community

Donaghadee Harbour

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Donaghadee harbour celebrated the bicentennial of its construction (which took from 1821-1834) with a mural towards the bottom of Manor Street. From left to right, we can see the “motte” or “moat”, an Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey castle from the 1100s; the lifeboat (behind the crew) is the Sir Samuel Kelly, named for a hero of the Princess Victoria sinking in 1953 (Historic UK) – the station was established in 1910; the Copeland Islands and holiday-makers; Tom Blower, who left from Donaghadee to swim the North Channel in 1947; Bobby Simpson hiring out row-boats below the lighthouse, which was built in 1836.

The work is by Verz (ig) and Ed Reynolds (web).

(Sources: WP | Ards & North Down council Fb | web | News Letter)

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
T06056 [T06055] [T06057] T06054

Masker Aid

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

This entry updates (with close-ups) the image seen in 2022’s Luminaries And Legends Of Eastside which showed (from afar) the ‘famous faces’ mural at Connswater/CS Lewis Square in east Belfast with a large “smiley” face over DJ David Holmes – a (presumably) unauthorised addition to the 2017 original. Word is that Holmes’s image was painted over because he is not from east Belfast. It’s not clear (from on-line sources) where exactly in Belfast Holmes is from; he lived in Los Angeles, California, for a time before returning c. 2014 (Irish Times).

(MaskerAid is an app that allows one to cover faces in photos with smiley-faces and other emoji.)

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
T06016 T06015 T06014

The Pitt Stop

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Pitt Stop caravan is a new community-services centre run by the Residents’ Association (Fb) in Pitt Park, east Belfast, a stone’s throw from the Ballymac Friendship Centre (Fb). The relationship between the two is unclear – this Sunday World article quotes one person as saying the some residents felt themselves excluded from the Centre and that the “good people of Pitt Park” need “access to a facility”. The article also suggests possible connections to the local UVF and to drug-dealing; the Association denounced the write-up in a brief Facebook post.

The Park itself was renovated in 2024 (Belfast Live before | after).

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
T06002
T06000 [T06001]

Great Northern Railway

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The Great Northern Railway joined Dublin with Belfast, Derry, and Ballyshannon, as well as many other smaller towns. It existed from 1876 until roughly 1958 (WP) and what was then called the “Adelaide & Windsor” station in south Belfast was opened in 1897 (WP) – the name was (presumably) based on the station’s proximity to local streets: the “Adelaide” streets were named for William IV’s consort (Street Names) and the “Windsor” streets were named for Windsor Castle (Street Names).

The mural shows the platform and waiting room, and a steam-powered train, and features local signal-man Charles Murtagh. Murtagh’s daughter still lives in the family home, near the station and provided the photograph from which Blaze FX (ig) reproduced (Translink).

Adelaide Avenue, south Belfast.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
T05974 T05975 T05977 T05976

Just A Minute

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

People with learning difficulties and autism who are carrying a “JAM” card (web) (for “Just a minute”) can use it on Translink buses and trains to let drivers and conductors know that they might need some extra time. The other symbols on the side of the train (in the third image, below) denote services for travelers who are visually-impaired, hearing-impaired, blind, or wheelchair-users.

This wall-painting in south Belfast was painted by Blaze FX (ig) with help from young people with disabilities as part of a “Can Do” project (Fb) from Leonard Cheshire (web) and Kids Together Belfast (Fb). With funding from Forward South Partnership (web), Translink, and Belfast City Council (Belfast Live).

In Adelaide Street, opposite Great Northern Railway.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
T05978 T05979 T05980 T05981

The Ledley Hall

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

This is a repainting of the Ledley Hall/Queen’s Jubilee mural at the junction with Kingswood Street, part of the 2016 re-imaging of Lord Street, east Belfast, sponsored by the Housing Executive and CharterNI. The mural shows the hall past and present and features local figures Bob Yarr (OBE), Eddie Witherspoon, John Cross (BEM), John Currans, Sam Rainey, and Reggie Morrow.

The ‘Lord Street Remembers’ piece is from 2015, by Glenn Black and Ken Maze of Blaze FX (web).

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T03877 [T03878] T03879 [T03880] T03881

York Road Civil Defence Hall

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The HUBB community centre (Fb) in north Belfast has, since 2010, been based in what used to be a World War II Civil Defence air-raid shelter, which it cleaned and renovated (Tele). The original hall is depicted in this mural on the side of the HUBB.

In 1940, Belfast was protected by thirty-eight anti-aircraft guns. The German Luftwaffe flew a reconnaissance flight over Belfast on November 30th, 1940 and a test mission of eight planes on April 7th, 1941 concluded that Belfast’s defences were, “inferior in quality, scanty and insufficient” (Hogg). 150 bombers would blitz Belfast the following week, on Easter Tuesday, April 15th, and the seven guns that had been in operation ceased firing, believing, falsely, that RAF planes were also in the sky (WP).

Belfast was bombed by the Germans four times in April and May of 1941. In the blitz of Easter Tuesday, 1941, more than 900 people died, 1,500 were injured, and half the houses in Belfast were damaged (WP). According to Elaine Hogg’s research in the ‘Darker Side Of Belfast’ series, 100,000 people left the city in the remainder of the month, due to shock, fear, and the squalid conditions and unruly behaviour that followed the bombing.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
T05962 T05963 T05964 T05965
T05966 T05967

Hurricane Higgins

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Alex “Hurricane” Higgins – World champion 1972/1982 – 18th March 1949 – 24th July 2010″. Higgins grew up in 16 Abingdon Street (Lennon-Wylie) and played snooker at the Jam Pot club further west on Donegall Road (Belfast Forum).

This new mural at the end of what is now Abingdon Drive is by Visual Waste (web) – replacing the older black-and-grey mural.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
T05878 T05877