“The Main Man” is John (“Wee John”) McKillop, a life-long super-fan of the Ruaırí Óg teams who died at the end of July 2023 at the age of 60 (Saffron Gael | BelTel). This is a repainting of the mural on the side of the Lurig Inn (Fb) in Cushendall; for the previous version, including information about the scene depicted, see Bound Together from 2023.
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Frosted glass window in the North Irish Horse Inn, Dervock. This Fb page suggests a connection with the 1798 Rebellion; the current North Irish Horse is a light cavalry reconnaissance unit of the British Army, which has a base in nearby Coleraine (web).
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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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This is a 36th Division memorial board, with special attention to the men from the North Antrim regiment of the Ulster Volunteers (IWM), who in WWI were part of the 12th (Central Antrim) battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and fought at the Somme (War Time Memories). The 36th Division in total suffered approximately 2,000 deaths and 3,000 casualties on the first day of the Somme offensive, July 1st, the Battle Of Albert (Royal Irish).
“1st July 1916. Somme soldiers killed, wounded, missing, 36th (Ulster) Division: 32,186.” “1-7-1916 7:30 a.m. remember”, “For these things do I weep; my eyes flow with tears – Lamentations 1 Vs. 16“, “Their name liveth for evermore”, “To the memory and sacrifice of the brave young men from North Antrim who gave their lives with countless others at the Somme and other battles during the Great War 1914-18, to restore peace in Europe. To them bravery was without limit, to us memory is without end.”
On the left-hand side is John McCrae’s poem ‘In Flanders Fields‘.
Castlecat Road, Dervock
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Shane Lowry won the Open golf championship in 2019, his only “major” win so far. He is still in with a chance at the Masters, which concludes today, though he is seven strokes behind leader Rory McIlroy; Lowry tees off at 7 and McIlroy at 7:30 p.m.
2019 was the last time the Open was played at Royal Portrush. This mural was painted by Peaball (web) on Causeway Street, near the club, last July (2024), a year before the Open will return to the course (July 17th-20th).
Also in Portrush: Graeme McDowell.
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George Best began his international career at the age of 20, in 1964, playing six matches that year in the green shirt of Northern Ireland, and scoring goals against Switzerland and Scotland in November.
This mural depicts a very young Best, perhaps circa 1967; the source image is unknown – Best typically parted his hair from the left and exposed his teeth. The piece was painted by ACE Sprayworks (web), with support from Warren Anderson Tiling, at Anderson’s home near Cloughmills. (Sunday World)
Best was a familiar figure in the first wave of re-imaging (see Visual History 10).
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153 men of the 12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (which included men from Ballymena and other Central Antrim Volunteers) died on the first day of the Battle Of The Somme, July 1st, 1916. The 12th’s Robert Quigg received the VC for his actions in the evening, rescuing wounded men from no-man’s-land. He is remembered by the statue and plaque (shown below) in Bushmills; he was from Ardihannon townland near the Giant’s Causeway and before the war commanded the Bushmills unit of the Ulster Volunteers (WP).
The boards are in the Dundareve estate, Bushmills, and the Quigg statue is on Main Street, just west of the estate. The boards both depict the War Memorial statue in the middle of the roundabout at Main Street and Dunluce Road.
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Copyright © 2025/2023 Paddy Duffy
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The uniforms of the graveside mourners are from WWI and the image on each side is JP Beadle’s Attack Of The Ulster Division (Royal Irish) at the Battle Of The Somme in 1916, but the names on the pillar (in the image immediately below) are from the modern UVF. Little information about any of those listed is available on-line, but ten of those listed were also on a plaque in Abbot Crescent, which was similarly in front of a 36th Division mural.
Castlereagh Way, Bowtown, Newtownards
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Copyright © 2025 Paddy Duffy
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The shutters of the Peppercorn café on the Woodstock Road were painted with a WWI theme back in 2015 (In Flanders Fields) and were re-painted in late 2020.
The first panel (above) shows “our wee country” – Northern Ireland, on the occasion of its centenary.
The second features the “Light Of Foot” (web) programme supporting the mental health of bandsmen in Scotland and Northern Ireland. “Marching mental health”, “It’s okay to talk”.
The final panel reproduces (in reverse direction) John Singer Sergeant’s painting Gassed – for a photographic version, also in east Belfast, see Observe The Sons Of Ulster. “Their sacrifice, our freedom.”
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The 21st Rory Gallagher International Tribute Festival (web) starts on Thursday May 29th in Ballyshannon, the County Donegal town in which the guitarist was born in 1948. In addition to the festival, Gallagher is remembered in the town by both a mural and a statue.
The mural is in Main Street, Ballyshannon/Béal Átha Seanaıdh; the statue is on The Mall/An Mál, next to The Faeries. As of January, 2025, there is also a statue of Gallagher in Belfast.
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“The Spirit Of Freedom RFB remember with great pride our late comrade and friend drum sergeant Michael (Micky) Friel on his 20th anniversary. Always remembered and sorely missed by your family and your comrades in the Spirit Of Freedom RFB.” The band does not appear to have an on-line presence but there are references to the band going back to 1997 (An Phoblacht). Friel died in 2004 at age 24 (FindAGrave).
Central Drive, Creggan, Derry
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