Here is some art on the shutters of the Kids’ Store in Castle Street, Belfast. Artist FGB has an instagram video of the piece being produced.
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Pram Race 2000
painted wall
Lethal Combination
A tribute to motorcyclist William Dunlop who died practicing for the Skerries road race in 2018 (RTÉ).
Abetta Parade, Belfast
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Days When The Rains Came
The Con O’Neill bridge crosses the Knock river just before it meets the Loop river to form the Connswater, which used to be Con’s water, and provided a way for “men, horses and livestock to cross the river” (Con O’Neill).
The mural depicting such a crossing, by Friz (ig), is on a gable wall in the car park next to the bridge; the area is now known as The Hollow, as in “Hey, where did we go?/Days when the rains came/Down in the hollow/Playin’ a new game.” (For an image of bridge partially submerged and impassable in 2012, see Geograph | more images at Google Maps Places.)
Con lived c. 1600 but the bridge might well pre-date that time. It was refurbished as part of the Connswater Greenway project in ?2014?.
Abetta Parade, east Belfast
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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Head In The Clouds
This mural is at the entrance to Dunclug Park, in Ballymena. The wall was formerly the site of ‘The Seven Ages Of Dunclug’ (C03798) which (like the Cú Chulaınn installation that is still standing) replaced a Tricolour. By emic (ig) with support from the Dunclug Youth Forum and the Housing Executive.
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UDR Checkpoint
The second mural along Ballee Way, Ballymena (between The Crown and The Lion Wears The Crown), is a tribute to the UDR [Ulster Defence Regiment], established in 1970 to replace the Specials and amalgamated with the Royal Irish Rangers in 1992 to form the Royal Irish Regiment. The mural shows a UDR soldier manning a checkpoint, on top of a free-floating Northern Ireland filled in with a Union Flag.
For the mural when new, see M08022.
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The Lion Wears The Crown
This Ballee Flute Band mural (formerly for the Ballee Blues And Royals) shows the ‘lion and the unicorn’ from the UK coat of arms. The lion (England) wears a crown but the unicorn (Scotland) does not, since, as the nursery rhyme has it, “the lion beat the unicorn all around the town” (WP).
However, in place of the Royal Standard’s crest and “honi soit qui mal y pense” and “Dieu et mon droit” inscriptions, we find the Bible, “Drumtara”, and “In God we trust”.
Behind are the Union Flag and the flags of the Apprentice Boys and the Orange Order.
To the right of frame can be seen part of UDR Checkpoint.
Ballee Way, Ballymena
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The Dead
Two poems of WWI in Ballykeel 2, Ballymena: above, “We are the Dead. Short days ago/We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,/Loved and were loved, and now we lie/In Flanders fields.” from ‘In Flanders Fields’ by John McCrae.
Below: “They shall not grow old/As we that are left grow old/Age shall not weary them/Nor the years condemn/At the going down of the sun/And in the morning/We will remember them.” from ‘For The Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon.
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Per Ardua Ad Astra
“Through adversity to the stars” – in WWII the Belfast Telegraph conducted a campaign to raise money for spitfire aircraft. 17 were purchased with the roughly 89 thousand pounds raised, and each of them was named for a city or area of Northern Ireland, including one named for Ballymena, which is the site of this new mural recalling the effort. (BelTel | NIWorld)
The plaques to Jimmy Aberdeen on the right-hand side of the second image date back to previous murals: For Valour, Fight To A Finish and, before that, I Can Stand Alone.
Painted by Dee Craig in Drumtara, Ballymena
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This Is Not The Same As Other Days
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.
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It Came From Beneath The Sea
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.
In Belfast: a lobster is boiled.
In Bangor: an octopus plays rock-paper-scissors.
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