For Remembrance Sunday, rows of hand-painted wooden medallions were attached to the railings at West Kirk Presbyterian to pay homage to the dead of the British armed forces, including Bernard McQuirt, whose plaque is shown below. McQuirt was a VC winner for actions taken during the Indian Rebellion in 1858. Originally from Donaghcloney, he survived his injuries and died in 1888 at 72 Urney Street (HistoryHub | News Letter | WP) – Urney Street used to be where the plaque and the memorial garden now are, along the side of the West Kirk.
Here is a gallery of images from the wall behind the Shore Road ‘World Wars’ memorial (see Remembrance Sunday) which has a few new additions and re-ordered boards for this year’s commemorations. The main additions are the “Lest we forget” stencil shown above, and a large number of white crosses in the grass and along the fence bearing the emblem of the UDR. The UDR board has been moved from the slanted wall at the far left to what is now the central position on the wall.
For images from Sunday’s ceremonies at City Hall, see BBC.
A new visitor exhibition will open on Thursday November 6th at Ionad Eileen Howell with images, video, and audio recordings covering the period from the start of the Troubles in 1969 to the Falls Curfew in 1970 (Belfast Media). The new exhibition is hosted by the Falls Community Council (Fb); tickets via Visit Belfast.
The Troubles are generally said to have started in August, 1969, rather than (e.g.) October, 1968, because the Battle Of The Bogside in Derry (beginning on August 12th) and the rioting in Belfast (beginning on the 13th) led to the deployment of British troops (on August 14th and 15th).
The Falls Curfew, in July 1970, was a pivotal event in the souring of relations between the CNR population and the British Army. About 3,000 homes were cordoned off, the area was saturated with CS gas, and thousands of bullets were fired by the Officials and Army soldiers, the latter killing Charles O’Neill, William Burns, Zbigniew Uglik, and Patrick Elliman; there is a plaque commemorating the four a little further up the road – see The Falls Curfew.
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!”
This image of King Billy crossing the Boyne in 1690 is on the No Surrender lodge (LOL 241) in Donaghadee. King William III’s victory in Ireland is celebrated annually on July 12th, with parades and gatherings of fraternal lodges and flute bands.
William’s victory is joined here by a number of small boards commemorating the 80th anniversary of Victory In Europe, on May 8th, 1945, “remembered with pride” by Orange lodges 241 and 836 (Brother Henry Ferguson Memorial), Royal Black Preceptory 768 (Ulster), and Flutes And Drums Donaghadee (Fb).
Manor Street, Donaghadee, replacing two Platinum Jubilee boards.
Jim McCabe, “life-long campaigner for truth and justice” after his wife Norah was killed by a plastic bullet in 1981, returns to the “International Wall” (Visual History) on Divis Street. The original mural – from a few months after his death in January 2023 – was replaced by A Window To A Free Country, one of the Palestinian-inspired murals. This new version replaces The Land Is Ours.
“In memory of all the innocent victims murdered and seriously injured by British Crown forces.”
The image above is from August 2nd; the images below are from July.
The memorial wall in Erskine Park, Ballyclare, marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day – May 8th, 2025 – with a pair of printed boards wrapping around the corner of the low wall.
For views of the gable and the low wall with armed-forces emblems and plaques to Girvan and Erskine, see The Men From Ballyclare.
“Óglach Kevin Hannaway, Irish Republican Army, hooded man. Unbowed & unbroken. Ar dheıs Dé go raıbh a anam.”
Kevin Hannaway died in January (2025), aged 77. In 1971 he was interned (Belfast Media) and subjected, along with thirteen others, to the “five techniques” – deprivation of food/drink and of sleep, subjection to noise, prolonged stress positions, and hooding (WP) – as well as being beaten and dropped out of a helicopter (Irish Times). The ‘five techniques’ were found to constitute torture in 2021 (RTÉ) and the PSNI apologised to the victims in 2023 (BBC | Irish Legal News).
Hannaway remained a republican throughout his life and was anti-Agreement in recent years (BBC). The board in Hannaway’s honour was launched on Sunday July 13th (Fb video). The panels of the board were siezed by the PSNI during a drug raid on a home in St James’s on the 11th but returned the next day (BelTel).
“IRPWA [web]. Republican prisoners still exist! Unfinished revolution. Unbowed, unbroken.”
Hugo Street, west Belfast. For a close-up of the Pearse Jordan plaque on the left, see the Peter Moloney Collection.
“On the 9th of July 1972, during the IRA ceasefire, local families began moving into their new homes in Lenadoon but were obstructed by British Occupation Forces who opened fire with rubber bullets and, using a “Sixer” Saracen Armoured Personnel Carrier, rammed a McQuillan’s Quarry lorry carrying furniture and belongings as rioting took place across the district. Seamus Twomey, then the IRA Belfast Brigade OC, ended the ceasefire, ordering local IRA units to engage British Forces. Raging gun battles overwhelmed the British for several days, as the IRA liberated most of Lenadoon.”
The captions to the photographs along the top read (l-r): “British Forces fire projectiles at families moving into their new homes”, “A “Sixer” rams a McQuillan lorry, forcing it off the road”, “Seamus Twomey, IRA Belfast Brigade OC, ordered local units to engage the British”, “An IRA Volunteer takes up position in a nearby street”, “An armed IRA volunteer in Lenadoon in the 1970s, Carrigart flats”, “Local families evacuate Lenadoon as thousands march to Casement Park”, “Local homes bare [bear] the scars of war”.
For background, see this 24 minute Thames TV report (on youtube) about the dispute over houses in Lenadoon; RTÉ also has footage (one | two) of the evacuation.
“In proud & loving memory of all those who contributed to the struggle for Irish freedom – Léana An Dúın – Beıdh sıad ınár gcuımhne choíche”
Lenadoon Avenue, west Belfast, replacing the 1995 Gorta Mór mural. Launched Sunday July 12th.
British Army forces were deployed to Northern Ireland On August 14th, 1969, under the operational name “Operation Banner”. It began as peace-keeping, in co-operation with the RUC, but soon became a counter-insurgency operation, which lasted until the Agreement in 1994 and officially ended, under a provision in the Agreement, on July 31st, 2007.
These plaques are beside the front door of the Royal British Legion in Hamilton Road, Bangor. The social club associated with the branch closed in May (Co Down Spectator).
“This plaque is to celebrate the platinum jubilee reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1952-2022. This plaque was presented by the Ulster Defence Regiment CGC Bangor Branch and the Royal British Legion Bangor Branch.”
“Operation Banner (14th August 1969 – 31st July 2007) This stone is dedicated to all members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces and Civilian Emergency Services who served during Operation Banner from Bangor and the surrounding District. ‘As Poppy Petals gently fall, remember us who gave our all/not in the mud of foreign lands nor buried in the desert sands/in Ulster field and farms and town/Fermanagh’s lanes and drumlin’d Down/we died that violent death should cease/and Ulstermen might live in peace.'”
Paddy Duffy Collection 