On the right, Major Quality and Miss Sweetly from the lid of a Quality Street tin. The confectionery collection was itself named after J.M. Barrie’s 1901 play and Coleraine native “Hugh Thompson” [Hugh Thomson] (WP | NVTv) provided the illustrations for a 1913 edition (many can be seen at RBKC); these probably inspired the “soldier and lady” characters for the tins (the leads in the play are called Captain Valentine Brown and Miss Phoebe Throssel), though they were drawn by Harold Oakes (WP); the tins and ads from 1936 can be seen at Metro. The image reproduced here is from the 1950s.
This Ballymoney mural goes all the way back to at least 2004 and to the wave of Ulster-Scots – or as here, “Scotch-Irish” – murals painted in PUL areas after the promotion of Ulstèr-Scotch as a parallel language to Irish by the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement.
As the Visual History page on Ulster-Scots Murals shows, most of these murals made a connection to (what would-become) the United States, to where about a quarter million people emigrated (WP). The mural is intended to tell a story of emigration (signified by the sailing ship), American independence (the McKinley quote), and American expansion (the frontiersman).
The Scotch-Irish were Presbyterians and supporters of breaking the ties to Great Britain. In 1893, Governor Of Ohio (and later US President) (Ulster Nation) William McKinley said, “They were the first to proclaim for freedom in these United States. Even before Lexington [i.e. the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, on April 19, 1775] the Scotch-Irish blood had been shed for American Freedom.” (According to William Marshall’s book Ulster Sails West, the battle McKinley is referring to took place on the Alamace river in North Carolina in 1771 (p. 29).)
The frontiersman on the right is generally taken to be David “Davy” Crockett, from the 1830s (Rolston in Al Jazeera | McCormick J2024); it is in fact a 1991 sketch of a generic frontiersman by David Wright (web), called “The Long Knife”, and the figure is referred to generically as “a trapper” by the artist (BBC).
None of the conquests of European-American colonists provides a good parallel to unionism, due to the complicated nature of political conflicts both there and here. The Americans, of course, threw off British rule in their revolution; Irish unionists want to remain part of the UK. And Crockett died in the Battle Of The Alamo in the Texas Revolution; that is, he died fighting for Texan independence from the Mexican government, which again doesn’t line up well with the desire of Irish unionists to remain part of the United Kingdom. (For another strained analogy involving the Scotch-Irish and US political history, see The War Of Northern Aggression and its discussion in the Ulster-Scots Murals page.)
The reason for its inclusion is the simpler idea that the Scotch-Irish are a rugged and feisty people who are not to be trifled with, whether in North America or Ireland.
Painted by Kenny Blair (Fb) in Hillview Avenue, Ballymoney; sponsored by the North Antrim Cultural And Musical Society and funded by the Heritage Commission. “Ulster Sails West” is the title of a 1943 book by WF Marshall (Isles Abroad).
This street art, unfortunately by both a hedge and parked cars, is by Shane O’Driscoll (web) in Church Street, Ballymoney, inspired by the town’s history as a market.
14 year-old Noah Donohoe went missing on June 21st while cycling in the York Road area en route from his south Belfast home to the Cave Hill. His body was found in a north Belfast storm drain six days later and the postmortem showed death by drowning (Irish News). Many details of his last hours remain unknown, however, including how he came to drown in the drain. His mother, Fiona, started a campaign on August 11th on Facebook and Twitter to press for answers and signatures are being collected for a petition into the PSNI handling of the case.
“Stand against the legacy legislation – state murder is murder! – bill of shame”
The UK parliament adopted the “Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023” on Septetmber 6th and it became law on the 18th, preventing future inquests and civil cases. Twenty challenges have been lodged against the bill and a hearing is due to begin on November 20th with a primary focus on whether or not the bill is compatible with the European Convention On Human Rights (ITv | BBC). In the meantime – prior to the May 1st, 2024 deadline — the Springhill-Westrock inquest continues on Monday (RFJ).
This mural showing Lady Justice gagged but with a raised fist, by Iliana Edwards (ig), is on a wall outside the offices of Relatives For Justice (web).
Update: February 28, 2024: The High Court has ruled against the Act (BBC).
