UFF, UDA, and UYM mural in Tullycarnet: Tullycarnet 5th Battalion, East Belfast Brigade. The mural dates back to 2006 at least. Also included (below) is a large Tullycarnet flute band tarp on the railings.
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“The sporting wing [of the IRA]” is a play on the idea that Sınn Féın was the “political wing” of the IRA and so Celtic FC is the group’s “sporting wing”. Instead of Celtic’s usual four-leaf clover, three hooded gunmen fire a funeral volley.
The GAA has also been given the title (BelTel 2020); Sammy Wilson, as DUP press officer defending UDA attacks on GAA halls in Belfast and Banbridge, in September 1993, described the GAA as “the IRA at play” (WP). (For a history of the two organisations, see Irish Peace Process.)
Falls Road, west Belfast
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The new panels shown here re-re-image the side-wall of the mural on the left (see For Valour), which was dedicated to the Royal Irish Rifles of the Great War. We now see hooded UVF gunmen from the 1st East Antrim battalion, and an interesting quote from Edward Carson.
In September, 1914, six weeks after the Great War had begun, Edward Carson wrote to the Ulster Volunteers entreating “those who have not already responded” to “my call for Defenders of the Empire” to “enlist at once for the Ulster Division in Lord Kitchener’s Army”, fighting alongside “our fellow Britishers”: “Quit yourselves like men and comply with your country’s demand”. The impulse for the display of force shown here is the other, original, motivation for the paramilitary force, which Carson describes as “to defend our citizenship in the United Kingdom” (Strachan & Nally).
The Larches, Carrickfergus
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The Weavers Grange estate in Newtownards was back in the news this week after a car was destroyed there by petrol bomb (Belfast Live). This is the latest in a long spring season of violence between by rival gangs (North Down UFF and the “Real” UFF, which was affiliated with the South East Antrim UDA (Sunday World)) that began in March and have caused over 30 families to leave the estate (Bel Tel). (Irish News March 30th | BBC April 8th | Bel Tel May 3rd). Bangor, Ballywalter, and Donaghadee have also seen violence (Belfast Live | BBC).
The images today are of the loyalist boards in Weaver’s Grange estates before the recent disturbances, which included the removal of at least some of South East Antrim UDA boards (Bel Tel | Sunday World which includes a photo of the penultimate board shown here being torn down).
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Here is a gallery of UVF boards along Abbot Drive, in Bowtown, Newtownards, mixing North Down with East Belfast brigades (see East East Belfast), and mixing UVF/PAF with the Ulster Volunteers and 36th Division – “Through the years the uniforms may change but our cause will always remain the same”. “The prevention of the erosion of our identity is now our priority.”
There is also a board to QEII – see Bowtown Thanks You.
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Various changes and additions have been made to the Ulster Volunteers/UVF mural in London Road, east Belfast, compared to the version that replaced a religious mural (Jesus Strong Man) in 2017. The ‘hooded gunman’ board seen in the image above previously replaced a Union Flag in London Road (see East Belfast Ulster Volunteers) but has now been moved to the main Our Lady’s Road: “Our British identity cannot & will not be sacrificed to appease the Irish Republic – East Belfast Battalion [UVF]”.
The side-wall has been modified, to include a UVF emblem and larger lettering for “East Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force”.
For close-ups of the WWI portion, painted by Mark Ervine, see Between The Crosses; for a close-up of the four portraits of volunteers Seymour, Long, Cordner, and Bennett, see Ulster’s Brave.
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Ulster’s defenders, past and present, from Cuchulainn “Ancient defender of Ulster from Gael attacks”, via the 1893 UDU and WWI soldiers memorialised in the towers at Messines and Thiepval, to the modern UDA/UFF: “In memory of the officers and volunteers of A. Coy. UDA/UFF West Belfast Brigade who unselfishly dedicated their lives in defence of their country.”
There was also a Cuchulainn mural on Newtownards Rd in 1992 (updated in 2005), as well as ‘past defenders’ in the form of B Specials and UDR (1992 | 2005). There is a Visual History page on Cú Chulaınn.
Among the volunteers listed on the stone, 19 year old Alan Simpson was shot in his home in nearby Highfield Drive.
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There is a fresh coat of paint and all-new lettering on this UDA mural in Rathcoole but the insignia and hooded gunmen remain the same. Compare to the 2013 image in Rathcoole UFF.
Inniscarn Dr, Rathcoole
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Mark Quail, of the UVF, was “murdered by the enemies of Ulster” – that is, shot by the UDA – at his Rathcoole home on November 1st, 2000. His was the fourth death in four days (after David Greer, Bertie Rice, Tommy English) (Irish Times) as the UVF-UDA feud that began in the Shankill with the infamous “loyalist day of culture” in August 2000 spread to north Belfast and Newtownabbey (though the BBC says they are unrelated). There were also attacks in east Belfast (BelTel) before the feud ended in mid-December (BBC | Guardian).
See also Jackie Coulter (and Bobby Mahood) and Sam Rockett “Murdered By Cowards”.
This is a repainted mural; for the previous version see Marky Quail.
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For this year’s Twelfth, the famous UVF “Prepared for peace, ready for war” mural that has stood over the entrance to Mount Vernon for twenty years was retouched. The most obvious change is in the apex, as a different UVF symbol – with flags – has been included, along with the words “3rd Battalion” which had been in the much earlier version of this mural on another wall.
For the previous version (and a link to the original wall), see Prepared For Peace, Ready For War.
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