assault rifle

Then And Now

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“They fought then for the cause of Ulster, we will fight now.” The 75th anniversary of the Ulster Volunteers is celebrated in this mural in Dover Place, west Belfast. On the left of the Northern Island is an Ulster Volunteer in period (1912) garb standing on a patch of ground, on the right, a modern (1987) paramilitary in hood and fatigues standing on a city footpath. The Ulster Volunteers as such did not fight for Ulster – they instead joined the British Army and fought “for King and Empire” in WWI, after which Home Rule was applied only to 26 counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland was created and remained within the UK.

See also: UVF 75th Anniversary

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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This Is Loyalist West Belfast

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These are three of the murals painted in Percy Place, west Belfast, painted by Alan Skillen in 1984. For a gallery of all eleven piece, see the street’s Visual History page.

The murals combined traditional PUL themes and iconography, such as King Billy and the monarchy, with the emblems and hooded gunmen of paramilitary groups.

The piece above is unusual in that it takes a familiar UDA device of four emblems in the quadrants of an Ulster Banner shield (see e.g. Sans Peur) but replaces three of them with the emblems of the UVF, PAF, and YCV. A crude outline of Northern Ireland has also been applied.

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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We Aim To Be Free

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The death by hanging of African National Congress supporter Benjamin Moloise on 18 October, 1985, for the alleged murder of a South African policeman, drew international condemnation and led to widespread rioting in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth. (ExecutedToday | Jet)

Moloise’s words, “tell the world, freedom is at hand”, originally appeared on the right of this ANC-IRA mural, paired with a phrase from Bobby Sands, “we aim to be free” on the left of the assault rifle and a zulu shield and spear. The quote and signature have been painted out due to paint-bombing. (There was (at least) one other paint-bombing of the mural – see the Peter Moloney Collection.)

The boards above the mural (“erected by Sınn Féın April 1986”) declare west Belfast an “apartheid free zone”/”ceantar saor ó apartheıd”. Note the “A/A” [anti-aparteid] emblem in bottom-left of the left-hand board.

“Beır bua” [seize victory] along the bottom is partly obscured by the skip.

Ascaıll Ard Na bhFeá/Beechmount Avenue, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Our Day Will Come

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The main panel, of three IRA volunteers with raised weapons, was painted by Sean ‘Conker’ Connolly, presumably based on or inspired by the poster below.

Also on the wall are (below right) a Tricolour and (below left) “Sinn Fein/Gerry Adams” and a small board (at the top) with a raised fist and the slogan “Unity is strength”.

Westrock Drive, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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UVF And UDA

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These are murals from completing organisations, the UVF (above) represented by an Uzi above various flags and the emblem of the UVF, and the UDA (below) represented additionally by hooded volunteers on manoeuvres. They were together on the Crumlin Road, on waste-ground at the top of Queensland Street and at the top of Tasmania Street. On the gable next to the UVF flags large YCV and 36th Division emblems would be added – see the Peter Moloney Collection.

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Women In Armed Struggle

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“Solidarity between women in armed struggle” would be added in the bottom right (or is perhaps obscured by the burnt-out lorry. The imagery shows female members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Cumann Na mBan, and the Southwest African People’s Organisation (from Namibia) drawn within the symbol for woman (also the planet Venus in astrology).

Painted by Kes and “Improved by Sınn Féın Youth” (added to the bottom left) at the top of Fallswater Street. (Compare with the Peter Moloney Collection’s image from 1985.)

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Copyright © 1983 Paddy Duffy
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We Are Here To Stay

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This mural celebrates the IRA (“Óglaigh Na hÉıreann” at the top) from 1919 (the army of the independent Dáıl Éıreann) to the “present” day of 1982. In the centre, a lark flies against a Tricolour, with the word “Saoırse” (“freedom”) beneath.

This is a repainted version of the original, which was one of several murals in Beechmount and the Rock streets that were paint-bombed by “marauding Coldstream Guards” (according to AP/RN of 1982-04-29) – for the damaged mural, see the Peter Moloney Collection. The “1919” date would be changed to “1916”.

Islandbawn Street, west Belfast, replacing The Right Hon. Bobby Sands.

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Copyright © 1982 Paddy Duffy
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We Must Grow Tough

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Three female activists, one with a rifle, proclaim “Resistance” on the Falls Road, Belfast. The phrase is attributed to Che Guevara. The mural was commissioned by Sınn Féın’s Department Of Women’s Affairs for International Women’s Day, 1982 (March 6th). This is probably a work-in-progress image, as the words “We must grow tough, but without ever losing our tenderness” are missing from the top part of the wall and a signature – “painted by Sınn Féın Youth” – in the bottom left. Compare to the images in the Peter Moloney Collection.

This is the second mural on this wall – the first was a tribute to the first four hunger strikers to die in 1981 (see the Peter Moloney Collection). That mural was only head-high, whereas this one attempts to cover the entire wall, all the way up to the chimney – for the development of CNR muraling at this time, see Visual History 03.

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Copyright © 1982 Paddy Duffy
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