“Lark” in Catalan is “alosa” and in Irish “fuıseog”. This appears to be the earliest Catalan mural in the extant collections and it appears from the sponsorship in the lower corner – “Catalan comite [committee] in support of Ireland” – to be an expression of Catalonian solidarity with Ireland, rather than the other way around.
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Copyright © 1994 Paddy Duffy (undated image)
T00112
This mural calling for British troops to leave uses the same slogan as in other murals — “Slán abhaıle” — but different imagery, of soldiers boarding the Belfast-Heysham (Lancashire, England) ferry.
This is possibly a cover of An Phoblacht but no source has yet come to light. The image below appeared in the edition of August 11th.
At the front of Rossnareen, Shaw’s Road, west Belfast
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Copyright © 1994 Paddy Duffy (undated image)
T00111
“Equality, freedom, fraternity – peace, unity, saoırse, freedom, equality, justice for all, meas, courage, respect, amnesty for political prisoners, cearta Gael, truth, dialogue, trust, democracy – the foundation stones for lasting peace.”
Amnesty for political prisoners and Irish-language rights are the concrete goals among many vague concepts being sought in the peace process – represented by the dove carrying a tricoloured ribbon on the chimney. Fág Ár Sraıdeanna adds collusion, RUC disbandment, and ending the Unionist veto.
Falls Road at the top of Fallswater Street.
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Copyright © 1994 Paddy Duffy (undated image)
T00110
“Falls/Clonard 25 years of resistance”. The mural combines an image of British troops deployed to Belfast in 1969 (similar to this Stan Meagher photo) with Stephen Bradley’s photo of women banging bin-lids on the ground to alert the community to the presence of soldiers, against a background of burnt-out buildings (reminiscent of Bombay Street).
The writing on the lower wall – “25 years – time for peace, time to go. Demilitarise now!” – was produced by a stencil – see the Peter Moloney Collection for in-progress images.
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Copyright © 1994 Paddy Duffy (undated image)
T00201 [T00163]
“The Irish holocaust, 1845, 1,397,740 deaths”. A family of four sits with their meagre possessions, perhaps having been evicted from their home or waiting to board a ship to America. The source of the (hyper-precise) number of deaths is unknown; deaths are roughly put at a million and emigrants at two million for the period from 1845 to 1852. The period is commonly known as “the famine” but the term is rejected by many, given the continued production and exportation of other foodstuffs, contrary to the policy enacted for the famine of 1782-1783 (History Ireland | Great Hunger Museum | NJ Schools’ Commission pdf). Hence the use of “holocaust”
This is the earliest mural depicting the Great Hunger; in 1995, for the 150th anniversary, at least nine pieces were painted on the topic in Belfast – see the Visual History page. Many of those pieces reproduced drawings from the Illustrated London News; the source of this image is unknown.
Malcolmson Street/Springfield Road, west Belfast
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Copyright © 1993 Paddy Duffy
T00170
Núada and Morrígan (from Jim Fitzpatrick’s Beneath The Sky Of Stars) embrace below a ram (from Fitzpatrick’s Senach The Spectre) and between Celtic creatures inspired by the Book Of Kells.
This is a bright and colourful mural in stark contrast to the greys and browns of Unity flats, west Belfast
For many more images of Nuada, see the Visual History page on Jim Fitzpatrick.
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00173
The writing – D coy, 2nd batt, Belfast Brigade [IRA] – has been added where the volunteer’s legs used to be – see the Peter Moloney Collection for the original. A small plaque has been added at the top. Otherwise, the mural remains as before, with a hooded volunteer raising an assault rifle in front of a sunburst and Tricolour, with a row of barbed wire and the four provinces named in Irish.
Falls Road, west Belfast, now the site of the Garden Of Remembrance
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00088
A smiling Bobby Sands on the side of the Sınn Féın offices on the Falls Road, (also the west Belfast office of An Phoblacht/Republican News), with his famous statement that “Everyone, republican or otherwise, has his [here: “his/her”] own [particular] part to play” (and the lark with its “spirit of freedom“). This version was painted by Mo Chara Kelly in 1989, and an image of Sands has been on the wall continuously since then.
Sevastopol Street, west Belfast
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00089
Both of these murals by Mo Chara Kelly in the old Linden Street remained unfinished. “I was doing one about the Falls Curfew [for the 20th anniversary march – shown above]. … It never got finished because we had to start Women Against Oppression. When you’re available, people just came up to you, “Mo Chara, we need a mural on this. Could you stop that one? We need to do this one. There’s a Nelson Mandela one needs doing, could you do that?” Everything was chopped and changed all the time, and I never got back to it.” (Painting My Community/An Pobal A Phéınteáıl – English-language version available for free)
The second shows a barefoot woman carrying a large Tricolour and a lark overhead. It is based on the Women’s Day (“Frauen Tag”) poster from 1914. “Heraus mit dem Frauenwahlrecht” – “Forward with women’s suffrage”. German women were given the right to vote in 1918. This mural was replaced by Women Against Oppression.
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00090 T00096
Manacles “Made in Britain” constrain the republican desire for a united Ireland, contrary to the burning GPO and rising phoenix.
“Numerous foreign groups and delegations visited Ballymurphy and west Belfast during the troubles. I remember one meeting I was at in Conway Mill, I picked up a pamphlet with a drawing of a manacled fist. The caption read “Made in the USA.” So I just took the image and changed the slogan to “Made in Britain”.” (Painting My Community/An Pobal A Phéınteáıl – English-language version available for free)
The plaque – which pre-dates this mural – is to local (A Company 2nd Battalion) IRA volunteers Stan Carberry, Frankie Dodds, Paul Fox, Sean Bailey, Paul Marlowe, and Tony Campbell. “Fuaır sıad bás ar son na hÉıreann”, “Ireland unfree will never be at peace”. (See the Peter Moloney Collection.)
Painted by Mo Chara Kelly in Beechmount Avenue/RPG Avenue.
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00097 T00098
Paddy Duffy Collection 