IRA

The British Were Met With Their Own Weapons

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“[They said I was ruthless, daring, savage, blood thirsty, even heartless. The clergy called me and my comrades murderers; but] The British were met with their own weapons. They had gone down into the mire to destroy us and our nation and down after them we had to go. – Tom Barry, IRA volunteer.”

Tom Barry served in the British Army as a teenager and saw action in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The military training served him well when he joined the IRA and soon became commander of the West Cork brigade’s flying column. The quotation above offer a justification for the guerrilla tactics which helped drive the British to the negotiating table. In the Civil War, Barry was on the anti-Treaty side. (WP)

“In proud and loving memory of all those who contributed to the struggle for Irish freedom. Léana An Dúın. Beıdh sıad ınár gcuımhne choíche.”

The red board below is an old (2019) IRSP board, reading, “Join the IRSP. No to state harassment, to drug dealing, to loan sharks, to benefit cuts, to bedroom tax, to work schemes, to British rule. Yes to safer communities, to proper housing, to quality jobs, to freedom in Ireland, to republican socialism!, to a fair economy, to community empowerment. Join with us in promoting a new and fair Ireland and in building the campaign for a border poll. www.irsp.ie“

Horn Drive, Lenadoon, west Belfast

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My Brother Is Not A Criminal

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The brothers in question are Raymond and Brian McCreesh, from Camlough, Co Armagh. Raymond is third in the list of the ten deceased 1981 hunger strikers on the large stone at the top of the slope: “In memory of the volunteers who died on hunger strike in H-Blocks 1981.” The quote along the bottom reads, “H-Block is rock that the British monster shall perish upon for we in H-Block stand upon the unconquerable rock of the Irish socialist republic – Bobby Sands”; the source of the quote in unknown.

The lower stone reads “These men made the supreme sacrifice for their country by dying on hunger strike from 1917 to 1976: 1917 Thomas Ashe; 1920 Michael Fitzgerald, Joseph Murphy, Terence McSwiney; 1923 Joseph Whitty, Denis Barry, Andy Sullivan; 1940 Tony Darcy, Sean McNeela; 1946 Sean McCaughey; 1974 Michael Gaughan; 1976 Frank Stagg. “It is not those who can inflict the most but those that can suffer the most who will conquer” – Terence McSwiney.”

The final image is a call from “Independent Republicans Armagh [Fb]” to commemorate Dessie Grew and Martin McCaughey, who were riddled with bullets fired by the SAS as they moved weapons near Moy, Co Tyrone, in 1990 (RN | youtube).

Ford’s Cross, New Road, Silverbridge

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Our Time Ran Out

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“Vol. Brendan Burns, Vol. Brendan Moley, 29 February 1988.” Burns and Moley died “on active service”, meaning the premature explosion of a bomb they were loading into a van (RTÉ video | Sutton | RN). There is a plaque at the spot at which the pair was killed, on the nearby Donaldson’s Road – see M08795. Burns was wanted in connection with the Narrow Water ambush of 1979 (UPI).

“You were being oppressed by the political and military might of the foreign invader. We tried to protect you, we gave you the best that we could, but our time ran out, before the battle was won. Now it’s time for you to give the best you can. Stand together with your comrades we sadly left behind. Be proud to carry on the struggle for the freedom of our land.”

Newry Road, outside Creggan, Co Armagh

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The Martyrs Will Haunt Us Forever

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“We must take no steps backward, our steps must [or: will] be onward, for if we don’t, the [ghosts of the] martyrs that died for you, for me, for this country will haunt us forever [or: for eternity].” The words of Máıre Drumm (from an anti-internment rally in Dunville Park on 10th August, 1975 – RN p. 4) appear below a roll of honour for the IRA’s South Armagh Brigade. The list of volunteers is included below; in 1976 Drumm herself was shot dead in her bed by the RHC in the Mater hospital where she was a patient (WP) – she was Vice President of Sınn Féın at the time.

Michael McVerry, Sean Boyle, Francis Jordan, Gerry McKiernan, James Lochrie, Sean Campbell, Peter Cleary, Seamus Harvey, Liam Farrelly, Peadar McElvanna, Kevin Caherty, Raymond McCrees, Brendan Moley, Brendan Burns, Fergal Caraher, Packie Duffy, Eugene Martin, Tim Daly, Malachy Watters, Gary Toner, Keith Rogers, Francie Caraher, Gerald Fearon, Pat Lynch

Twelve more of the martyrs – the Troubles-era hunger-strikes – are on the stone across the street (for a close-up, see the Peter Moloney Collection).

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At The Graveside Of Cú Chulaınn We’ll Kneel Around And Pray

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Oliver Sheppard’s statue of Cú Chulaınn dying – see the Cú Chulaınn Visual History page – memorialises nine IRA volunteers from the Lenadoon area, whose names are listed on the scrolls to each side and whose portraits appear in the apex: Tony Henderson, John Finucane, Brendan O’Callaghan, Joe McDonnell, Laura Crawford, Maıréad Farrell, Patricia Black, Bridie Quinn. Below the statue are the shields of the four provinces and the words “Léana An Dúın – unbowed, unbroken” and “saoırse” [freedom].

