Newtownabbey

Doubt Thou The Stars Are Fire

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Here is a selection of Shakespearean quotations on the topic of love on the driveway walls of a house on the Ballyclare Road in Glengormley:

“William Shakespeare – 1565-1616 Aged 52 – 38 plays, 154 sonnets”

[Left (image below)]

“Hear my soul speak of the very instant that I saw you, did/My heart fly at your service” [The Tempest 3.1]

“Tell me, for which of my bad parts didst thou first fall in love with me?” [Much Ado About Nothing 5.2]

“Parting is such sweet sorrow” [Romeo & Juliet 2.2]

“I would not wish any companion in the world but you” [The Tempest 3.1]

“So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” [Sonnet 18]

[Right (image above)]

“Doubt thou the stars are fire/Doubt that the sun doth move/Doubt truth to be a liar/But never doubt I love” [Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2]

“When I saw you/I fell in love./And you smiled/because you knew” [from Arrigo Boito’s libretto to Verdi’s Falstaff. In Italian: “Come ti vidi/M’innamorai./E tu sorridi/Perchè lo sai”]

“See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand/O that I were a glove upon that hand/That I might touch that cheek.” [Romeo & Juliet 2.2]

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The Going Is Good

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Hazelbank (House) was blown up by the IRA in the 1970s (The Burn) and Macedon (House) was demolished after being closed in 1981 – their grounds became Hazelbank Park (History Hub Fb). The towers on the promenade by the shore provide a backdrop for this Lidia Cao (ig) street art on the Shore Road.

With Daisy Chain (web) and A&N borough council (web).

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John And Rab

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Cloughfern Young Conquerors flute band (Fb – warning: copious use of images of Eddie The Trooper) was founded in 1973, the same year as the UDA began using the name “UFF”. “John” and “Rab” on the arms of the emblem above are John “Grugg” Gregg (also known as ‘The Reaper’) and Rab Carson of the UDA’s Southeast Antrim brigade. The pair were killed together in 2003 by the lower Shankill (West Belfast C company) UDA. (See also Gregg & Carson for another local tribute.)

The gentleman in the panel on the right is “The General”; he celebrated a birthday in July of this year (2024) (Fb) and so is perhaps not (as this board might suggest) another of the “absent friends” held in “glorious memory”.

See also: 50 Years Unbroken and CYC 50th– celebrations from 2023 of the band’s fiftieth anniversary.

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They Fought Together As Brothers In Arms

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This is a smallish board in New Mossley, Newtownabbey:

On the left: “11th/12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (South and Central Antrim Volunteers) – The Ulster Memorial Tower, Thiepval, France. The Ulster Memorial Tower was unveiled by Field Marshall Sir Henry Wilson in Thiepval, France, on 19 November 1921, in dedication to the contributions of the 36th (Ulster) Division during The Great War 1914-1918. The tower marks the site of the Schwaben redoubt, against which the (Ulster) Division advanced on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.”

Specifically, the Central Antrim regiment (of the Ulster Volunteers) became the 12th battalion RIR, while the South Antrim regiment (of the Ulster Volunteers) became the 11th battalion RIR; both joined the 108th brigade in the 36th division.

The redoubt is also the site of the Thiepval Memorial.

JP Beadle’s painting “Battle of the Somme: Attack of the Ulster Division” hangs in Belfast City Hall (Royal Irish has a history of its purchase).

On the right: “The Great War 1914-1918. 32,186 killed, wounded, missing, 36th (Ulster) Division. They fought together as brothers in arms, they died together and now they sleep side by side. To them we owe a solemn obligation. They died that we might live.”

The sword-in-cross is a common war memorial but the one pictured is probably the Tyne Cot memorial to the Commonwealth dead of WWI (see Great War 100 Reads).

See also: The same boards (at larger size) next to the memorial garden – South And Central Antrim Volunteers. And from the historical record, True Heroes – which includes two small, painted, 36th Division boards from the street in 2009.

