Belfast

UNESCO City Of Music

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Belfast was designated a UNESCO “city of music” four years ago, in November, 2021. To mark the anniversary, Friz (web) and NRMN (ig) have painted this large piece of street-art in the guise of a VU indicator (with seven segments, nine levels, four colours). The city’s efforts to encourage music are outlined in the ‘Music Matters’ plan.

The other pieces in the wide shot can be seen in (l-r) Broken Promises, Glide, neo-pop face by Bust, Beastie Boys, Andrew Weatherall, two from the Subset collective, one of two faces from Woskerski.

on the side of the Telegraph offices in Donegall Street

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The Eye Of Providence

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The Society Of United Irishmen – who hoped for French support for a rebellion in Ireland – could not meet openly while France and Britain were at war. In Belfast, meetings were held at Dr [Benjamin] Franklin’s tavern in Sugarhouse Entry, also called “Peggy Barclay’s” after its owner, under the guise of a social group called the Muddlers’ Club.

There is today a restaurant called The Muddlers’ Club, named after the society, in Warehouse Lane. The piece above shows a skull, a scythe, a pair of wings, and the Square & Compasses of the Freemasons (with a “G” for “God” or “geometry”). The second piece includes a skull, an eight-pointed star/compass, and an Eye Of Horus (familiar from Freemasons, the 1 dollar bill in US currency, and the Illuminati).

The piece on the left was painted by Visual Waste (web) in June, 2017; the one on the right was added later.

Two earlier pieces with similar imagery on the other side of the entry disappeared with the wall they were painted on: see God Approves Our Undertakings and The Wider Conspiracy.

See also the Visual History page on the Belfast Entries.

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The Morning Star

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The Morning Star (web) is a bar in Pottinger’s Entry that dates back – as a coach halt – all the way to 1810. (For a full history, see Lord Belmont.) This new mural, by Graffic Belfast (ig), features Guinness toucans flying over a variety of local landmarks.

See also: the Visual History page on the Belfast Entries.

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Battle Flags

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The Confederate battle flag flies alongside a flag combining the Union Flag, Ulster Banner, and image of WWI soldiers, at the corner of Northwood Crescent and Skegoneill Avenue, north Belfast. (Compare with the flags flying in August.)

Here are two previous sightings of the flag – 2016 east Belfast | 2014 east Belfast – and both the flag and the war were celebrated in one of the Pioneers To Presidents murals, in north Belfast.

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Lest We Forget

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Here is a gallery of images from the wall behind the Shore Road ‘World Wars’ memorial (see Remembrance Sunday) which has a few new additions and re-ordered boards for this year’s commemorations. The main additions are the “Lest we forget” stencil shown above, and a large number of white crosses in the grass and along the fence bearing the emblem of the UDR. The UDR board has been moved from the slanted wall at the far left to what is now the central position on the wall.

For images from Sunday’s ceremonies at City Hall, see BBC.

Frank Pantridge was featured in September. The

November 4th

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Time Makes More Converts Than Reason

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“Common Sense: “There is no section of this divided Ulster community which is totally innocent or indeed totally guilty, totally right or totally wrong. We all share the responsibility for creating the situation, either by deed or by acquiescence. Therefore we must share the responsibility for finding a settlement and then share the responsibility of maintaining good government.” – John McMichael”

John McMichael, the South Belfast UDA/UFF commander, was killed by an IRA car bomb in 1987. In addition to organising a team of assassins in the 70s and 80s, he founded a Political Research Group and wrote two documents proposing an independent Northern Ireland. The words above come from the end of the introduction to the second of these, Common Sense (available at CAIN).

Lemberg Street, south Belfast, replacing a previous mural to McMichael.

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