymena.
Nearby in Ballyclare: Dandelions | The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green.
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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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These painted dandelions can be found outside the Cedar Tree florist in Ballyclare but their real counterparts can presumably not be found inside: According to Biodiversity Ireland (pdf), the dandelion is found almost everywhere on the island and is a species of “least concern”.
By Imogen Donegan (ig) in Main Street, Ballyclare.
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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green was an 1898 collection of tales from Ballyclare and surroundings as retold by by Archibald McIlroy, who grew up in the area before moving to Belfast, Drumbo, and Canada. McIlroy died travelling on the Lusitania, when it was hit by a German submarine in 1915 (Ulster Biography | Ulster Biography). The stories have been brought to life in a podcast.
This new street art is by Zippy (ig) in Main Street, Ballyclare.
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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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East Antrim 1st battalion (specifically D Company?) and (North?) Belfast 3rd battalion mural in Erskine Park, Ballyclare.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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The Men From Ballyclare & District was launched without the board along the fence/wall in front of the mural. The original post shows “UDA reserved” graffiti on the wall to the right. In 2021, there was some South East Antrim lettering to the right – see A0835. (For the SEA UDA in Ballyclare, see previously the companion WWI mural and 100 Loyal Men. Also, Belfast Live | Bel Tel.)
There is now a long board along the front. The two info plaques profile Edward Girvan and John Erskine, whose portraits are also featured in the larger mural, and between them are the emblems of the branches of the British Army: Merchant Navy, Navy, Army, and Air Force.
To the right of and out of frame in the image above, there is a Union Flag painted for the 75th anniversary of VE Day – see Street View.
Erskine Park, Ballyclare
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Copyright © 2023/2025 Paddy Duffy
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The phrase “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty” is commonly but spuriously attributed to Thomas Jefferson (Monticello). It is used here by “1st East Antrim Battalion – Ballyclare – Ulster Volunteer Force” in the Grange and Erskine Park estates (Ballyclare) to protest Brexit and the NI Protocol. The graveside mourners, however, belong to WWI.
Previously on the gable in Erskine Park: The Heaneys.
The one shown above is next to the 3rd batt/1st batt memorial – see Lest We Forget.
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“‘Let no man ever think for a moment that I will not stand to the very death if it is necessary in the interests of Ulster and of the Ulster people.’ Captain James Craig, first prime minister of Northern Ireland.”
To go with the fighting words, Craig is shown here in military uniform – though he was a young man when joined the Royal Irish Rifles and served in South Africa for two years (1899-1901), with the Imperial Yeomanry and the Imperial Military Railways. As the politician who was instrumental in the Ulster Volunteers and the creation of Northern Ireland (and prime minister until his death in 1940), he is usually shown in civilian clothes – see e.g. Floreat Ultona | Ulster Welcomes Her King & Queen | Because He Loves What Is Behind Him.
The source of the quote is unknown – please comment or get in touch if you can say what it is from. It’s also not clear what uniform Craig is wearing – the cap badge is the ‘lion on crown’ used e.g. by officers of the Devonshire yeomanry; it is perhaps a officer’s dress uniform for the Imperial Military Railways (though see the IMR pouch badge). Craig was also assistant adjutant to the 36th Division (DIB).
Erskine Park, Ballyclare
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Paddy Duffy Collection 