Belfast west

We Demand The Truth

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“Ballymurphy Massacre – August 1971 – We demand the truth” with portraits of the 11 dead – Quinn, Mullan, Connolly, Teggart, Philips, Murphy, McCarthy, Doherty, Laverty, Corr, McKerr.

The painting (by Rıstead Ó Murchú) on the board shows the killing (from the direction of Springmartin) of Father Hugh Mullan in waste ground near Springfield Park. It was previously on the Whiterock Road but has now been moved onto the Springfield Road to join the murals on the low wall calling for justice. Two of the panels are also included. More can be seen in in Peter Moloney’s collection.

Springfield Road, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2010 Paddy Duffy
T00496 T00493 T00494

State-Sponsored Killings

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The victims of the Ballymurphy Massacre in 1971 and of plastic and rubber bullets throughout the troubles receive particular attention among galleries of “murdered” people.

“11 people in west Belfast from the Greater Ballymurphy neighbourhood were murdered by the British Army as internment without trial was violently carried out on August 9th, 1971. Proper police investigations were never undertaken and no one has served a day in prison for causing these deaths. The familys [sic] of those murdered deserve and demand the truth be told by the state about its policies and actions of those who carried them out.” The 11 are (clockwise) Eddie Docherty, Joseph Corr, John McKerr, John Laverty, Joan Connolly, Fr Hugh Mullan, Danny Teggart, Joseph Murphy, Paddy McCarthy, Frank Quinn, Noel Philips.

“This mural is dedicated to the memory of those killed and maimed by rubber & plastic bullets fired by the police & British Army. Not one member of the security forces ever served a day in jail for the deaths, many of them children, despite the courts ruling on the innocence of the victims. Plastic bullets are still being used on the streets of the north of Ireland today.”

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Copyright © 2010 Paddy Duffy
T00492 T00497 T00498 T00499

Stevie McCrea

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Red Hand Commando volunteer Stevie McCrea was sentenced to 16 years for the murder of James Kerr in 1972 (Behind The Mask) and was subsequently “murdered by the enemies of Ulster” on February 18th, 1989 in an IPLO attack on the Orange Cross (see M00560 | WP). “For he shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary him nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him.”

This is a repaint of the mural seen in 2007, which is itself a repainting of the original mural to McCrea – see T00152.

McCrea is included on murals in south Belfast’s Frenchpark Street and Broadway (dating back to at least 1993).

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
T00472

William Bucky McCullough

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“In loving memory of all our fallen comrades from A Coy, B Coy, C Coy, 2nd Batt UFF West Belfast Brigade. Murdered by the enemies of Ulster.” UDA Lieutenant-Colonel McCullough was killed by the INLA on October 16th, 1981, outside his home in Denmark Street (out of frame to the right), on information supplied by fellow UDA member James Craig, who feared that McCullough would expose his embezzling of UDA funds.

Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
T00470 [T00471]

The Red Hand Of Ulster

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“There are many legends telling the origins of the Red Hand Of Ulster. This mural depicts only one of those.” In this case, the myth is that Ulster was offered as a prize to whoever could reach it first and was won by throwing a severed hand onto the shore. The flag of Northern Ireland (the Ulster Banner) is in the apex.

Replaces the Lower Shankill UFF mural (M02478).

Shankill Parade, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
T00669 [T00668]

Cuchulainn, Defender Of Northern Ireland

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The mythological hero Cuchulainn, defender of Ulster against the forces of Queen Medb of Connacht, is placed below the flag of Northern Ireland. “Here we stand, here we remain. We simply want to take our God ordained place as indigenous Ulster people, understanding and living out our calling. We assume our identity without shame, retaliation or indignation against those who have caused harm to our past and tried to castrate our culture, our identity and our place on this island.”

Cú Chulaınn has his own Visual History page. This is the most active depiction of the hero; he is usually depicted in his death throes.

Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
T00437 T00467

UDU-UFF-UDA

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This is a 2007? repainting of a lower Shankill mural placing Ulster Freedom Fighters/Ulster Defence Association (UFF/UDA) within the historical context of “a new organization entitled the Ulster Defence Association, the objects of which are to elect an assembly of 600 delegates, having authority to declare the policy and direct the action of the Ulster Unionists and to raise funds for the purposes of the organization from loyalists of all classes.” The motto of the organisation was “Quis separabit” (which is the same as the UDA’s).

The Union faded away in the 1910s, but the name was revived by the UDA in 2007.

The manifesto was launched on St Patrick’s day 1893, in response to the 2nd Home Rule bill. Membership was closed on June 1st, by which time 170,000 people had signed up. The newspaper source of the text is unknown; a similar newspaper article from the Tasmanian Daily Telegraph can be found here. The words “Ulster Defence Association” do not occur in the manifesto.

For more on Saunderson, see Union Is Strength.

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy (no date given)
T00464