“Keep CQ tidy”. Here are two tidiness-related pieces in the Cathedral Quarter: above and immediately below, Karl Fenz (web) uses the catchphrase “ya filthy animals” from the films Home Alone and Home Alone 2, and (last below), “I’ve got 99 problems but a bin ain’t one”, though the stencil is on a junction box and not on a bin. A 99 is an ice-cream cone with a (half) flake, perhaps purchased from Mackle’s (web) in Hill Street.
Marcus Keeley (on instagram) took a walk around the area and made a map showing bins on the street bordering the area but none in its middle. Business-owners in the area asked for more bins in May (Belfast Telegraph Fb reel). The bin in front of McCauley Culkin’s Kevin McCallister is newly placed (CQ Belfast’s ig).
Hill Street and Commercial Court, Belfast city centre
“There is no strength without coming together.” Cork singer and fiddler Clare Sands (web) will be in An Chultúrlann in Derry tonight (October 16th) and at the Empire in Belfast on Sunday night (18th) promoting her new album “They Tried To Bury Us” (Bandcamp).
The phrase “they tried to bury us; the didn’t know we were seeds” was briefly used in a Crossmaglen mural where it was attributed to Bobby Sands, but probably goes back to Nicaraguan poet Ernesto Cardenal in 1961.
This new mural is on the back of Madden’s bar, in Berry Street, Belfast city centre
The Farset runs from the Horseshoe Bend above Ballysillan/Ligoniel south across the Shankill before turning east towards the city centre at what is now the western end of the west Belfast war wall (“peace line”) at junction of Lanark Way and Cupar Way (Visual History), before emptying into the Lagan. In the city centre, it ran along Castle Place and High Street, but, because it was used as a sewer, it was paved over by 1848 (BBC). It can still be seen (above ground) in Townsend Enterprise Park, former site of the Soho Foundry) and in spots closer to its source.
This new piece shows scenes along the Farset just inland from the Lagan shore, showing goods being unloaded along the High Street docks (here is a map (“ground plan”) from 1685 which labels the Farset as “Belfast River”, and a painting by Joseph Carey c. 1820) and the footbridge used to cross the Farset between the Entries (Visual History) at what is now Bridge Street. (There appears to be a mistake in the map: Pottinger’s Entry is east of Joy’s Entry.)
The portrait is of Henry Joy McCracken, leader of the United Irishmen, who was born and executed by the Farset, in High Street. He was born at 39 High Street (WP) and executed in front of the Market House (shown on the left of the painting) (Lord Belmont) at the top of Cornmarket (BBC) (where Dunnes Stores now is, and before it, Woolworths); he was buried in St George’s, at what was at that time the end of the Farset, where Victoria and High streets now meet.
In McCracken’s right oxter is the gatehouse of the old Belfast Castle, the great majority of which McCracken’s portrait supplants – see the original image at Eddie’s Extracts.
Painted by Graffic Belfast (ig) for Belfast One BID (ig) on Culture Night, on a boarded-up (since anchor tenant Bank Of Ireland departed in mid-2020) entrance to the Middleton Building in High Street, across from the site of the old Market.
Copeland distillery in Donaghadee has partnered with Tí Mhadáın/Madden’s Bar in Belfast to produce a whiskey. The wrapped bottle on the left suggests that you take one home with you after sampling it in the bar: “Uısce beatha, níl a sharú [shárú] ann mar dheoch an doraıs. [Whiskey – there is no surpassing it as a parting drink]”
The mural is generally commercial, but a lark – symbol of republican POWs – and a quotation from Cork mayor and 1920 hunger-striker, Terence MacSwiney, are also included: “It is not those who can inflict the most but those who can suffer the most who will prevail. Ní hıad na daoıne a chneánn ach iad a fhulaıngíonn a mbeıdh an bua acu. [It is not the people who wound but those who endure who will achieve victory]”
The car door on the railings is a piece of protest art, entitled I’m Afraid Of The Dark.
Here are two paste-ups in Warehouse Lane, amongst the images from Belfast Exposed. Above “Expect nothing, appreciate everything” by DZ.B2B (ig) from Dublin, and below, a heart of flowers by tweet_streetart (ig) from Australia.
A rally took place in Belfast on Saturday (September 5th) (reddit) to call for the cancellation of Ireland’s pair of Nations’ League soccer matches against Israel, which are due to be played on September 27th and October 4th. Rather than taking place in Dublin, the Ireland “home” game will in fact be in Serbia, and the other game will be played in Hungary, where Israel has played most of its “home” games since late 2023 (Irish Times), and both games will be mostly without any fans (RTÉ).
This tarp, which features an image of Israeli prime minister Bibi Netanyahu, is in Marquis Street, Belfast city centre, next to Madden’s.
The car-door riddled with holes is a tribute to five-year old Gazan Hind Rajab (Guardian), who called emergency services for three hours after her family car with struck by 335 bullets with the loss of everyone inside, including, eventually, Hind herself; the ambulance had also been attacked and its two paramedics killed. She told the emergency operator, “I’m afraid of the dark” (Guardian) and the words appear on the door in Arabic. The piece is by Spicebag (ig) and Council Baby (ig) and was originally displayed as part of the Dlúthphaırtíocht (solidarity) exhibition.
Here is a selection of painted junction boxes in Belfast city centre Soda.jpg x2 (ig), Kilian x2 (ig), Nine Glens Art (ig), Rob Hilken (web), and Hana Abri Smith.
Waring Street, Donegall Street, Dunbar Link, High Street, Bedford Street, York Street, Dunbar Street
“Not until the last pint of beer has been poured, and the last plate of food has been cooked, will the government realise we can’t eat VAT! It’s time to relax the tax on food. (paraphrased from Cree wisdom …)”
This statement is on the side wall of the Ginger Bistro. VAT on restaurant food was temporarily reduced to 5% during COVID, and this summer the same rate was used for children’s meals, but as of today are now back at the standard rate of 20%. Four famous chefs have called for the tax on restaurant food to be reduced to 10% (BBC | This Is Money).
Hope Street, Belfast, replacing the quote about creativity seen in A Bigger Picture.
