The Derry 2021 street art festival – rebranded as Roots Street Art – was affected by Covid lockdowns (Derry Journal) but several pieces were painted, including this one by the Glöbel Bros (Conzo Throb and Ciaran Glöbel, referring to emigration and economic migration between Dún Na nGall [Donegal], Doire [Derry], and Glaschú [Glasgow].
Sackville Street, Derry.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T04234
“A champion shows who he is by what he does when he’s tested. When he gets up and says “I can still do it”, he’s “a champion.” In Irish mythology, the Tuatha invade Ireland and battle the Fır Bolg. They are successful but their king Nuadha loses his arm and with it his kingship of the Tuatha. He had it replaced with an arm made of silver and regained his position. He is used here as an inspiration for those struggling with mental health, who are encouraged to call Lifeline or Aware.
(A history of Nuadha in murals is included in the Visual History page on Jim Fitzpatrick.)
The modern-day hero accompanying Nuadha is boxer James “The Assassin” Tennyson, current Irish super-featherweight champion. There are also four mental health boards (shown below) around the corner from Urban Villages Colin Safer Streets Initiative with messages such as “Think, Talk, Feel – Positive”, “Everything that you are is enough”, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow”,
Laurelglen Pharmacy, on the Stewartstown Road.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02307 T02308r T02309 [T02310] sally gardens youth saints youth centre ar scath a chéıle a mhaıreann na daoıne
Memorial boards to Queen Elizabeth have been added to the ‘our community transformation’ board and community garden in Old Warren.
An image of the old “You are now entering loyalist Old Warren” display that is shown in the ‘before’ side of the board above is included below. On the ‘after’ side are the youth centre, the new houses at the top of Drumbeg Drive, and the Lagan View enterprise centre. For a brief history of the area, see Through Your Eyes.
The previous board on this wall – a UDA B Company board – can be seen in C02674 and its predecessor in M05916.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02323
“Everyone has oceans to fly, if they have the heart to do it. Is it reckless? Maybe. But what do dreams know of boundaries?” When she left Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, on the evening of May 20th, 1932, Amelia Earhart’s intended destination for the first solo trans-Atlantic flight by a woman was Paris, France, but after various mechanical difficulties she landed instead in Ballyarnett, just outside Derry. For the 90th anniversary of her history-making flight, the artwork above was created by Joe Campbell (web), commissioned “by Community Restorative Justice in partnership with Derry & Strabane Distict Council’s Good Relations Programme and with the assistance of Greater Shantallow Community Arts.”
For the mosaic already mounted in 2010, see Flying Solo.
Fairview Walk, Derry.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02133 T02134 T02135 T02136
“Don’t let drugs destroy your community.” “Community initiative supported by Resolution North West.”
This board is on the spot of the former UWC mural in Lincoln Court, Londonderry, re-imaged by Resolution North West, alongside work to reduce remove flags from bonfires (Community Foundation).
With support from the International Fund For Ireland (pdf).
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02049
“A wee bird told me … age is only a number.” This mural wasa painted by UV Arts in Distillery Close, Londonderry, across the street from – and based on the memories of residents of – Malvern House, the Older People North West’s Centre (Fb) (Derry Now).
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02062
Jesus, I Trust In You, also known as the Divine Mercy, is associated with Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska – see previously What We Knead | This Image Is Blessed). This mural was painted in 1991 (or before) – see M00990 for a photo from that year – and was repainted in 2018 (Derry Journal).
It is one of only two straightforwardly religious murals currently extant – the other is the Medjugorje mural in Ardoyne, Belfast, which was originally painted in 1986/1987 along with a dozen other religious murals.
(There were murals in 1981 with religious themes but aimed at supporting the hunger strikers – see the Visual History page on Sheppard’s Cú Chulaınn.) And Padre Pio was painted in Ballymurphy; a Sacred Heart statue is used to memorialise people in the Bone (and Jesus was tagged in east Belfast).
Moss Park, Galliagh, Derry
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02130
Clare Crockett gave up her acting career (IMDb) to become a Servant Sister. She is pictured in the info board along with the five postulants who died with her during a 2016 earthquake in Playa Prieta, Ecuador. A web site has been established in her memory and a movie made about her life; there have been calls to make her a saint (Irish News).
Painted by UV Arts (tw) in Derry’s Brandywell, where she originally came from (BelTel).
“Sr Clare Crockett was born in Derry 14th November 1982. The daughter of Gerard and Margaret Crockett. During a Holy Week Retreat in Spain in the year 2000 she experienced the intensity of the Lord’s Death and Resurrection that led to a deep conversion of her life. Sr Clare entered the Servant Sisters of the House of the Mother 11th August 2001. She went to found a new community in Jacksonville, Florida in October 2006. Sr Clare took Perpetual vows 8th September 2010. In 2014, Sr Clare undertook the mission in Ecuador. She died in an Earthquake, protecting her pupils 16th April 2016. She was buried in Derry 2nd May 2016.”
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2024 Paddy Duffy
T02150 T02151
“To live in the hearts of those left behind is not to die.” Above is the main piece in a new (2022-11) memorial garden next to Fáılte Feırste Thıar dedicated to young people from the Divis area who have passed away (Belfast Media). There are two smaller pieces on the opposite wall and one next to the alley (immediately below), and together they form the space for a memorial garden. “There is hope on the horizon: May love and laughter be our guide as navigate the tides of grief and despair. … Gone too soon, but cherished eternal.”
With support from Peace IV, Belfast City Council, and the Housing Executive.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T04005 [T01606] T04004 T04002 T04003
X12667 X12665 [X12666] courtesy of Extramural Activity
This is Wee Nuls’s (web | ig) street art celebrating the success of the ‘menstruation matters’ (ig) campaign for free period products and the passage of the Period Products Bill.
The piece is perhaps a “gremlin” self-portrait in the style of Mr Blonde/Vic Vega. It was painted for HTN22 in the spot below Transport House where her original version of Free Period Items was painted and blacked out. (It was then repainted at Artcetra.) To the left is Claire Prouvost’s tribute to women workers of the world and to left is a Unity (union) hoarding: Workers Of The World Unite.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
T01874
Paddy Duffy Collection 