“John Mitchel 1815 – 1875 After twenty years in exile for the sake of Ireland he returned with honour to die among his own people and he rests with his parents in the 1st Presbyterian old meeting house green at Newry.”
Mitchel graduated from Trinity at 19 and became an attorney in Newry and Banbridge before becoming a writer and editor for The Nation (the phrase “England’s difficulty is Ireland’s opportunity” comes from an 1845 article) and then The United Irishman. After 16 editions, he was arrested and convicted of treason and sent to penal colonies in Bermuda and Tasmania. He escaped to the USA, where he was an ardent supporter of slavery. When slavery was abolished, he again took up the cause of Ireland, returned to Ireland, won the Westminster seat for Tipperary but was barred, as a felon, from taking it, and died unexpectedly at age 59 (WP).
John Mitchel Place, Newry, in front of St Colman’s Park.
The middle of the three upper plaques in the image above, as well as the blue plaque above them (in the third image), is dedicated to Thomas Raymond Kelly, a merchant seaman who died as he attempted to rescue a third person from heavy seas in the Bay Of Biscay. He was awarded the George Cross for his efforts (Newry Maritime Association).
The other plaques commemorate the SS Upas (Irish Wrecks); the Quo Vadis fishing boats (Mourne Maritime); SS Orior (Wrecksite); the “merchant seamen from Newry And Mourne who served with courage and valour through both World Wars”; SS Clew Bay, which took part in Operation Dynamo in Dunkirk; SS Dingle; the “Carlingford Lough Disaster” in 1916 – the collision of the SS Connemara and SS Retriever with the loss of 94 lives (BBC).
Here is another (see previously: Armagh For Sam) mural supporting Armagh’s senior football team, presumably in connection with its successful 2024 campaign, this time in Newry.
Upper Water Street, Newry. Also included below are two electrical boxes, the first, “Hope”, presumably by Zippy (web), in Kildare Street; the squirrel is in Merchants’ Quay.
These two Saoradh (web) boards are at the roundabout on Camlough Road, Newry. The one above shows a vintage mural from nearby Carnagat Road that goes back to (at least) 1994 – the version painted in 2000 can be seen in the Peter Moloney Collection.
The other board reads “Salute the men and women of violence”, among whom are the seven signatories to the 1916 Proclamation, the IRA of the Troubles era – illustrated by Colman Doyle’s famous ?1973? (staged) photograph of a female IRA volunteer with AR-18 – and the post-Agreement groups (such as the New IRA) – illustrated by a home-made RPG (shown in Resistance).
“This Christmas, don’t forget the Palestinian children! Nollaıg shona daoıbh agus athbhlıan faoı mhaıse daoıbh! Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!” As the final image shows, this board is next to the Egyptian Arch in Newry, and is on public land. The DUP called for the board’s removal in January; Liz Kimmins, minister for Infrastructure, said that at the time that there were no plans to remove it (BBC), and a few weeks later (February 10th, the day of these photographs) it was still in situ, though an investigation by Newry, Mourne, and Down council is on-going.
Frenchman Fréderíc Ozanam was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1997 for establishing the Society Of St Vincent De Paul in 1833, itself named after a French priest from the 1600s, who is quoted to the right of Ozanam’s portrait: “Fear not; calm will follow the storm, and perhaps soon.”
Painted by KVLR (web) in Mill Street, Newry, on the side-wall of the St Vincent’s charity shop.
There was a march in Belfast (in early September) which went to the offices or stores of some of these businesses (Independent) because they fund or support the Israeli military – the links above outline the connections. There are also campaigns from various groups (here is IPSC’s) to boycott consumer goods from Israeli producers.
Here are two IRSP (web) boards and one IRPWA (web) board at Camlough Road on the edge of Derrybeg, Newry. Above, “Stop the genocide – Newry supports Palestine” (Teach Na Fáilte is the IRSP’s ex-prisoners division – Newry Fb); immediately below, “For a socialist republic – ‘He was the only one who truly understood what James Connolly meant when he spoke of his vision of the freedom of the Irish people’ – Nora O’Connolly O’Brien on Seamus Costello”; last below, “End internment – Portlaoise, Maghaberry, Hydebank”.
This is one of four Celtic crosses raised to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Burning Of Long Kesh in 1974 and, in this specific instance, to pay tribute to local Derrybeg volunteer Davey Morley, camp OC of the Provisionals, who gave the order for the camp to be burned (Pensive Quill).
Morley died in 1987, at age 46, possibly suffering the aftereffects of CR gas (The Blanket | Only Our Rivers).
Images of the December 2024 launch can be seen on Newry.LN’s Fb page.
“There are special people in our lives who never leave us even after they are gone. In loving memory of all the men that have passed away since the burning of Long Kesh 15th & 16th October 1974. Rest in peace. Also remembering the blanket men and women, all republicans who have lost their lives in our fight for freedom. Rest in peace.”
“This cross is to commemorate the burning of Long Kesh 1974 on the 50th anniversary of that event. Strategically placed here in Derrybeg, the home of Vol. Davey Morley officer commanding (OC) of the 4th battalion IRA Long Kesh. Vol. Davey Morley ordered the burning of the camp on the 15th Oct 74 after years of provaocation [sic] from prison authorities and their screws against POWs and their visitors. This was the largest head-to-head combat between the British Army and republican POWs since 1916. Republican POWs took on the might of the well-armed British forces that were firing baton rounds and CR gas flares from helicopters causing serious injuries to unarmed POWs and potentially the death of hundreds of men years after from the effects of CR gas (an illegal substance) i.e. chemical warfare the use of which is still denied to this day by the British government. Through the efforts of the burning and CR gas group we continue to fight for the truth. This memorial is jointly dedicated by the CR gas and the Burning of Long Kesh Newry Felons association. Unveiled by the widow of Davey Morley, Eilish Morley.”
A poem on the back of the cross reads:
“Oh mother of mine, I committed no crime So please do not weep when they bury me deep Because here in this ground with my comrades I sleep The spirit of freedom they can never defeat.
No defeat in the battle, no defeat in the war No defeat as in death, just our hearts you have tore
Continuing tears our people do shed For this country of ours and its patriot dead But one day we will be free, my comrades and me
So dear mother don’t weep, I am only asleep Put a kiss on my head and a flower at my feet And remember together we can never be beat!”
Paddy Duffy Collection 