Here are images of street art in the green space off Queen’s Parade, (following on from Sharon Regan’s boards along the street – Nature Is Healing). The works are:
Friz’s (ig) Snow Patrol ‘Wildness’ cover for their “Ward Park 3” festival, unknown artist “As they reach for the heavens/They forget to be earthly good”. local artist Carla Hodgson’s (ig) “Rock, Paper, Scissors” octopus, Codo (ig) x Jimbo Slice (ig), FGB’s (ig) “Don’t look wack in Bangor”, HM Constance’s (ig) stag.
Lí Ban became a mermaid – half-human, half-salmon – after a year spent living in an underwater bower, taking shelter from the family’s uncovered spring that overnight formed Lough Neagh. Three hundred years later (circa 558 A.D.) she told an envoy of Saint Comgall’s who was on his way to Rome, that she would come ashore at Larne a year later. She forwent another 300 years of sea life in favour of being baptised and dying immediately. She was baptised by Comgall, the abbot of Bangor, and christened “Muirgen” (sea-born) and was buried in the Lough Derg (Donegal) abbey (O’Grady | WP). Muirgen’s feast-day is January 27th (Sacred Sisters).
Painted by Friz (ig) for the Bangor Seaside Revival Festival, with support from Seedhead Arts (ig).
For a different style of presentation of Lí Ban, see Shaped By Sea And Stone in Larne. The end of the story is similar to the fate of the children of Lear, who spend 900 years as swans before a monk hears their song, puts them (willingly) in chains, but in protecting them from others touches them, which restores them to human form only for (baptism and) death to follow immediately. (See The Children Of Lear.)
After centuries of pitiless exploitation by Bangor locals, a new hope is taking the knife into its own hand and striking back – revenge of the crustaceans. Work by Irony (ig) on Mill Row.
The first printing press in Belfast belonged to James Blow and his brother-in-law Patrick Neil in 1694 (DIB | Dublin Penny Journal gives 1696 | Mary Lowry Story Of Belfast gives 1690); a run of 8,000 Bibles is said to have been printed in 1751, one of which is part of the Linen Hall Library’s collection on Early Ulster Printing (RASCAL).
In 1895, Carswell & Sons opened a print-works and book-binders in a warehouse running with frontage in Queen Street and a rear in College Court (the building is now a bingo hall – see Kelly’s Eyes) which is currently being renovated as an office block (Bel Tel) – some of the scaffolding in College Cour can be seen in the later images in We Built This, the street art festival for International Women’s Day, 2023.
To complement those festival pieces, the mouth of College Court has been given a make-over, with work by Peachzz (ig) (above) and lettering by Woskerski (ig) that both draw on the street’s association with printing. If you know who did the “bookbinding” piece, please get in touch.
Previously on either side of College Court there were two pieces by Friz: Fox and Hare.
The bonus image, of a man leaning against the newsagent’s wall, is on the corner with Castle Street.
Harbour Highway underpass in Larne was re-painted in late October (2022) by (in order of appearance) Alana McDowell (ig), Rob Hilken (ig), emic (ig) (Lí Ban and/as otter, which was also the inspiration for iota’s piece in the town – see Shaped By Sea And Stone), Codo (ig), and FGB (ig).
With support from Seedheard Arts (ig) and Mid- & East Antrim council (ig).
Here is a gallery of completed pieces produced for International Women’s Day 2023 in College Court. The new street art is part of a larger revitalisation project (Belfast City Council).
The works shown are (from Castle Street to College Street) by Claire Prouvost, Holly Pereira, Katriona, Kerri Hanna, Danni Simpson, Alana McDowell, ESTR; Laura Nelson, Novice Jess, Friz, (guest artist Hicks who was in town to repair and extend his piece in College Street Mews (see Cool) – it was damaged by a dumpster fire) and, on the other side of the street, HM Constance.
The Priory Park tunnel goes links Priory park with Seapark Bay in Holywood by going under the A2. On the one side are images from the countryside (with a few lines from Frost’s ‘Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening‘) and on the other are images from the seashore. “The creation of these works has been supported by NIHE and the Holywood Residents Assoc.” “urbanartsni.com” is a dead link.
Here is a gallery of street art in Downpatrick, roughly from the north of the town to the south, from Church Street to Irish Street to St Patrick’s Avenue. Many of these were done for Down Time 2022.
Girl From Mars by Friz (ig) and NRMN (ig), ?RAZER? , hands by emic (ig) in the carpark: trio of NOYS, ?Razer?, Wee Nuls; fish by Verz (ig), “When life gives you lemons” by Zippy (ig); on St Patrick’s Avenue: Friz, Kieron Black (ig), fighting birds by ?
The Downtime summer festival is held annually in Downpatrick in August (covid-permitting) (Fb). The 2019 event included street art at the junction of St Patrick’s Avenue and Market Street. From left to right (top to bottom in this post), the art is by DMC & JMK (ig), KVLR (ig), emic (ig), Dan Leo (ig), Friz (ig).
For the Derry 2021 street art festival – rebranded as Roots Street Art – seven pieces were scheduled, one for each of Derry’s gates and celebrating Irish roots around the globe (Derry Journal) but the on-going pandemic made things difficult. Among the artists who did take part were Inkie (Mighty Oaks From Little Acorns Grow), Sufek (Eat Like A Bird), Mr Cenz (Femelle Fatale), the Glöbel Bros (Conzo Throb and Ciaran Glöbel, who painted The Donegal Bus), and Sean Atmos (ig) who painted the piece above. Atmos is from Dublin but has roots in Dungiven.
Paddy Duffy Collection 