The mural dates back to 1996 (see T00160) and was repainted in 2009 (see M05134) and c. 2014 (see M11028, which includes a close-up of the plaque added in 2009.) In this version, nothing has changed in the composition of the mural and the photographic portraits and the Easter Rising centenary board have been retained.

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Derrybeg Volunteers

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On the left of this Newry memorial is a list of the “1916 Easter Rising Leaders executed by the British government: Thomas Clarke, Padraig Pearse, Thomas Mac Donagh, Joseph Plunkett, Willie Pearse, Ned Daly, Michael O’Hanrahan John Mac Bride, Eamonn Ceannt, Sean Heuston, Con Colbert, Michael Mallin, Thomas Kent, Sean Mac Diarmada, James Connolly, Roger Casement.”

On the right are five members of the local Óglaıgh na hÉıreann: Patrick Hughes, Edward Grant, Michael Hughes, Brendan Watters, Colum Marks.” Michael Hughes/Mıcheál Ó hAodha is commemorated at the western entrance to the estate and the plaque also mentions the death of his father, Patsy, and the death by premature explosion of his friend Eddie Grant in 1973. Brendan Watters likewise died by premature explosion (UPI). There is a memorial stone in Downpatrick at the spot where Colum Marks was killed.

Included last below is a Saoradh (web) board: “End British political policing”.

Second Avenue, Derrybeg, Newry, next to the new commemoration of the Burning Of Long Kesh.

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Bobby Sands MP

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The Bobby Sands mural in Sevastopol Street, on the side of the Sınn Féın offices, is perhaps Belfast’s most famous mural and in general second only to Free Derry Corner in Derry. The main wall of the mural has just been touched up, in time for the march that took place in Belfast on August 24th as part of the national hunger-strike commemoration.

The first mural of Sands was painted on the wall in 1989 and the most recent re-painting prior to this one was in 2015 – see the wall’s Visual History page.

August 23rd:

August 20th:

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A Forgotten Atrocity

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Wreaths are laid at the Bayardo Bar memorial on the Shankill Road on the fiftieth anniversary of the attack, which involved the shooting of two people at the door and the bomb being left at the entrance, which caused the deaths of a further three people: “In memory of five innocent Protestants slaughtered here by a republican murder gang on 13th August 1975. William John Gracey aged 63, Samuel Gunning aged 55, Joanne McDowell aged 29, Hugh Alexander Harris aged 21, Linda Boyle aged 17. Erected by the Bayardo Somme Association. “A forgotten atrocity”.” Fifty other people were injured in the attack.

Here is an opinion piece in the BelTel claiming that “republican communities … have been far more active not only in memorialising violent events impacting upon them, but also campaigning for the truth about those actions … the lack of balance in how the past is being investigated here has created a one-track, green-tinted narrative”.

See also: the memorial in 2023. Included here are close-ups of two recent plaques, one “In memory of Neily Reid Scotland, true friend of the Bayardo Somme Association, died 4th February 2022. Lest we forget.” and the other “In memory of Billy Boyce, loyal friend of the Bayardo Somme, died 19-12-2018. Lest we forget.”

Shankill Road/Aberdeen Street, west Belfast

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A Panorama Of Republicanism

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Féıle An Phobaıl (web) is now headquartered in the renovated (BCC) St Comgall’s on Divis Street in Ionad Eileen Howell, and during this year’s (2025) festival is home to an exhibition called “Vibrant Colours, Violent Past”, the centrepiece of which is a 20-foot-long panoramic history of republicanism, with Wolfe Tone, James Connolly, and Martin McGuinness as pivotal figures.

A leaflet distributed at the launch (on August 1st) explained the genesis of the project, as follows:

“A few years ago I met a great friend of Ireland and art collector Darius Anderson from California who was here on a trip with his wife Wendy and hoping to see some new work by Irish artists, not only work destined for gallery walls but having been fortunate to be included on one of local guide Dee Morgan’s tours he developed a love for and focus on our world-recognised mural art tradition.

“Then last year on another trip here I was able to introduce Darius to my life-long friends and probably the most prolific contributors to our local landscape.

“From a casual meeting alongside Marty and Micky at work repainting the Vol. Kieran Doherty mural in Andersonstown came an inspired suggestion that we accept a challenge from him to tell our story graphically on a canvas rather than the usual brick wall, not just on canvas to hang on a wall in his gallery in L.A. but a canvas to cover the entire wall 20ft x 7ft!

“Excited by our positive response Darius wondered could we invite some loyalist artist/activist to contribute a similar large canvas celebrating the history of the British, Unionist, Loyalist community here.

“That was last July. This exhibition is a result of that meeting but also a chance for the public to remind themselves of our often colourful and unfortunately violent past. – Danny D, Muralist/Activist”

“History is like a rearview mirror! You must always check back but you must keep focused on the road ahead, otherwise you are going to crash!” (Similar wording was used in a piece – Painting From The Same Palette – painted by Danny D and Mark Ervine in 2008.)

The exhibition was launched on August 1st and also included four display boards featuring murals by Danny D (CNR) and Dee Craig (PUL) (Fb).

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