“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
“This plaque is dedicated to the memory of Lt. Col. Trevor King, died 9th July 1994, Major Wm. (Frenchie) Marchant, died 28th April 1987, Davy Hamilton, Died 17th June 1994. These brave men died near this spot [the corner of Spier’s Place and Shankill Road, Belfast] by the enemies of Ulster. No sacrifice is too great for one’s country. They paid the ultimate sacrifice. ‘They shall grow not old/as we that are left grow old/Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn/At the going down of the sun and in the morning/We will remember them.’”
King and Hamilton (along with Colin Craig, an RUC informer and not included on the plaque) were shot by the INLA and died of their wounds three weeks and one day later. Frenchie Marchant was shot by the IRA outside The Eagle chip shop. The plaque is surrounded by a garland of three nation’s flowers: shamrock, rose, and thistle.
Spier’s Place, west Belfast. This is a new, larger, plaque, compared to previously.
“Sandy Row South Belfast” UDA/UFF volunteers in balaclavas and camo gear fire a funeral volley “in proud memory of our fallen comrades. We forget them not – at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”
The UVF’s William Millar (here given as “Miller”) was ambushed, along with Bobby Morton, by the RUC on the 16th of March 1983 – Millar died and Morton was injured (Long Kesh Inside Out). His death is put in parallel with the WWI service of William McFadzean, who won the VC for throwing himself on a fallen box of grenades on the first day of the Battle Of The Somme. The McFadzean family home (Rubicon) is only half a mile away from this mural.
Trevor “Kingso” King served time for his part in the Battle At Springmartin in 1972, in which seven people, including a British soldier, died. In 1994, having been shot by the INLA and paralysed from the neck down, King took the decision to remove his own life-support (WP).
The emblem of the PAF is out of shot to the left; the UVF emblem in the centre is flanked by the Ulster Banner and UVF flag. “1st Belfast battalion, ‘B’ company.”
Brian Robinson was shot by the British Army in September, 1989, immediately after he had shot and killed a Catholic (Paddy McKenna) walking along Crumlin Road (WP). The mural features Robinson’s portrait in a wreath (“For God and Ulster – 1st Batt. B. Coy”) and the emblems of the UVF and PAF.
“In loving memory of Stevie McCrea”. Red Hand Commando volunteer Stevie McCrea was sentenced to 16 years for the murder of James Kerr in 1972 (Behind The Mask) and was subsequently “murdered by the enemies of Ulster” on February 18th, 1989 in an IPLO attack on the Orange Cross (WP). (The door of the club can be seen next to the mural in M00560.)
On the side-wall, Binyon’s ‘For The Fallen‘ is modified for the singular “he”: “For he shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary him nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember him.”
The mural at the corner of Roden Street and Donegall Road was repainted annually in 1989, 1990, and 1991. The first (see the image from 1988) lacked the McMichael memorial seen here and the white background only went half-way up the wall; the second completed the background, added LPA and UDF emblems and “In memory of John McMichael” in text (see C00525). This third iteration places the McMichael memorial and the attendant graveside mourners on a bed of grass.
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.
“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”.