Belfast

Ardoyne Generations Bloom

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Etna Drive in Ardoyne has undergone a make-over in the last twelve months. The large board below was mounted in December 2024, the planters added in March 2025, and the boxes along the street were painted in June. The boxes celebrate local groups and initiatives: “Cıceam Ard Eoın [Fb]”, “Ardoyne-Bone Community health & leisure trust [Fb]”, “Community larder. Drop in. Locally sourced food.”, “Ardoyne Association [Fb] Citizens’ Advice Centre”, and the “Lawrenson-Toal academy of Irish dance [ig]”.

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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Saoırse Go Deo

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The gallery of socialist heroes at the top of the Rock, first painted in 2006, has been repainted in blue (rather than yellow). The faces remain the same as before: (l-r) Seamus Costello (INLA/IRSP founder), Gino Gallagher (INLA chief of staff), Che (in the Guerillero Heroico pose), Patsy O’Hara, Miriam Daly, James Connolly.

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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On The Shoulders Of Giants

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Matt Talbot Youth Centre (Fb) provides activities and services for young people from New Barnsley and Moyard, including an afternoon club, trips during the summer months, and Halloween and Christmas parties.

The two murals are face-to-face in New Barnsley Gardens. Also included are some painted utility boxes in the area, including a hurler/camogie-player from Michael Davitt’s GAC (web).

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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In The Service Of Our Country

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The upper Woodvale plaque “in memory of all those Protestants and members of the security forces who lost their lives in the greater Shankill area as a result of conflict” has sat unadorned since at least 2008 but now has a pair of boards to accompany it.

On the left, a reproduction of the “Faithful Unto Death” stained-glass window in the Museum of Orange Heritage in Schomberg House on the Cregagh Road (also reproduced in Newbuildings in 2022), along with the emblem of the Country Grand Orange Lodge Of Belfast (Fb).

On the right, a memorial to “all local residents whose lives were cruelly taken by Republican terrorists. Also those who selflessly gave their lives in the service of our country, and those who continue to do so.” (LOL “423” appears to be Banbridge Bible And Crown Defenders.)

Bray Street/Bray Close, Woodvale, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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Urban Wildlife

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Here are a kingfisher, heron, badger, owl, squirrel, fox, and hedgehog by Glen Molloy (ig) in Knockwood Park, Clarawood, east Belfast. The closest place one might be able to see any of these creatures – particularly herons – is in the Marsh-Wiggle pond, along the Connswater (East Side Greenways).

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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Mythical Andersonstown

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Here are five mythological figures placed against a backdrop of Celtic Ireland, including standing stones, a dolmen, a stone circle, and the Janus figure on Boa Island (WP), from the wall of the PD/Cumann Sóısıalta Bhaıle Andarsan.

At least four of the five are copies of Jim Fitzpatrick paintings. From top to bottom (right to left on the wall) we see the figures from Breas ⁊ Cú Brea (which was long ago a mural in Derry), Medb Of Connacht, Nuada Journeys To The Underworld (seen in Nuada, Nuada Reborn, and elsewhere), a warrior-woman with spear (get in touch if you know the source), and The Coming Of Lugh (previously a mural in Ardoyne).

See also the Visual History page on The Influence Of Jim Fitzpatrick.

South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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At The Graveside Of Cú Chulaınn We’ll Kneel Around And Pray

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Oliver Sheppard’s statue of Cú Chulaınn dying – see the Cú Chulaınn Visual History page – memorialises nine IRA volunteers from the Lenadoon area, whose names are listed on the scrolls to each side and whose portraits appear in the apex: Tony Henderson, John Finucane, Brendan O’Callaghan, Joe McDonnell, Laura Crawford, Maıréad Farrell, Patricia Black, Bridie Quinn. Below the statue are the shields of the four provinces and the words “Léana An Dúın – unbowed, unbroken” and “saoırse” [freedom].

The mural dates back to 1996 (see T00160) and was repainted in 2009 (see M05134) and c. 2014 (see M11028, which includes a close-up of the plaque added in 2009.) In this version, nothing has changed in the composition of the mural and the photographic portraits and the Easter Rising centenary board have been retained.

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St James’s Community Farm

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St James’s Community Farm/Feırm Phobaıl Naomh Séamus (web | Fb) started in 2015 with a dozen hens; it is now home to 38 animals, produces vegetables and eggs, and collects cans for recycling.

Belfast Media recently profiled the farm (in print) and is producing a series of short videos about the farm: one | two | three (on youtube).

Rodney Parade, St James’s, west Belfast, replacing the Garden Of Hope mural, and next to St James’s Youth.

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