The association of lions with the English monarchy goes back to Henry II and his sons Richard (“the lionheart”) and John (WP). Why they were represented by lions is unclear; it perhaps stems from the prominence of lions in the Bible and the Lion Of Judah from Genesis 49:9.
These lions, somehow carrying Union Flags, are in Lord Street at Lord Street Mews, east Belfast
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The UVF boards at the junction of London and My Lady’s roads in east Belfast have been completely replaced (compared to 2022). The hooded gunmen on the short side have been replaced by “Joy, peace, love” while a tribute to David Ervine now replaces the lettering reading “East Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force”. Ervine was a UVF member from 1972 to 1980 before turning to a career in politics. “He asked the question “why can’t I be an Irish citizen of the UK?” … “An architect of peace. An inspiration to us all.” Always remembered by his family, comrades, colleagues and friends.”
Next to Ervine is a UVF roll of honour in which Roy Walker joins Robert Bennett, James Cordner, Joseph Long, and Robert Seymour, who were previously portrayed (Ulster’s Brave). Walker was killed in a feud with the UDA in 1976. And around the corner the UVF emblem has been replaced by a board to the Ulster Volunteer Force Regimental Band.
The largest panel remains a tribute to the dead of WWI, specifically now the “3rd battalion (Mountpottinger)” of the East Belfast regiment of the Ulster Volunteers who “marched to the old town hall in Victoria Street accompanied by the Duke Of York Pipe Band and around 270 members volunteered”. The long text explains the negotiation between Kitchener and Craig over the formation of the 36th Division; the East Belfast volunteers joined the 8th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles; “training took place at Ballykinlar in County Down and the Battalion became known as “Ballymacarret’s Own””.
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This entry updates 2022’s They Said We’d Never Last, showing the space where previously there were four panels of historical photographs from the Ulster Volunteer Force flute band.
For the John Singer Sargent painting in the bottom-left corner of the wall, see Observe The Sons Of Ulster.
St Leonard’s Crescent/(old) Newcastle Street, east Belfast
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At its peak, the Harland & Wolff shipyard employed 35,000 people (IndustriAll) and the flat-capped worker became a symbol of east Belfast, along – much later – with Samson and Goliath, the two gantry cranes at the shipyard that were raised in 1974 and 1969 (WP) and which have become the symbol of Belfast.
The title of this entry is the first line of Martin Mooney’s poem ‘Launching The Whaler Juan Peron‘.
The silhouetted workers and cranes are on a mobile office in Fraser Pass, Newtownards Road, Belfast, at the end of the Pitt Stop next to the Belfast Bikes racks.
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This jaunty spaceman was painted by Ralph Connolly (ralphatronic on ig) in Bannagh Corner, east Belfast.
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This entry updates a similar entry from 2022 with images and close-ups of the now-faded red and orange paint in the mural on the back wall of the “36th (Ulster) Division Victoria Cross Memorial Garden”.
For close-ups of the board picturing the WWI VC winners, see The Dead We Honour Here. “‘Throughout the long years of struggle … the men of Ulster have proved how nobly they fight and die’ – King George V, 16th November, 1918”
St Leonard’s Crescent/old Newcastle Street, east Belfast
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On the anniversary of David Ervine’s death, January 8th, a new board was launched in his memory, with images of Ervine “yearning for peace” in the cages of Long Kesh, where he met Gusty Spence (the pair can be seen together in the middle of the first column of photographs).
After his release, Ervine turned to politics, running unsuccessfully as a PUP candidate for Pottinger in the Belfast City Council elections of 1985 (WP); he would eventually be successful in 1997. In 1998 he was returned by Belfast East in the Assembly election (ARK). He helped bring about the loyalist ceasefire in 1994 – which was read aloud by Spence (youtube) – and was pro-Agreement in 1998 (DIB | Guardian | Slugger).
The information about the Memory Chair sculpture makes mention of Ervine’s boots but it seems they have not survived the mothballing of the sculpture which was last seen on site – boots included – in 2014.
Montrose Street South, replacing the various pieces seen in late 2024’s Today, Everyday, And Always.
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“Titanic Gentlemen’s Club [Fb], every Wednesday 6pm – 8pm, Connswater Community Centre. Make mental health great again. Every man has an engine room – you don’t have to maintain it alone. Let’s break the silence and support men’s mental health.”
The green ribbon is the symbol of the campaign to release political prisoners, and “Make ___ great again” is the form of the slogan of the MAGA movement in the United States.
The board was officially launched July 9th (Fb) in Severn Street, east Belfast.
“”BreaktheStigma” for the men who rise, together: We are the voices once held back,/Taught to smile through every crack./But now we speak, we face the fight,/Together stepping into the light.//This is Break the Stigma, strong and true,/A brotherhood of me and you./Men alike, from every road,/Each carrying a silent load.//No shame in tears, no guilt in pain,/No more hiding hurt in vain./We rise as one, we make it known-/You don’t have to walk alone.//We’re not defined by past or scar,/By what we’ve lost or who we are./We’re here to talk, to heal, to grow,/To lift each other from below.//So here we stand, hearts open wide,/With honesty we will not hide./For every man who needs a sign-/Break the Stigma holds the line.”
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These flags – one to the Ulster YCV (14th RIR) and two to the Blues And Royals flute band, Sydenham (Fb) – are on the fence below the Northern Ireland Centenary board in Mersey Street, at the junction of Parkgate Drive in east Belfast.
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The seventh anniversary of the murder of Ian Ogle is approaching: “Big O” was killed on the evening of January 27th, 2019. Five people received sentences in March 2025, having been found guilty of murder – see In Memory Of Ian Ogle.
Also included is a small memorial plaque to British forces, which seems to have been generated by AI.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 