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The Memory Of Our Dead

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“Beır bua – It is the responsibility of the living to keep alive the memory of the dead.” This is the second ‘Working Class Heroes’ piece in Ballymurphy. The other, from 2014, features Tommy “Toddler” Tolan, who appears here to the left of the phoenix.

The plaque on the right reads “This mural was unveiled by Johnny Doc and Maureen Tolan, 5th November, 2023.” There is video of the launch on Facebook, which contains a reading of the names of all the people pictured from the 1m 57s mark onwards.

Glenalina Crescent, Ballymurphy, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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1st Ranger Battalion

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After its entry into World War II on the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbour, (December 7, 1941), troops heading to Europe were stationed in Northern Ireland. The army’s 1st Ranger Battalion — an elite, special-operations, infantry unit — was formed on May 27th, 1942, and 600 soldiers, mostly from the 34th Division, were chosen from 1,500 volunteers by Captain (and then Major) William Darby (WP); Darby is shown in the third board. The unit was activated on June 19th, 1942, at the Sunnylands Camp in Carrickfergus (Wartime NI). The Rangers trained with British commandos at Achnacarry, Scotland, before seeing action (WWII Rangers) – the commando monument there was featured in a Red Hand Commando mural in Rathcoole.

These informational boards are on the side of the Sunnylands shops. There is also a memorial stone (Atlas Obscura) at the junction of Sunnylands Avenue and North Road, where the gates to the camp were located.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Action At A Distance

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The new Grand Central Station opened at the beginning of September, replacing both Victoria Street train station and the Glengall Street bus station. The artwork outside the station (shown here) was completed by Dee Craig (Fb), depicting the rail-yards and mills of old Belfast, and physicist (and Belfast native) John Stewart Bell (WP).

One knock-on effect of the new station was that the tracks begin west of the Boyne Bridge and it is due to be dismantled – see Battle Of The Boyne Bridge.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Mystery Man

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Bangor artist Jossie Pops (web) painted Bangor photographer Gerry Coe’s portrait (ig) of Bangor author Colin Batemen. Ten of Bateman’s books are stacked to the left, from 1995’s Divorcing Jack to 2022’s Thunder And Lightning.

Mill Row, Bangor, opposite irony’s ‘crab attack’ street art.

See also: Apocalypse Mime.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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For The Fishermen

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According to the Lough Neagh fisheries collective, about 400 tonnes of eel are taken annually from the lake (Fisheries Collective | also Fb | see also DAERA 2022 management plan). If eel is not your idea of dinner, the Fisheries Visitor Centre in Toomebridge might convince you otherwise.

This new painting is by emic (web) on Main Street, Toome.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green

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The Auld Meetin’-Hoose Green was an 1898 collection of tales from Ballyclare and surroundings as retold by by Archibald McIlroy, who grew up in the area before moving to Belfast, Drumbo, and Canada. McIlroy died travelling on the Lusitania, when it was hit by a German submarine in 1915 (Ulster Biography | Ulster Biography). The stories have been brought to life in a podcast.

This new street art is by Zippy (ig) in Main Street, Ballyclare.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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On Hyndford Street

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Van Morrison was born in 1945 at 125 Hyndford Street in east Belfast and recalled the sights and sounds of his early life there in the spoken-word track ‘On Hyndford Street’ from the 1991 album Hymns To The Silence (youtube). (The song also concluded his 70th birthday concert in Cyprus Avenue – youtube).

This painted tribute is by Glen Molloy (Fb) in the alley between Abetta Parade and Hyndford Street, roughly behind 135 Hyndford Street (and close to The Hollow – see Days When The Rains Came).

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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Line Work

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As part of Tunnel Vision paint-jam that added street art along the sides of the underpass at York Street station, a poem by Niamh McNally (ig) – Line Work – was added to the ceiling.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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In that golden hour, when timed-/Light is softened through glass/Piles of railway sleepers rest above/Sailortown’s underpass. A beacon blinks/As ghost seamen spot the shine of docklands./Indigo shadows shape form and shade pages/That are pressed in heritage of place./The last train breaks – halting about us./Our echoes dance then reverberate,/Deep within the underpass, deep within/The heart of north Belfast./Magic whispers to mystics in this piece./Artist voices converse from marginalia./Brushed, spraying, and dipping York Street …

The Great Wall

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The distinctive turrets of Killyleagh Castle were added by Charles Lanyon in the mid 1800s, when the house – parts of which go back to the 1100s – was renovated (Castles World). There is no water around the grounds but Canoe NI has maps of trails in the Strangford Lough area that go past Killyleagh.

The art is by Pigment Space/MWAK (ig) in Church Hill, Killyleagh, on the side of the ‘Great Wall’ Chinese take-away.

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Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
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