The Inniskilling Fusiliers were recruited from the four Ulster counties of Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry, and Donegal. In WWI, battalions also served in the 4th, 29th, and 10th Divisions, as well as the 109 Brigade of the 36th Division. In WWII (represented here by the Spitfire in pursuit of the Messerschmitt) the Fusiliers served in France, India, and Italy. (Ciroca | Long Trail | WP)
(For a broader history, from the Williamite campaign to modern Afghanistan, see Inniskilling.)
This Tyndale mural appears to have be painted without fanfare in 2022.
Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare use the landscape and the limits of their attributes to express how much they love each other. Parts of Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram’s book are made large for the walls of Haslem’s Lane in McBratney’s home town of Lisburn. The murals were painted by Visual Waste (ig) as part of a new public art trail from Lisburn CC.
“”Guess how much I love you,” asked Little Nutbrown Hare. “I love you as high as I can reach.” “I love you as high as I can hop.” “I love you across the river and over the hills.” “I love you right up to be moon,” said Little Nutbrown Hare. “I love you right up to the moon — AND BACK.””
An imaginary newspaper called the “Ledley Hall Telegraph” includes stories on the 303 (Polish) RAF Squadron (which was stationed in Northern Ireland from 1943 to 1944), “Votes for women” (“the Representation Of The People Act saw the first women receiving the vote in 1918”), and the 16th and 36th Divisions (the mural says they “fought side by side at the Somme” – but the 36th was withdrawn on July 2nd after the Battle Of Albert and the 16th arrived in September and fought in the battles of Guillemont and Ginchy; both were withdrawn to Messines and both would take part in the Battle Of Messines in June 1917).
The “newspaper” is bookended by two painted crosses (for Row On Row), one for Guardsman Connor Lilley, a member of the Gertrude Star flute band, who was serving with the 1st battalion Royal Irish Guards when he was killed in an accident in Canada (Fb), and the other for WWI female munitions workers who, because of their work with TNT, risked yellowing skin both from direct exposure and from liver damage (“toxic jaundice”) (WP).
Also included is “The Kindness Hut”: “Be the reason someone smiles today”, “Kindness is free – please share”, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind”, “Take only what you need! If everyone shares there’s enough to go around”.
This is the new Sam Rockett mural in the Woodvale, replacing the mural seen in Murdered By Cowards. The old mural just featured Rockett, who died in August, 2000, in the feud between the UVF and lower Shankill UDA. This new mural also features the “ethnic cleansing” of Torrens in 2004.
Torrens sits between Cliftonville, Ardoyne, and the lower Oldpark, and was one of the many historically mixed areas in north Belfast that, with the Troubles, became increasingly segregated and separated from neighbouring areas by “peace” lines. Jarman (1996) provides eye-witness testimony of the dispute in Torrens in 1996 which saw Catholic families leave the area. Its proximity to Ardoyne (and Cliftonville), however, meant that over the next few years the houses were gradually abandoned by Protestants, culminating in 2004 when ten of the remaining Protestant families moved out of the area, alleging persistent intimidation and employing the term term “ethnic cleansing” – a term the poem to the right of the mural uses three times.
The area was eventually redeveloped from 2008-2012, with the Wyndham Street “peace” line coming down and Elmgrove Street being opened to the Oldpark Road.
The line in the poem “the resistance formed a steady band” is unclear – it might refer to loyalists being bussed into Torrens in 1996 (see the testimonies in Jarman); if it refers to B Company it would make a connection to Rockett. As it is, the connection between the two elements of the mural (if any is intended) seems to be that Rockett was from the lower Oldpark, near Torrens.
“In the name of Ireland’s cruel game/Oh, land that once sang freedom’s song/Now marred by ethnic cleansing’s wrong.//Echoes of anguish haunt the Protestants of Torrens,/Ethnically cleansed, a sinister goal,/Their weapon honed, to exact a toll.//Families robbed of essence and space,/fuelled by hated, to erase their trace.//Against the darkness, spirits sincere,/Hand in hand across the land,/the resistance formed a steady band.//Ethnic cleansing’s horrors unveiled at last,/Hearts of courage, unbreakable souls,/Truths unfurled, their power untold,/A captured scene of the evil deeds done.”
The in-progress images are from August 17th and 18th. The mural was completed for the anniversary of Rockett’s death on August 23rd. The source for the central image (of furniture being loaded into a lorry) is unknown.
Paddy Duffy Collection 