The memorial garden in Barrington Gardens at long last appears to be finished. The house on the corner of Donegall Road was knocked down in 2012 or 2013 and work began converting the waste ground into a memorial to local Great War casualties in late November 2023. See this entry for images from both November 2023 and October 2024.
Since 2024, three pillars have been added below the main board, one each for the 10th (Irish) Division, 36th (Ulster) Division, and 16th (Irish Division) – for the service of the three divisions, see The Cost Of War, We Are The Dead, and (for the particular story of John Meeke and Willie Redmond) Comrades In Arms – and an iron bench to the 36th has been placed below the crests of the YCV, Inniskilling Fusiliers, Royal Irish Fusiliers, and the Royal Irish Rifles on the side-wall to the left.
Silhouetted graveside mourners appear on either side of the main board and in the gates to the garden
“The ‘Ulster Military Memorial Arch’ was funded by the generosity of the local business community, local residents, and our friends from Scotland. The arch was designed entirely by the people of the Greater Shankill, and erected to coincide with the 80th anniversary of VE Day 8th May 1945 – 8th May 2025. Our servicemen and women are proudly remembered.” For images of the VE Day launch, see the BelTel.
Pictured on Peter’s Hill side of the arch (bearing the quote “With pride and loyalty they served this land”) are (left to right) … Private Bernard McQuirt (a VC winner in 1858 during the Indian Rebellion) and Lt Colonel John Henry Patterson Monica De Wichfeld (raised in Fermanagh and Danish resistance member), Jessie Roberts (a nurse for the Ulster Volunteers and (in WWI) for the Volunteer Aid Detachment, serving in Birmingham and in Wimereux, France; she gets a very long entry on the info panels (see below), as her biography is not available on-line), a (unidentified) nurse, Corporal Channing Day (a medic killed in Afghanistan, 2012), Princess Elizabeth Private William Frederick McFadzean and Sergeant Robert Quigg the tomb of “the unknown warrior” (central panel) Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis and Lt Colonel Robert Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne Field Marshal Alan Francis Brooke and Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson and Sir James Craig
On the other/Shankill side of the arch, bearing the quote “Throughout the long years of struggle … the men and women of Ulster have proved how nobly they fight and die”, the ‘WWII’ panel includes (top right) Warrant Officer David O’Neill, a Canadian Air Force pilot hailing from Ballymena, lost in 1943, and the ‘Northern Ireland’ panel features (left) Corporal Heather CJ Kerrigan, a UDR Greenfinch killed by the IRA in 1984. These two are also profiled in the info panels around the legs of the arch, along with Corporal Bryan James Budd, a 3rd Para soldier killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan, 2006.
Also included is JF Willcocks’s poem Poppies (sometimes called The Inquisitive Mind Of A Child): Why are they selling poppies, Mummy? Selling poppies in town today./The poppies, child, are flowers of love. For the men who marched away./But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy? Why not a beautiful rose?/Because my child, men fought and died in the fields where the poppies grow./But why are the poppies so red, Mummy? Why are the poppies so red?/Red is the colour of blood, my child. The blood that our soldiers shed./The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy. Why does it have to be black?/Black, my child, is the symbol of grief. For the men who never came back./But why, Mummy are you crying so? Your tears are giving you pain./My tears are my fears for you my child. For the world is forgetting again.”
World War II ended in Europe at 11 p.m. on May 8th, after Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Allied forces. The date was dubbed “Victory In Europe Day” or “VE Day” and this year (2025) marks its eightieth anniversary.
The text at the bottom of this Shankill Road poster reads: “‘My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not the victory or of any class, it’s a victory of the Great British people as a whole. We were the first, in these ancient isles, to draw the sword against tyranny.’ – Prime Minister Winston S Churchill”. The lines come from brief remarks Churchill made to the crowds assembled at the Ministry Of Health in London – the text can be found at Forces News; Pathé newsreel of Churchill’s earlier radio announcement of the end of the war can be found on youtube.
This is work by David J McMillan (web) for Queen’s Film Theatre (web), next to Cracker Wee Spot in University Square Mews/the alley behind the cinema. On one wall, we have movie-making, with clapboard and camera; on the other, the movie is projected to an audience eating popcorn.
The town of Rostrevor, Co Down, on Carlingford Lough, is home to an annual fiddling and traditional music festival each summer called ‘Fiddler’s Green’ (web). The 2025 installation – from July 16th to 20th – will be the festival’s thirty-seventh.
The fiddler shown here is by Visual Waste (web) on the side of Hillside Holiday Home & Lodge (web), Mary Street, Rostrevor.
“‘That part of Rostrevor which overlooks Carlingford Lough is my idea of Narnia’ – CS Lewis”. Lewis wrote these words in a letter to his brother Warnie (Guardian), referring to time spent in the area as a child (Ireland.com). The lough can be seen from the glacial erratic known as Cloughmore (the big stone), which sits 300 metres above the town in Kilbroney Park on the slopes of Slieve Martin; a snowy image from behind the rock can be seen at Heart Of Rostrevor.
Also included is an image of the small painting of Mr. Tumnus on the front of the building – he welcomes children who have stepped through the wardrobe.
Both are by Pigment Space (ig) on the Rostrevor Inn in Bridge Street, Rostrevor.
“‘Rubicon’ – the family home of Pte. William F. McFadzean, Victoria Cross, who gave his life to save his comrades at Thiepval Wood on 1st July 1916 immediately prior to the Battle Of The Somme.” – McFadzean died when he threw himself on a fallen box of grenades.
The Family home was on Cregagh Road at Cregagh Park – there’s a picture of McFadzean standing outside the house at Royal Irish. The “blue plaque” is the most recent addition to the scene.
Thursday, May 8th, marks the eightieth anniversary of VE or “Victory in Europe” day, the end of WWII on the continent. About 380,000 British soldiers died during the war. Commemorative events in Belfast include a walking tour of the city centre (City Council) and a dance on the HMS Belfast (IWM); for events elsewhere in Northern Ireland, see VE-VJDay80. Pubs will be open for an extra two hours (until 1 a.m.) on the day.
This printed flag is in Dee Street, east Belfast, previously home to various WWI commemorations (seen in All together Now | At The Eleventh Hour); for more on the KCIII and QEII boards included in the final image, below, see My God-Given Right To Rule.
“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.
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).
Paddy Duffy Collection 