Belfast

Shankill Rd Supports Drumcree

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“We demand the right to march”, “Portadown District LOL No 1 [Fb]”, “Here we stand – we can do no other”.

This mural in the lower Shankill estate is about the disputed Orange Order parade (WP entry, including a map of the route) to Drumcree Church (in Portadown, shown in the mural) part of which goes along the Catholic Garvaghy Road. After many contentious years (beginning in 1995), the re-routing of the marches in 2000 led to some rioting, but was the last year of notable conflict over the parade (CAIN).

N Boundary Street, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy
T00452

Diana, Queen Of Hearts

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Diana Spencer (“1961-1997”) became Princess Of Wales upon marrying Prince Charles in 1981 but they divorced in 1996, a year before she died in a Paris car-crash. She is presented has an English rose in front of a large Union Flag in the shape of a heart.

This is one of the murals painted in the lower Shankill estate under Johnny Adair.

Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy (no date given)
T01182

4,000 Years Of Ulster Scots

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“4,000 years of Ulster-Scots history and heritage. Ulster & Scotland – shared language, shared literature, shared culture.” 400 years takes us back to the plantation; 4,000 years suggests an even deeper connection.

Ulster-Scots was included in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement (pdf) under the principle of support for “linguistic diversity”. This mural celebrating Ulster-Scots and ties between Northern Ireland and Scotland dates to 1999, with the crests of St Andrew and St Patrick on the left, and an Ulster Banner and Scottish lion rampant on the right.

“Dinnae houl yer wheest, houl yer ain!” [Don’t hold your tongue, hold your own!]

See also the Visual History page about Ulster-Scots murals.

Templemore Street, east Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy
T00448 [T00449]

Ulster’s Defenders

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Ulster’s defenders, past and present, from Cuchulainn “Ancient defender of Ulster from Gael attacks”, via the 1893 UDU and WWI soldiers memorialised in the towers at Messines and Thiepval, to the modern UDA/UFF: “In memory of the officers and volunteers of A. Coy. [“Glencairn, Highfield, Springmartin”] UDA/UFF West Belfast Brigade who unselfishly dedicated their lives in defence of their country.”

High Green, Highfield, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy
T00267

Ulster Volunteers

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The Ulster Volunteers were formed in response to the Home Rule bill of April 1912 and the Covenant signed in September 1912, first by Edward Carson and then by almost half a million others. Guns were smuggled into Larne on the Clyde Valley in April 1914 but the advent of the World War saw the volunteers instead joining the British Army, specifically the 36th (Ulster) Division, and went over the top at the Somme.

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy (no date given)
T01189

Pat ‘Beag’ McGeown

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“Comrade, councillor, cara [friend].” Pat McGeown was a 1981 IRA hunger striker whose family intervened when he lapsed into a coma. After his release in 1985 he also worked for Sınn Féın and was elected to Belfast City Council in 1993. He died in 1996 of a heart attack. He is also remembered by a plaque on the Sınn Féın office on Falls Road.

Ballymurphy Road, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy
T00786

New Lodge 1900-2000

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This pair of murals, on the New Lodge Road, Belfast, contrasts life for young people in the black-and-white “1900s” to life in colourful “2000”. Instead of working (and dying – in the headlines from the Irish News) in mills, they work in fast-food restaurants and drive black taxis (and suffer unemployment, suicide, and anorexia – again, in the newspaper), and instead of playing in the streets and wrapping themselves in blankets, they sit on walls and drink.

New Lodge Road, north Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy
T00353
T00348 [T00366]

The Orange Reality

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On the left, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement establishes “The right to freedom from sectarian harassment” but, on the right, the Orange Reality involves “10 Catholics murdered as a result of Drumcree, 150 Catholic homes petrol bombed, 1350 Catholic families forced out, many dozens or pipe bombs, attacks on Catholic homes”. The left-hand panel shows the cover of the Agreement booklet that was sent to every household ahead of the vote, showing a family of four silhouetted against a sunset; the right-hand panel shows the same family, but the source of light is now burning houses.

Replaces Let’s Make It Work.

Dromara St, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy (no date given)
T00344