Ballyearl Drive, Newtownabbey.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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One Big Clean Up

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“Stop the illegal migrants – we need to protect our children – we stand together”. Rathcoole signs reading “Anyone facilitating the settlement of Muslims or illegals in our areas will be held responsible” (in the same style as the Shankill signs seen in Not A Dumping Ground) were removed by police after complaints from community members (Belfast Media). The style of placard referring only to “illegal immigrants” (shown above) remains.

“Protecting children” might be a reference to the knife attack on a dance studio in Southport, England, in late July, in which three children died and eight more were injured; misinformation on social media (falsely) identified the attack as Muslim and an asylum-seeker (Independent); he is a Cardiff-born teenager of Rwandan parentage (WP). Several days of rioting followed the attack, including in Belfast (WP).

See also: Stop The Boats in north Belfast, in connection with the UK’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda | Protect Our Children sticker in east Belfast from February.

(“One big clean up” is the name of a previous campaign against dog fouling; A&N’s current campaign is called “Dog Watch“.)

Green End, Rathcoole, Newtownabbey

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Welcome To the Bellevue

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The beer garden at the Bellevue Arms got a facelift in the summer (of 2024), including new a name-sign in the style of the “Greetings from …” postcards in the US, which would feature local landmarks within the letters of the place-name. (Here is a history from Smithsonian magazine.)

Within the letters of “BELLEVUE” we can see a Delorean, one of the H&W cranes, the Albert Clock, the Rise sculpture (the Balls On The Falls), the Titanic museum, Belfast City Hall, the Big Fish, the Beacon Of Hope sculpture (Nuala With The Hula).

The seating areas have also been decorated with paintings of flowers.

Antrim Road, Glengormley. Perhaps by Visual Waste (web).

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Union Bears

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The “Union Bears” are a Rangers FC “ultras” supporters club whose web page currently features the giant tifo – “sign” or “banner” is too small a word, so the Italian word is used – unveiled at various games. This much smaller display (above) is on an electrical box on the Doagh Road next to the Iceland at the eastern edge of the Rathcoole estate.

For the Sons Of KAI flute band sticker, see Kai Johansen’s Bar | Sons Of KAI | Four Lads Had A Dream.

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3rd Battalion New Mossley

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The hooded gunman at the New Mossley playground – seen previously in Welcome To New Mossley Play Area – has been upgraded with a golden UVF emblem (shown last, below), and has been joined by two new pieces: the printed board above and the low wall below. The 3rd battalion also includes Rathcoole, Mount Vernon, and Tiger’s Bay.

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Bravery Without Limit, Memory Without End

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“15th battalion Royal Irish Rifles (North Belfast Volunteers). To the memory and sacrifice of the North Belfast Volunteers who formed in this area, brave young men who gave their lives at the Somme and other battles to restore peace in Europe. ‘To them, bravery was without limit. To us, memory is without end.'” Five of the six portraits were included in the previous mural (see Many Did Not Return): (1) Rifleman Forrester, (2) Rifleman Baird, (4) Sergeant Major Magookin, (5) Rifleman Templeton, (6) 2nd Lt De La Harpur.

“Second Lieutenant Edmund De Lind. Awarded the VC for actions near Grugies, France 21st March 1918.”

De Wind was born in Comber but went to Canada in 1911. When the Great War began he joined the Canadian Army in Edmonton and fought at the Somme and Vimy Ridge. He joined the British Army and joined the RIR, the 15th battalion of which was originally drawn from the North Belfast Volunteers (War Time Memories). He died on March 18th, 1918, at St Quentin, near Grugies, in the Aisne. For his actions he was awarded the Victoria Cross; it is held in the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa. (CEF | Royal Irish | Legion | Ulster History | WP)

As is seen in the final two images, De Wind is remembered on one of the pillars outside St Anne’s in Belfast city centre.

The stone in front pre-dates this mural, though more names have been added since it was seen in Ghosts Of The Somme. “Rathcoole Friends Of The Somme roll of honour. Past member – lest we forget.”

Inniscarn Drive, Newtownabbey. Launched July 22nd, 2024.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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