cultural – Page 4 – Paddy Duffy Collection

Love, Loyalty, Friendship

2026-06-272026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

This emerald claddagh, flanked by two robins, was painted by Peaball (web) in Central Drive, Creggan, between two other pieces of street art (by Friz and emic) and so removing the last blank wall for graffiti at the entrance to the Bishop’s Field sports centre – see previously Victory To The PFLP. A gallery of anti-Agreement boards is still on the main exterior wall of the centre – see Stand Up And Speak Out and Support Republican Political Prisoners.

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McMaster Street Remembers

2026-06-212026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

McMaster and Lendrick streets – part of a conservation site of Victorian terraced houses (Dept For Communities) – were the epicentre of last week’s anti-immigration riots, with cars and houses in the street set ablaze and families evacuated to safety by the security forces (BBC video).

Also in the street: An Act Of Betrayal (about the Sea Border) and (before that, c. 2010) Young Newtown UDA.

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Attack Of The Ulster Division

2026-06-182026-06-26Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Lest we forget.” JP Beadle’s painting “Battle Of The Somme: Attack Of The Ulster Division” shows soldiers of the 36th Division bravely going to their death on July 1st, 1916. The original painting hangs in Belfast City Hall (militaryprints.com). In the board shown here, a foreground of poppies has been added, along with the Ulster Tower in Thiepval, France, on the right.

Grange Drive, Ballyclare

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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Stay For The Craic

2026-06-162026-10-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Come for the music … stay for the craic.” Alana McDowell (ig) and Ana Fish (web) have been working in the city centre, converting the permanently closed (since 2012) shutters of JJB Sports, as well as the shutters of Jean Millar Bridal, into a tribute to Belfast’s music scene – see the ‘Music Matters’ plan in the entry on the UNESCO City Of Music mural – and the upcoming Fleadh Cheoıl from August 2nd to 9th (web).

Royal Avenue, replacing a number of pieces by Leo Boyd. The in-progress shots are from June 16th.

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Linfield’s Glorious Dead

2026-06-142026-08-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“1st south Belfast LSC [Fb] remembers. Lest we forget.” “To the glory of God and in honourable memory of the former players from Linfield Football Club who laid down the glory of their youth upon the altar of freedom during the Great War of 1914 – 1918.

The main part of this new board in the Village shows the Linfield memorial at Bertrancourt, France. The memorial was unveiled in 2022 (BBC). The BBC article explains the reference to “Rifleman Walker” in the poem by Johnny Jamison at the centre of the memorial: Walker had been a Linfield player before joining the Royal Irish Rifles and dying on May 6th, 1916. Jamison recites his poem in this Fb video. In the background is the familiar Ulster Tower.

Broadway, the Village, south Belfast. For the small boards above, see Village Team On Tour and I Would Rather Be An Ulsterman.

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For King And Empire

2026-06-052026-06-20Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The colours of the third (Carrickfergus) battalion of the Central Antrim regiment of the Ulster Volunteers can be seen at Sam’s Flags. They are very similar to the piece shown above, except for the addition of the emblem in the top right corner (close-up immediately below) which shows the Ulster Volunteers drilling with a machine-gun mounted in a car, preparing to resist Home Rule – see this 1988 mural and the photograph in this History Ireland article. (See also UVF Motor Car Corps.) In the Royal Irish Rifles of WWI, however, Central Antrim became the 12th battalion (War Time Memories Project).

Next to the Central Antrim flag is a board marking the “110th anniversary of the Battle Of The Somme 1 July 1916 – 1 July 2026. Honouring their courage, remembering their sacrifice. Lest we forget.”

Hawthorn Avenue/Sandes Court, Sunnylands, Carrickfergus, replacing Remembering Our Fallen.

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Steeple Remembers

2026-05-302026-10-28Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“In eternal memory, UVF Volunteer Jimmy Fee.” This entry updates 2023’s Pass Not This Spot In Sorrow, which showed a painted UVF flag in memory of Jimmy Fee. This has been replaced by a printed board which contains a photographic portrait of Fee. As reported in that earlier entry, there is no information readily available about Fee, who perhaps died around 2016, when the original mural was painted. The two upper boards (in the shape of gravestones) have been retained from the earlier work, while the “north Antrim/Londonderry battalion, south Antrim brigade – remember them with pride” board is new.

Parkhall Road, Steeple, Antrim. The WWII banner is in the nearby Steeple Park.

The Wearing Of The Green

2026-05-252026-06-20Extramural Activity1 Comment

Golf Digest rated Royal County Down as the world’s number one course. Over the years it has hosted various important tournaments, including the Irish Open (most recently in 2024, won by Rasmus Højgaard).

This mural features six famous golfers, past and present. Clockwise from top: Pádraıg Harrington, Rory McIlroy (holding his Masters trophy and wearing the green jacket), Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Shane Lowry, and Fred Daly, who won the Irish Open in 1946 and the British Open in 1947. In the background of the mural is the Slieve Donard hotel, which is just to the south of the golf course.

Painted by Visual Waste (web) in Donard Place, Newcastle, Co Down

Remember Them

2026-05-222026-06-06Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Rathcoole remembers 11th November. Lest we forget”, “In remembrance” with some lines from For The Fallen, and “Remember them, generation to generation”.

This trio of WWI memorial boards is on the fence of the basketball court along Derrycoole Way, Rathcoole, Newtownabbey, next to an installation of gravestones and sandbags – Row On Row.

The sponsors in the corners of the board shown above are RATH Community Group (Fb) and Dalaradia (web); they previously jointly supported a QEII mural “On The Occasion Of Her Platinum Jubilee“. RATH holds a commemorative service annually in November.