painted wall

Madonna And Child

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The mural of the Madonna and child on the side of the Morning Star hostel greeted travellers going up Divis Street from 1988 to (at least) 2002. It was, according to minutes of Belfast City Council’s Development Committee (2002-03-06 pdf), one of four religious murals painted in west Belfast in 1988. The other three are unknown – please get in touch if you can identify them.

The second mural, below, with similar figures and palette, was also extant in 1988, though might have been painted earlier. It was in Hillman Street in the New Lodge. It is entitled “Our Lady Of Medjugorje” despite the fact that the Medjugorje apparition (in 1981) was of Mary alone, without child.

There were two other vintage religious murals in the New Lodge, one of a paschal lamb in Lepper Street (C00111 | X05493) that was extant in 1988, and one of the 1879 apparition in Knock in Oceanic Street whose date of creation is unknown – it was visible in Street View in 2008. Of the same (1988) vintage seem to be murals of a shamrock (C04981), Gaelic games (C04977), a harpist (M01248), and doves (M01249).

Other visions of Our Lady Of Medjugorje occurred at the top of Springhill in 1990 (see the Gerard Kelly site) and in Ardoyne, painted c. 1993 (M01017) and repainted on various occasions since (possibly 2004, 2012, 2014, 2020).

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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T00196

Saoırse

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“Freedom.” On the left, a Starry Plough (of the INLA) is attached a spear of ancient Ireland, next to two pikes (of the 1798 Rebellion), behind an ancient shield filled in with the Gal Gréıne of the Fıanna; on the right, a volunteer from the modern “Óglaıgh Na hÉıreann” aims an assault rifle, all against a large Irish Tricolour.

Kashmir Road, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00175

Striking At Republican Targets

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Hooded UVF volunteers from “1st battalion, B company” armed with an assault rifle and an Uzi take aim at unspecified targets.

On the side-wall to the left it reads, “The UVF reserve the right to strike at republican targets where and when the opportunity arises” – see also the Peter Moloney Collection.

Ohio Street, Woodvale, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Beıdh Ár Lá Lınn

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This mural shows nine hooded republican volunteers employing an assortment of weapons – rifles, RPG launcher, drogue bomb, machine gun – against a rising sun. “We will have our day.” The trio in the bottom right corner are familiar from other murals, such as this one in Strabane.

South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00086 T00034

Mé A Rug Cú Chulaınn Cróga

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Words from Padraıg Mac Pıaraıs’s poem Mıse Éıre are included alongside the portraits of the seven signatories to the 1916 Proclamation. It includes the line “Great is my glory, I who bore brave Cú Chulaınn” and Cú Chulaınn is pictured on the right, in the death pose made famous by Oliver Sheppard in a statue installed in the GPO in 1935 – see Cú Chulaınn’s Visual History page.

Mıse Éıre: Sıne mé ná an Chaılleach Bhéarra.
Mór mo ghlóır: Mé a rug Cú Chulaınn cróga.
Mór mo náır: Mo chlann féın a dhíol a máthaır.
[Mór mo phıan: Bıthnaımhde do mo shíorchıapadh.]
[Mór mo bhrón: D’éag an dream ınar chuıreas dóchas.]
Mıse Éıre: Uaıgní mé ná an Chaılleach Bhéarra.

Painted by Mo Chara Kelly in Norglen Gardens, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00084

Mandela, Father Of Freedom

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“Happy birthday, comrade”. ANC leader Nelson Mandela turned 70 on July 18, 1988. He spent the day, like every birthday since 1963, in prison; he would not be released until 1990, after which apartheid would be dismantled and Mandela become the first President of South Africa. “The future belongs to you.” The colours of the ANC join the colours of the Irish Tricolour as a background to Mandela’s portrait. Painted by Mo Chara Kelly, with the help of “Sınn Féın Youth”.

Leeson Street, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00080 [T00079]

Tiger’s Bay

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For some speculation as to the origins of the name “Tiger’s Bay” see Connolly Cove; a more realistic origin-story is given on the Belfast Forum, that a “tiger bay” or “tiger’s bay” is sailor slang for a rough area. The name was originally applied only to the warren of streets immediately below Newington (again Belfast Forum), but later extended to include everything down to North Queen Street.

Hogarth Street, north Belfast, though the precise location is uncertain

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00116

Tiger’s Bay UVF

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UVF volunteers in balaclavas take aim other across a free-floating Northern Ireland with an Uzi and an assault rifle. The emblem supported by flags on the right is unusual for its inclusion of a ?large daisy? and pink ribbon.

The location of this wall is unknown, which suggests the site of the Community Centre – please get in touch if you know where it was.

Tiger’s Bay, north Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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Shutting The Gates Of Derry

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“West Belfast Brigade UDA C Company”. UDA/UDF/LPA/UFF mural on the Shankill. (For a similar quartet of names and explanation of “UDF”, see Sans Peur.)

The title “First Ulster Defence Assoc.” is an attempt to tie together the defenders of Derry in 1688 (300th anniversary) with the modern Ulster Defence Association. This is an early attempt to give the UDA historical roots, beyond the Shankill and Woodvale Defence Associations. To this end, the group would adopt Cú Chulaınn (beginning in 1992 – see the Visual History page) and (beginning in 2007 – see UDU-UFF-UDA) the 1893 Ulster Defence Union as ancestors.

Canmore Street, west Belfast

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
T00118

Ballysillan UVF

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“Always remembered, never forgotten”. This mural is unique in providing the length of the sentences being served by various members of the “B + D” company of the Ballysillan UVF: Kerr, Tarr, Bill, Watt, and Beattie are serving “Life”, while others – Courtney, Gilliland, Campbell, and Smith – are serving “stip” sentences (stipulated minimums) of twenty years or more; Stewart is being held “S.O.S.P”, that is, at the “Secretary Of State’s Pleasure”, presumably because he was convicted as a minor; the rest (Addley, McKay, McClure, McKinney, Murphy) are serving ordinary terms, except for Boreland and Suitters who are marked as “murdered” and Rollins who is “deceased”.

Here is a pamphlet from the Committee On The Administrative Of Justice on the “life” prisoners in NI prisons in the years prior to 1988 (pdf).

Suitters was shot by the IRA in 1975 at his shop (Sutton) not far from this mural in Legann Street.

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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