WWI

The World Wars In Lower Shankill

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Here are three murals/boards by Steven Tunley for the Re-Imaging Communities programme in Dover Place, lower Shankill.

From left to right: “Fathers and sons of the Shankill enlist to fight in World War One”, “Belfast blitz – Easter Tuesday, 15 April 1941”, and “VE Day – 8th May 1945”.

Dover Place, Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2009/2010/2011/2012 Paddy Duffy
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Victoria Crosses Of The 36th (Ulster) Division

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Four VC recipients from the 36th (Ulster) Division in WWI are honoured in a mural in Cappagh Gardens: G[eoffrey] St. G[eorge] S[hillington] Cather, W[illiam] F[rederick] MacFadzean, R[obert] Quigg, and E[ric] N[orman] F[rankland] Bell.

Cappagh Gardens, Castlereagh

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Copyright © 2008/2009/2010/2011/2012 Paddy Duffy
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YCV

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The shamrock in the wreath represents the Irish divisions of the British Army in WWI – the 36th, the 10th, and the 16th. The Young Citizen Volunteers formed the fourteenth battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and so part of the 36th (Ulster) Division during the first world war.

Benburb Street, Village, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2012 Paddy Duffy
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Lay Them Away On The Hill Side

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“Lay them away on the hill side/along with the brave and the bold/Inscribe their names on the role [sic] of fame/in letters of purest gold.” The Ulster Tower at Thiepval commemorates the WWI dead of the 36th (Ulster) Division. The words, however, come from a song about James Daly, who was executed by firing squad for taking part in a 1920 mutiny of the Connaught Rangers in India in protest of the activities of the Black and Tans.

Below the board is a roll of honour for the “UVF South Belfast 2nd battalion”: “A salute to the brave/to those men we hold dear/they fought for our freedom/south Belfast volunteers.”

Compare this mural to the previous (Here Lies A Soldier), which does not include any reference to the Great War.

On the side of The Hideout, Pine Street, Donegall Pass, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2011/2012 Paddy Duffy
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The United Kingdom

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In 2004 the East Belfast Historical And Cultural Society sponsored a series of 14 murals in Thorndyke Street charting Protestant history from Cromwell to Cluan Place. From left to right, these are:

  • The Covenant
  • “The Folk Come Home. Lord Protector of the Commonwealth” (Cromwell)
  • “The City Is Saved” (Siege Of Derry)
  • “Civil And Religious Liberty For All.” “Dan Winter’s cottage, County Armagh. Dan Winter was one of the founders of the Orange Order”
  • “Better The Grave Than Slavery.” “How is freedom measured? By the effort which it costs to retain. Freedom!” (WW1)
  • “Their Sacrifice, Our Freedom.” “As we scrambled over the trench ladders, the YCV flag appeared. Jim Maultsaid” (WWI)
  • “United Kingdom”
  • “Hitler Attacks Belfast”
  • “Defending The Community” (Paramilitaries)
  • “Unity – Solidarity” (Sunningdale Agreement)
  • “Their Loyalty Betrayed” (UDR/B Specials)
  • “Out Of The Ashes, New Life.” “Annie Blair – Cluan Place. Her defiance against aggression will always be remembered – God bless”
  • Britannia. “The Union flag, or Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom and it is so called because it embodies the emblems of three countries united under one sovereign – the Kingdoms of England and Wales, of Scotland and of Ireland. The flag consists of three heraldic crosses, those of St Patrick, St George and St Andrew. The Welsh dragon does not appear on the Union flag. This is because when the first Union flag was created in 1606, Wales by that time was already united with England and was no longer a separate principality.”
  • Commonwealth/Sponsors

The murals were launched in 2004 and information panels were added in 2005.

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Copyright © 2012 Paddy Duffy
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We Won’t Have Home Rule

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These three panels are in the courtyard of the Rex Bar in what used to be Moscow Street, celebrating resistance to Home Rule – Covenant Day September 28th 1912; the formation of the Ulster Volunteers, being reviewed at Fernhill House in Glencairn Park by Edward Carson; “Deserted! Well I can stand alone“; and (in post-partition Northern Ireland) “a Protestant farmer’s wife guards her husband against sectarian attack from across the border”.

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
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East Belfast Volunteers

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This mural at the mouth of Canada Street commemorates The main mural features insignia of more than thirty units of types from the 8th Batt. RIR, ranging from machine gunners to vets.

The plaques on the wall to the left celebrate the nine Victoria Crosses won by members of the 36th (Ulster) Division “For valour”: Cather, McFadzean, Bell, Quigg, Emerson, De Wind, Seaman, Knox, and Harvey; the final plaque is McCrae’s In Flanders’ Fields. 

Canada Street, east Belfast

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
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The People’s Army

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“The arming, the training, and the sacrifice of The People’s Army.” The arming of the Ulster Volunteers (top left) comes from the guns smuggled into Larne on the Clyde Valley. The training of the Ulster Volunteers shown (top right) is probably at Ballywalter. The sacrifice (bottom) is the 36th (Ulster) Division going over the top in James Beadle’s painting ‘Charge of the 36th (Ulster) Division, Somme, 1st July 1916’.

Inverary Drive, east Belfast

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Copyright © 2008 Paddy Duffy
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Cathedral Youth Club

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These paintings are on boards on the wall around the Cathedral Youth Club in the Fountain.

Above are two boards (on the side) showing the Apprentice Boys crying “No surrender!” and the breaking of the boom that ended the siege. A 2007 entry in the Peter Moloney Collection shows three additional panels to the right, also relating to Londonderry.

Below are two wall-paintings (on the front), of the Thiepval Memorial and the Ulster Tower. The image of the wall to the left in the Peter Moloney Collection does not include these two panels but rather the outline of the words “At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them”.

The Fountain, Londonderry

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Copyright © 2007 Paddy Duffy
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