Belfast

Belfast Romances

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This Leo Boyd (web) piece in Great Victoria Street brings together many of the ideas seen in his posters over the years, including When Urban Love Goes Wrong, Belfast Kitty Hall, DeLorean cars, Godzilla – “The monster created by atoms gone wild! Escaped from Belfast zoo”, and the wind-up police land-rover.

“Approved by DC Tours“

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Étaín

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In Irish mythology, Étaín (Éadaoın, Aideen) of the Ulaıd and her lover Mıdır of the Tuatha Dé Danann turn into swans after Mıdır wins an embrace from her in a board game with her husband Eochaıd, the High King of Ireland (Tochmarc Étaíne/The Wooing Of Étaín).

Street art by JMK (ig) in the Bullit alleyway off Church Lane.

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Handsome, Easy-Going, And Utterly Untrustworthy

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After Britain’s declaration of war against France in 1793, the United Irishmen – who hoped for French support for a rebellion in Ireland – could no longer meet openly. In Belfast, meetings were held at Dr [Benjamin] Franklin’s tavern, also called “Peggy Barclay’s” after its owner, under the guise of a social group called the Muddlers’ Club.

The true nature of the group was betrayed to the authorities in 1796 by Isabella “Belle” Martin, a serving girl in the tavern (Romanticsm Anthology | Belfast Entries | Belfast Media | Joe Baker). As the text in the Peter Strain mural above concludes, “Half a dozen of them saw the inside of a Scottish prison as a result” and the club dissolved. (The text surrounding Martin’s profile is from Glenn Patterson’s book, A Mill For Grinding Old People Young – this was the name of Peggy Barclay’s inn when she left the city centre for the Buttermilk Loney (now Skegoniell Avenue) on the Shore Road in north Belfast.

The tavern, in Sugarhouse Entry, later become a hotel before eventually being destroyed in the WWII blitz. Sugarhouse Entry still exists but has been impassable since 1972 when it was closed off as part of the “ring of steel” securing Belfast city centre (DC Tours).

There is today a restaurant called The Muddlers’ Club, named after the society, in Warehouse Lane. Two of its murals are shown in The Eye Of Providence; for others see also God Approves Our Undertakings and The Wider Conspiracy in the Seosamh Mac Coılle Collection.

See also the Visual History page on the Belfast Entries.

Crown Entry, Belfast

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I Was Sick And Ye Visited Me

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A gallery of faces from KVLR (ig) in Exchange Place, perhaps on their way to Belfast’s first maternity hospital, the Humane Female Society For The Relief Of Lying-In Women (Clifton House) which was in the building above these artworks.

“The Entries are passageways for the comings and goings of rich and poor, sugar and coal, horses and handcarts, porter and print, secrets and songs. Openings and entrances over the centuries. A labyrinth of muck-made Belfast brick at the mouth of the Farset.”

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Circusful

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“Circusful” is the new name of the Belfast Community Circus (Arts Council NI) which offers class to artists of all ages (web). Festival Of Fools, an annual extravaganza this year with 70+ comedy and circus performances, starts on Friday (April 29th).

In April, 2021, KVLR (ig | Fb) revamped the mural on the front of the Gordon Street premises with two new characters (above and directly below) and substantial changes to the third (final image). (For the previous version, see Circus Fools.)

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