London-/Derry

Sister Clare’s Prayer

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This is the second mural in Derry to Sister Clare Crockett. The first was in her Brandywell home (see All Or Northing!!) while this one is in Shantallow. Crockett became a nun in 2001 and died at the age of 33 in an earthquake in Ecuador in 2016 – the mass for the seventh anniversary of her death was held last month (youtube).

A documentary film about Crockett’s life is available on youtube.

Painted by Razer (ig) in Racecourse Road, Shantallow, Derry.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Get Up, Derry

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Here is a gallery of images from the ‘Get Up’ paint jam, organised by Peaball (web) in Derry at the end of June as part of the Foyle Maritime Festival (ig).

In order (from top to bottom), there are three in Strand Road, from emic (web), KONE (ig), and ACHES (ig), five in Lower Clarendon Street, by RAZER (ig), Chose Letters (ig), Will Vibes (ig), Friz (web), DanLeo (web), and finally, three by Zippy (web) at The Lounge café in Clarendon Street.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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The Factory Girls

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Tillie & Henderson’s shirt factory opened in 1856 at the junction of Abercorn Road and Foyle Road, Derry (next to the ‘Hands Across The Divide’ statue) and survived until 2003 when it was demolished after a fire (BBC); an apartment block was planned for the site (Derry Journal | BBC) but as yet nothing has happened. It was the largest such factory in the world and one of 44 shirt factories in the city in 1900, all of which employed women, many starting in their teens.

Derry Of The Past has a gallery of historical images.

The murals are in the courtyard of the Craft Village in Shipquay Street; they were designed by Joe Campbell and painted by UVArts (web).

(BBC | BBC | DEPOT | BelTel)

See also: Derry Women Make Communities

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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The Menin Gate

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The Menin Gate memorial, at the eastern edge of Ypres, Belgium, commemorates 54,896 Commonwealth soldiers who died in the area during WWI and whose bodies were not recovered. “To the armies of the British Empire who stood here from 1914 to 1918 and to those of their dead who have no known grave.”

The buglers below have remained unfinished since (at least) 2018.

Ebrington Street, off Bond’s Street, Londonderry, leading to the Ebrington Centre car park.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Welcome To The Brandywell

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“Fáilte go dtí Brandywell [Tobar An Bhranda]” This mural featuring the rights of children was painted in Derry’s Brandywell area in 2014; it puts images alongside parts of Caroline Castle’s rendering of the UN’s Rights of the Child. One, for example, reads “Understand that all children are precious. Pick us up if we fall down and if we are lost lend us your hand. Give us things we need to make us happy and strong and always do your best for us whenever we are in your care. Right no. 3”.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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We Carry On

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“This mural is one part of a community led project by Hive Cancer Support and Ulster University [web]. It was designed and painted by Peaball street art collective [web] based on the findings of an Ulster University research study [UU | Derry Now] commissioned by Hive Cancer Support that looked at the mental health impact of cancer surgery. We want to thank all those who took part weer willing to tell their personal story to help create this piece. The singular sunflower looks at each individual journey and the focus and determination to look to the light in dark times. It also represents the innovative air purifying paint [Hypo Air] used on this mural. The vase illustrates the Japanese art of Kintsugi- repairing pottery with gold making it stronger and more beautiful that before. The healing golden seams become part of the beauty and history of the object, to be appreciated rather than disguised. Cancer does not discriminate. Many homes around the world have been affected in some way- the window is a representation of this. The project was made possible through funding from The Ideas Fund.”

Strand Road, Derry

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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The Cost Of War

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From the info plaque (shown last below): “This mural depicts three plinths which stand in the Island Of Ireland Peace Park in the city of Messen [Mesen]/Messines in Belgium. Each plinth represents the number of casualties for each division which was raised on the island of Ireland during the 1st World War. A total of 69,947 soldiers from the island of Ireland were either killed, wounded or reported missing during the four years which the war lasted. The price of freedom.”

The numbers given are: 36th (Ulster) division, 32,186; 16th (Irish) division, 28,398; 10th (Irish) division, 9,363.

The Peace Park is also featured in another mural in the car-park – see The Spirit Of Brotherhood.

Ebrington Centre car park, Waterside, Londonderry

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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We Are The Dead

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This mural at the Ebrington Centre in the Waterside, Londonderry, commemorates the WWI dead and wounded from the entire island of Ireland.

The 10th (Irish) Division fought only briefly “in Flanders fields”, towards the very end of the war, having spent most of its time in Gallipoli (in the Ottoman Empire), Macedonia, Egypt, and Palestine. The 16th took part in the Somme, especially at “Guinchy” [Ginchy] and Guillemont, while the 36th were deployed on the first day (the Battle Of Albert).

The poem in the middle is the first half of John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row/That mark our place, and in the sky/The larks, still bravely singing, fly/Scarce heard amid the guns below.//We are the dead; short days ago/We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow/Loved and were loved, and now we lie/In Flanders fields.”

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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