“Sky is not [the] limit – it’s only the beginning” – this is new mental health art from the New Lodge Youth Centre (Fb | previously seen), at the war-wall that separates Lepper Street from Duncairn Avenue, next to the (long-empty) Corner House, suggesting that young people can transcend their earthly bonds and actualise themselves in space.
Lepper Street, New Lodge, north Belfast
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“Loyalist Village, south Belfast – Village team on tour.” This is a new printed board at the eastern edge of the Village in south Belfast. The association with the Northern Ireland soccer team (governed by the Irish Football Association) is perhaps an attempt to rehabilitate the name from the graffiti that appeared in 2015 (Welcome To Hell) and 2016 (Taigs Will Be Dealt With).
There is a “Linfield” version of this board, in red, white, and blue, in Tavanagh Street.
The/An “I am not an Ulsterman …” board was originally in Kilburn Street – see the Seosamh Mac Coılle Collection.
For the Linfield/Northern Ireland mural in better days, see For Club And Country.
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The new Rangers supporters club in Donegall Pass is named after Alex “Doddie” MacDonald, who played midfield for Rangers from 1968 to 1980, which included the team’s victory in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup in 1972. (A full biography can be found on the Rangers web site.)
The new board announces the “Alex MacDonald Loyal RSC (Donegall Pass)” and the photographs show various high-points in MacDonald’s career: “Signed for Rangers 19 November 1968”, “Hampden Park on 25 October 1975 when MacDonald scored the winner in the Old Firm League Cup final”, “Rangers hall of fame”.
Also included beneath the main board are the crests of “Southbank True Blues” and “Kirkintilloch RSC” (Fb).
Pine Street, Donegall Pass, south Belfast. Launched on September 13th – Facebook.
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Two critters by Critter (ig) on the legal wall in Little Patrick Street, Belfast city centre.
October additions:
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This is street art by Artista (ig) from London, along the Comber Greenway (between Tamar and Severn streets). Sponsored by the Eastside Urban Partnership and Seedhead Arts.
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“Ulster Defence Association – 50 years defending Ulster. The UDA was formed in September 1971 for most This time it was a Legal Organisation It’s Declared goal Was to Defend Ulster Protestant Loyalist areas and Combat Irish Republicanism mainly the IRA. The UDA/UFF Declared a ceasefire in 1994 it ended its campaign in 2007.”
This entry updates 2022’s If You Want Peace, Prepare For War, which shows two hooded gunman next to the large “UFF” (as in the image immediately below) rather than a(nother) tarp giving a potted history of the UDA. Two black plaques have also been added in the memorial garden “In memory of 4th Batt – Castlereagh”. The one on the left lists “John (Jackie) McMaster, George Neil, Alex McAllister, Raymond (Bug) Stewart, John Kirker.”
Kenbaan Street, east Belfast
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This is a new tarp on Dee Street, east Belfast, in which a child asks a sleeping lion to “wake up”. Both are wrapped in the Union Flag. The (probable) context for the image is the idea that foreigners – and in particular, non-white, non-Christian, foreigners – have been moving to the UK and that over time their numbers have increased, without much notice, to such a level that English (or more broadly, the UK) people need to rouse themselves in order to notice and counter this.
We have a working principle that the level of investment in a piece’s production is an indicator of the extent to which the producer(s) believes it will be accepted (or at least countenanced) by the community in which it appears. This printed tarp is, as far as we know, the most sophisticated expression of anti-immigrant feeling so far (or at least, the most expensive to produce). Prior to this, there have been placards (One Big Clean-Up | Not A Dumping Ground | If Necessary We Must Shed Blood), a simple stencil (I Was A Stranger), a short-lived printed paste-up (Multiculturalism Is Genocide), and various appearances of “locals only” graffiti (2025 | 2024 | 2014 | 2014). According to a 2023 study from KCL, 32% of UK residents think the “Great Replacement” conspiracy theory is “definitely” or “probably” true, while 22% of Irish people (in 2024) think so (Gript/Electoral Commission).
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This is an old mural still in reasonable condition after more than a decade in existence. It is along the walkway between Tamar and Severn streets in east Belfast. The East End Homing Pigeon club was (is?) at 51 Severn Street (Belfast Forum).
For the piece in better condition (in 2011) see the Seosamh Mac Coılle collection.
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“Japanese prisoner of war and inventor of the portable defibrillator” – Frank Pantridge was born and died in Hillsborough, outside Lisburn and there is a statue of Pantridge with a defibrillator – his key invention – at the Lisburn Civic Centre and he is now remembered by this pair of printed boards on the Shore Road, unveiled on August 16th. He is also included in the nearby gallery of Great Ulster-Scots.
“Major Frank Pantridge, MC, ‘Ulster Hero’. Around the world tens of thousands of people have survived cardiac arrest, this would not have been possible without Professor Frank Pantridge surviving almost 4 years in a Japanese Prisoner of War camp. On the outbreak of WW2 Frank and colleagues at Belfast Royal Victoria Hospital enlisted in the British Army, taken prisoner in 1942 he endured horrendous conditions and deprivation. Frank won the Military Cross. His citation read “Frank was absolutely cool under the heaviest fire, completely regardless of his own personal safety at all times.” Returning to the Royal Victoria Hospital in 1945, basically as a walking skeleton he dedicated his life to treating heart disease, going on to invent the worlds first portable defibrillator in Belfast in 1965 saving the lives of countless men, women and children including Lyndon Johnston. A portrait of Frank initiated by Dame Many Peter’s hangs in Queens University and a statue of Frank sits proudly in the grounds of Lagan Valley Civic Centre.”
Next to Fernhill Flute and the site of the Remembrance Sunday tarp on the Shore Road, north Belfast.
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This new mural below Teach Gráınne in the New Lodge features locals Anthony Duffy and Hugh Russell.
Duffy was a youth leader in Artillery and Trinity clubs (Xitter); he died in July of this (2025) year. Russell was a champion boxer in the 80s and then an Irish News photographer; he died in October 2023 (Irish Times).
Painted by young people from Artillery Youth Centre (Fb).
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Paddy Duffy Collection 