“Remember the ten H-Block martyrs. 1981-1998. Unbowed – unbroken.” With a pair of fists in barbed wire, a funeral volley fired over a coffin covered with Tricolour and beret, and a line-drawing of Bobby Sands. Signed “Republican Youth”
Berwick Road/Paráıd An Ardghleanna, Ardoyne,Ard Eoın, north Belfast/tuaısceart Bhéal Feırste
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Copyright © 1998 Paddy Duffy
T00289
“Not Spain, not France. Free Catalonia. Since 1714 the Catalan nation is military [sic] occupied for the Spanish and French states. Catalonia has their own culture, language, and history. Our country have [sic] more than 1000 years of history as a nation. The Catalan flag is the first European flag. Our fight flag is the “Estelada”. The white star means the freedom, and the blue triangle stands for the sky of humanity. Free Catalonia! United Ireland! El nostre dia arribarà! Tıócfaıdh [sic] ár lá. 11/8/97″
Beechmount Avenue, west Belfast
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Copyright © 1998 Paddy Duffy
T00285
IRA volunteers are superimposed upon the flags of the four provinces. In the top left (Ulster) and bottom right (Connacht) they are aiming weapons (one with a sniper’s scope), while in the top right (Leinster) they are firing a funeral volley, and in the bottom left (Munster) are reading a statement at a microphone; in the middle are a lark and a Tricolour.
South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast, replacing the even-more-heavily armed volunteers in Beıdh Ár Lá Lınn.
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Copyright © 1997 Paddy Duffy
T00294
“Volunteer Tom Williams, executed 2.9.42 age 19. A lad who still lied within a prison wall.” Williams was the leader of a unit from C company, 2nd battalion, Belfast IRA, that killed RUC Constable Patrick Murphy. Williams took sole responsibility, hoping that it would save the lives of the other seven (including two women) who had taken part in the ambush. The six men were jointly convicted of the killing but only Williams was ultimately hanged, after appeals from Ireland (not yet officially ‘The Republic Of’), the Vatican, and the US State Department (RN). He was buried on the grounds of Crumlin Road gaol (and his coffin would eventually be exhumed and reburied in Milltown in 2000).
This is the second Tom Williams mural at this spot; the first was painted in 1992; both were painted by Gerard “Mo Chara” Kelly. There is a plaque to Williams above his front door in Bombay Street.
Kashmir Road, west Belfast
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Copyright © 1996 Paddy Duffy
T00178 T00168
The writing – D coy, 2nd batt, Belfast Brigade [IRA] – has been added where the volunteer’s legs used to be – see the Peter Moloney Collection for the original. A small plaque has been added at the top. Otherwise, the mural remains as before, with a hooded volunteer raising an assault rifle in front of a sunburst and Tricolour, with a row of barbed wire and the four provinces named in Irish.
Falls Road, west Belfast, now the site of the Garden Of Remembrance
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00088
Both of these murals by Mo Chara Kelly in the old Linden Street remained unfinished. “I was doing one about the Falls Curfew [for the 20th anniversary march – shown above]. … It never got finished because we had to start Women Against Oppression. When you’re available, people just came up to you, “Mo Chara, we need a mural on this. Could you stop that one? We need to do this one. There’s a Nelson Mandela one needs doing, could you do that?” Everything was chopped and changed all the time, and I never got back to it.” (Painting My Community/An Pobal A Phéınteáıl – English-language version available for free)
The second shows a barefoot woman carrying a large Tricolour and a lark overhead. It is based on the Women’s Day (“Frauen Tag”) poster from 1914. “Heraus mit dem Frauenwahlrecht” – “Forward with women’s suffrage”. German women were given the right to vote in 1918. This mural was replaced by Women Against Oppression.
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00090 T00096
A revolutionary soldier raises the Irish Tricolour while trampling on a Union Flag on a broken mast that was perhaps attached to the poorly drawn GPO in the background. The card on which the image is based can be seen below.
On the right hand side are the Easter lily and halberds/pikes and an assault rifle, indicating the historical roots and present-day inheritors of the 1916 revolt.
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Copyright © 1990 Paddy Duffy
T00094
“Freedom.” On the left, a Starry Plough (of the INLA) is attached a spear of ancient Ireland, next to two pikes (of the 1798 Rebellion), behind an ancient shield filled in with the Gal Gréıne of the Fıanna; on the right, a volunteer from the modern “Óglaıgh Na hÉıreann” aims an assault rifle, all against a large Irish Tricolour.
Kashmir Road, west Belfast
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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00175
Volunteers in simplified clothing fire a funeral volley over an unseen coffin. The mural was later made more complex – see Slán Go Fóıll in the Peter Moloney Collection.
For the side wall, see Long Kesh in the Peter Moloney Collection.
South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast
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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00085
“In proud memory of those who gave their lives for Ireland’s freedom” (and out of sight to the left) “Also to all civilians murdered by the British crown forces” (and out of sight to the right) “Also to all civilians murdered by pro-British elements”. The Celtic cross bears three republican flags: Tricolour, Sunburst, and Starry Plough.
The volunteers (and one Sınn Féın member) listed are (on the left) “Martin Forsythe, Martin Skillen, Gerard Fennell, Terence O’Neill, John Dempsey” and (on the right) “Sean McDermott, Tom Magill, Sean Savage, Kevin McCracken, Paul Best”.
For a complete shot, see the Peter Moloney Collection.
Norglen Gardens, west Belfast, next to the 1916 Cú Chulaınn.
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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00082
Paddy Duffy Collection 