The Who, the parka, the scooter with multiple mirrors … Mod life in Belfast.
Please get in touch if you can explain “113”.
Tamar Street, east Belfast
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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I’m One, At Least
painted wall
Thank You, NHS
This is an early (2020) Covid-era mural on the side of Ciggy Vapes expressing thanks “from all our management & staff” to workers in the NHS. The child in the image is playing with a doll of a nurse rather than the Batman doll in the basket.
Ribble Street, east Belfast
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02996 [T02997]
Shankill Drummer
Tomorrow (August 30th, at 12:30) there will be a family fun-day and the launch of a new mural of a colourful drummer boy. The mural is on Peter’s Hill; it takes the place of the “Original Belfast” murals (2009 and 2020) and before that a UDA emblem (M02480).
Painted by Glen Molloy (ig) with support from SAFE Shankill (see Woodvale OK), Alternatives (web), Executive Office, Communities In Transition.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Glen Knox
Glen Molloy’s (ig) tribute to friend Mark Knox, who died in 2021 (Funeral Times).
Woodstock Place, Belfast
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Water Project
“H2O Project” mural on the public toilets in Cushendall, just below High Street. “Artwork by Glens Youth Club [Fb]”
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02966
Ruaırí Óg CLG
This is the second version of the Ruaırí Óg (web) (and Clann Lır) mural in the middle of Cushendall – the original dates back to 2006, which was the 100th anniversary of the club’s founding (“bunaıthe”) (see M02832). The hurlers and Curfew tower remain; the “Big Ears” (Volunteer) trophy is gone and in its place are three traditional musicians. The Clann Lır has been painted to include the harper seen in Jim Fitzpatrick’s painting of the Lear myth. A Celtic warrior has appeared on the bridge over the Dall.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Laochra Gael
The two laochra featured in the first panel (above) are Danny McNaughton and John Darragh, while GAA hall-of-famer Terence “Sambo” McNaughton is featured in the final panel (BBC | GAA). Also included are Finn MacCool (on Giant’s Causeway), Setanta/Cú Chulaınn, and Queen Meadhbh – the latter two are in the style of Jim Fitzpatrick – the first is based on Fitzpatrick’s Hurling Match and the second takes Leyendecker’s painting of Maeve (WP) and renders it in Fitzpatrick’s style, complete with club-coloured drapes.
Coast Road, Cushendall at the grounds of Ruaırí Óg CLG (web).
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Mol an óıge agus tıocfaıdh sí. Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam. Ní neart go cur le chéıle.
Bound Together
This Ruaırí Óg mural is on the side of the Lurig Inn (Fb), Coast Road, Cushendall, and features Ruaırí Óg superfan “Main Man” John McKillop (in the yellow bib).
The text in the centre reads “Main Man John McKillop Sept 2015”, which is when Ruaırí Óg senior hurlers defeated Ballycastle McQuillan for the Antrim title. “Image courtesy of Seamus Loughran” is the lower right-hand corner. For the photograph itself, see the Irish News.
See also Ruaırí Óg CLG and Laochra Gael.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
T02967
Stand Off, Trade Off
This mural protests Orange marches along “traditional routes” in Drumcree (Portadown) and Lower Ormeau (Belfast). It’s been roughly 25 years since the tension over these marches was at its height, but the scars have yet to heal. The DUP made a motion in the House Of Commons to lift the ban on the Drumcree parade this year (News Letter | Irish Times | BBC).
This long-standing mural was perhaps re-touched in 2021. Compare to the 2010 post.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Bright Eyes
The movie that made child-actress Shirley Temple a star was the December 1934 film Bright Eyes, in which she played an orphan, Shirley Blake, living with a wealthy and mean-spirited family but befriended by her godfather and pilot Loop Merritt (played by James Dunn in their third movie together that year, after Stand Up And Cheer! and Baby Take A Bow) (WP Bright Eyes | WP James Dunn). She was awarded a special Oscar for her performance the following year (WP).
The Strand Cinema in east Belfast opened a year later, on December 7th, 1935, and Bright Eyes was the first movie shown. The venue for a time operated exclusively as a concert hall (from 1984-1988); in 2013 it became the charity ‘Strand Arts Centre’, supporting a variety of arts in addition to a now-independent four-screen cinema operation (StrandArtsCentre History).
The 3-D mural by emic (ig) on the Pim’s Avenue side of the theatre reproduces a publicity photo from 1935.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Paddy Duffy Collection 
