The Young Conquerors flute band (Fb) and the South Belfast UVF celebrate the 300th anniversary of the battle of the Boyne, with a new mural in Pine Street, Donegall Pass, south Belfast. The emblems of the RIR and 36th Division are in the bottom corners, and the flag on the left is a regimental flag of the Ulster Volunteers.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00123
South Belfast MP Robert Bradford was assassinated by the Provisional IRA in Finaghy at a meeting with constituents; the caretaker of the community centre, Ken Campbell, was also killed by the fleeing attackers. In late 1981, with the hunger strikes having ended only a month before, the killing was noted around the world and raised fears of broad civil unrest (BBC | NYTimes).
“Vita, veritas, Victoria” [life, truth, victory] is the motto of Londonderry. Here we have “vita, veritas, victa” [life, truth, conquered; perhaps the intended meaning was “conquering” rather than the passive]. The crest is also not quite the crest of the Apprentice Boys, with a ship in the bottom right rather than a skeleton. Get in touch if you can resolve either discrepancy.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00122
King Billy, in red, white, and blue, crossing the Boyne and trampling on a Jacobite soldier in green, white, and orange. This mural was painted in 1989 by a “H. Gibson” (according to the 2015 repainting). The original version of this mural was on the other side of the Pass, at the junction of Apsley Street and Howard Street South, next to a mural of the Lindsay Street arch dedicated to Robert Bradford. (See Cemented With Love for both of these.) 1989 was the 25th anniversary of the erection of the arch in nearby Lindsay Street, but the arch was not painted into this mural until 2002.
Oak Street, Donegall Pass, south Belfast
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00130
King William III is flanked by foot soldiers from 1690 and 1990. A small painted sign to the right reads, “We the people of Sandy Row remember with pride the 300th anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne. No surrender. Signed, UFF.”
The modern-day gunman on the right would later be replaced by another period soldier – see the Peter Moloney Collection.
Blythe Street, Sandy Row, south Belfast
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00131 T00121
“YCV/Red Hand Commando/PAF – 4th battalion, south Belfast brigade, Village”
Hooded gunmen fire over a modified UVF emblem, with four quadrants of flowers, which appear to be (top left) a poppy (or rose?) with one shamrock leaf and some thistle leaves, (top right) three shamrock leaves and a thistle, (bottom right and left) thistles.
Broadway, in the Village. There was also a side-wall, to the left, dedicated to Stevie McCrea – see the Peter Moloney Collection.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00119
The mural at the corner of Roden Street and Donegall Road was repainted annually in 1989, 1990, and 1991. The first (see the image from 1988) lacked the McMichael memorial seen here and the white background only went half-way up the wall; the second completed the background, added LPA and UDF emblems and “In memory of John McMichael” in text (see C00525). This third iteration places the McMichael memorial and the attendant graveside mourners on a bed of grass.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00120
“UDA “A” batt. South Belfast. RSD [Roden Street Defenders (private Fb)] UFF”
This is the mural that greets travellers moving west along Donegall Road to the Village. The houses in Beit Street have been knocked down and their replacements, which face directly onto Roden Street, no longer reach all the way to Donegall Road, leaving this gable as a prime painting space.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00239
“In loving memory of Rev Robert Bradford.” Bradford was killed in 1981 (see To Bathe The Sharp Sword Of My Word In Heaven) and the mural dates back to (at least) 1983. It perhaps shows the Lindsay Street arch, which was first mounted in 1964. On either side of the arch are written “Honour all men, love the brethren” and “Fear God, honour the King”.
The King Billy mural survived until 1988 and was reproduced on the other side of Donegall Pass in 1989 – see the Peter Moloney Collection. King Billy is subtly coloured red-white-and-blue, while the dying Jacobite is in green-white-and-gold.
At the junction of Apsley Street and Howard Street South, at what is now the entrance to Reverend Robert Bradford Memorial Park.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00145 T00144 T00140
Paddy Duffy Collection 