Korda’s famous photograph of the 31-year-old Che Guevara was taken in Havana, Cuba, in 1960, and was turned into the ubiquitous two-tone poster by Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick in 1968. (For a more complete history of both the photo and the print, see the Visual History page on the influence of Jim Fitzpatrick.) This very faithful reproduction of Fitzpatrick’s Che is in Glen Road, Maghera.
“Marcella”, in the bottom right, might be the name of the artists; Bobby Sands used his sister’s name – “Marcella” – to sign the pieces that he wrote for newspapers outside Long Kesh.
Charles Thomson was born in Maghera in 1729 and moved to North America in 1739. He served as the secretary of the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence. He helped design both the front and back of the nation’s Great Seal in 1782. (WP)
He is honoured in his home town by the board shown here. Thomson’s design for the reverse of the seal – the all-seeing eye over an unfinished pyramid (WP) – appears in the eagle’s left-hand wing, and his preliminary sketch, with wing-tips pointed downward (WP), in the right-hand wing.
Text of the information panel: “The Final Design of the Great Seal – June 20, 1782. On June 13, 1782, Congress asked Charles Thomson to come up with a suitable design for America’s Great Seal. With the reports and drawings of the three committees before him, he set to work. Thomson had served the past eight years as the Secretary of the Continental Congress where he acquired a reputation for fairness, truth, and integrity. Well-versed in the classics, he was once a Latin master the Academy of Philadelphia. Although today he is not a well-known founder, Charles Thomson was at the heart of the American Revolution. Thomson incorporated symbolic elements from all three committees with ideas of his own to create a bold and elegant design. He made a sketch and wrote a description of his preliminary design. For the front of the Great Seal, Thomson drew an American bald eagle and for the centrepiece he a [sic] placed the shield upon the eagle’s breast. Thomson envisioned an eagle “on the wing and rising.” In the eagle’s right talon is an olive branch. In its left, a tightly drawn bundle of arrows. Thomson said these symbols represent “the power of peace and war.” In the eagle’s beak, he placed a scroll with the first committee’s motto: E Pluribus Unum ‘Out of Many, One’. For the crest above the eagle’s head, Thomson used the radiant constellation of thirteen stars suggested by the second committee. He described the light rays as “breaking through a cloud.” For the reverse side of the Great Seal, Thomson used Barton’s (third committee) suggestion: an unfinished pyramid with the eye of Providence in its zenith, but added a triangle around the eye (like the first committee did). He also created two new mottos: Novus Ordo Seclorum ‘A New Order of the Ages’ and Annuit Coeptis ‘Providence has Favoured Our Undertakings’. After consulting with William Baron, the position of the eagle was changed to “displayed” (wings spread with tips up) and the chevrons on the shield were changed to the vertical stripes we see today.”
Messages on love hearts on the side of The Bon-Bon sweet shop (web) in Newcastle: “Keep ‘er lit”, “What’s the craic?”, “Catch yourself on”, “Buck eejit”, “Wise up”, “‘Ats us nai”, “Aye, dead on”, “Boys-a-dear”, “Sweet shap”, “Ack, hiya love”. “‘Bout ye?”, “Rite, big lad”, “Here’s me ma”.
“NCC” in the final image, below (of movie characters at the cinema), stands for Newcastle Community Cinema (web) which opened on Halloween night, 2009. The street art shown here is at the organisation’s current hall, in Main Street, home not just to movie nights but activities including martial arts and u3a. The pieces are by Friz (web), KVLR (web), and JMK.
The town of Rostrevor, Co Down, on Carlingford Lough, is home to an annual fiddling and traditional music festival each summer called ‘Fiddler’s Green’ (web). The 2025 installation – from July 16th to 20th – will be the festival’s thirty-seventh.
The fiddler shown here is by Visual Waste (web) on the side of Hillside Holiday Home & Lodge (web), Mary Street, Rostrevor.
“‘That part of Rostrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia’ – CS Lewis”. Lewis wrote these words in a letter to his brother Warnie (Guardian), referring to time spent in the area as a child (Ireland.com). The lough can be seen from the glacial erratic known as Cloughmore (the big stone), which sits 300 metres above the town in Kilbroney Park on the slopes of Slieve Martin; a snowy image from behind the rock can be seen at Heart Of Rostrevor.
Also included is an image of the small painting of Mr. Tumnus on the front of the building – he welcomes children who have stepped through the wardrobe.
Both are by Pigment Space (ig) on the Rostrevor Inn in Bridge Street, Rostrevor.
Warrenpoint’s ‘Wake The Giant’ festival (web) returns this year (2025) on June 28th and 29th (programme), featuring a ‘parade of giants’ (puppets) on both days.
This street art was painted for last year’s (2024) festival on the boarded-up façade of the Osborne Hotel by English artist Faunagraphics (web).
“The Main Man” is John (“Wee John”) McKillop, a life-long super-fan of the Ruaırí Óg teams who died at the end of July 2023 at the age of 60 (Saffron Gael | BelTel). This is a repainting of the mural on the side of the Lurig Inn (Fb) in Cushendall; for the previous version, including information about the scene depicted, see Bound Together from 2023.
This board in memory of Queen Elizabeth is on the Orange Hall in Carncullagh Road, which is home to LOL 534 and RBP 401. It was unveiled by Jim Allister at the end of 2022 (Dervock Community Fb).
“Queen Elizabeth II 1926 – 2022. “It’s worth remembering that it is often the small steps, not the giant leaps, that bring about the most lasting change.” Dervock thanks you for your service.” “On her twenty-first birthday, 21 April 1947, Princess Elizabeth pledged “I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong”. “Your Promise Maintained” – Thank You for Your Service Ma’am.”
“Our late Queen’s greatness came from her steadfast faith in Jesus Christ. On Christmas Day 2002 the Queen state, “I rely on my faith to guide me. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right. To give of my best in all that the day brings, and put my trust in God.” Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.”
With the signatures of masters Roland Hill, James McMaster, and reverend Campbell Mulvenny of Dervock Presbyterian Church.
Last below: a tarp celebrating the coronation of King Charles III
Paddy Duffy Collection 