cultural

100 Years

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On the left of this memorial board in Carrickfergus are five portraits from the later life of the child who began life in Greece as Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark. The family was exiled during the Greco-Turkish War. He ended up in Britain where he later joined the navy and stopped using his titles when he became the British subject, Philip Mountbatten. When he married Elizabeth he became Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. His life-time matches that of the Northern Irish state (see in the second image): he was born a month after its creation and died in 2021 at the age of 99, a month shy of its centenary.

These boards and banners are in Albert Road and Thomas Street, Carrickfergus, near the Orange lodge, (for which see On Foreign Fields). They are perhaps all sponsored by the Ulster Grenadiers flute band. “Carrickfergus says “No” to Irish Sea border”

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Wortley

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“Sgt. Thomas George Wortley , “D Coy” 14th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles, Service No. 14/17063, Died Messines 07-06-1917, Spanbroekmolen British Cemetary Grave C10″. Wortley was born in Carrickfergus, lived in Belfast, died on the first day of the battle at Messines (findagrave), buried in a small cemetery of British soldiers, many from the 36th (Ulster) Division, in Spanbroekmolen on the Ypres Salient in Flanders (WP) – shown in the mural – and is remembered in Carrickfergus with a parade each year on the date of his death (carrickfergusrollofhonour).

Maple Gardens, Carrickfergus

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Bowtown Thanks You

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Bowtown (Newtownards) marks the passing of Elizabeth Windsor in September, 2022, at the age of 96 and after 70 years as monarch of the United Kingdom and various Commonwealth realms, with two boards at the junction of Abbot Drive and Movilla Road: “Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II – the Bowtown est[ate] thanks you for your service 1926-2022.” “Her majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926-2022 – grief is the price we pay for love.”

Previously: Your Local Supplier.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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In The Footsteps Of Heroes

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In this board the Rising Sons Flute Band (“RSFB”) portrays itself as following in the footsteps of the Ulster Volunteers who joined the British Army and specifically the 8th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles in the 36th (Ulster) Division, which was drawn from east Belfast’s Ulster Volunteers in 1914.

The insignia for the battalion is usually shown as dark blue rather than the black shown here – see the mural of 36th Division insignia in Canada Street. There is a similar board outside the band’s practice hall in Castlereagh Street.

Albertbridge Road, east Belfast

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The Duke Of Windsor

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Tommy Dickson ended his career (in 1965) with a partial season at Glentoran. Before that, however, he spent 16 seasons in the first team at Linfield, scoring 451 goals and leading the club to titles in the League Cup, Irish Cup, Gold Cup, Ulster Cup, City Cup, North-South Cup, and County Antrim Shield (shown at the top of the mural). (WP)

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Three Leaf Shamrock

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Here are two soccer-related images from Gardenmore Road, in Twinbrook. Above, James McClean in his Ireland strip – “Like James McClean we won’t bow down/To a British Army or and English crown.//I wear no poppy upon my breast/Just a three leaf shamrock upon my chest.” (though McClean is shown wearing the 2016-2018 jersey which featured a ball rather than an FAI shamrock).

The other three leaf shamrock familiar from soccer is that of Scottish team Glasgow Celtic, which is widely supported among the CNR community.

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Let’s All Do The Huddle

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Players from Scottish football team Celtic and local team Cliftonville “do the huddle” together. The mural was painted in 2013 to celebrate the visit by Celtic to Solitude (Cliftonville’s home pitch) for a Champions League tie between the two teams.

A mural outside Solitude was also painted for the occasion – see The Red Army.

Essex Grove, south Belfast.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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St Malachy’s

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St Malachy’s (tw | Fb) is a junior (i.e. 2nd division/B-tier) GAA club established 1936 in the Markets area of south Belfast. It is not known who the six portraits are of (there were originally only the four at the corners – see M08137) or who the four players are. Get in touch if you have any information.

With sponsorship from Pulse, Belfast City Council, New Belfast Community Arts Initiative, the Housing Executive, and ?Brighten Belfast?

Shaftesbury Avenue, Belfast

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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How Nobly They Fight And Die

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Soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) division in the trenches of WWI prepare to go ‘over the top’. One waits for the precise moment according to his watch, ready to fire a shot, while the other prepares to blow a whistle and launch a flare.

There is no definitive source for the quotation, and many sources are at odds, but all agree on the basic wording and that the words belong to George V: “Throughout the long years of struggle, [which now so gloriously ended,] the men of Ulster have proved [on many fields] how nobly they fight and die.” The date is given as ‘November 16’ or as ‘December’ 1918, and possibly come from a note sent to Edward Carson. The quote also appears on the Ulster Tower in Thiepval (Ulster Tower) and on the Cenotaph in Belfast (WP).

Included below is a “Booked UVF” on an adjacent wall. Queens Avenue, Glengormley.

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The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne

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Novelist Brian Moore grew up on the Antrim Road and went to St Malachy’s, before emigrating to Canada in 1948. For the centenary of his birth in 1921, Paradosso Theatre adapted Moore’s best-known novel, (The Lonely Passion Of) Judith Hearne, for the stage and mounted this board in Duncairn Avenue, showing the elements of Judith’s life: the bottle, the beads, the aunt who raised her, the piano used for lessons, and her red coat.

The board by Friz (ig) replaces the anti-joy-riding mural “Where’s The Joy?”, the last to go of the three, the others having been in CNR west Belfast and PUL west Belfast.

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