“Saoradh salute the men and women of violence,” namely the signatories to the 1916 Proclamation, the women of the 1970s IRA, and modern “dissidents” with home-made weapons.
The plaque on the left is to the IRA’s Pearse Jordan, next to the centenary celebration of the Proclamation, Ag Fíorú Na Poblachta. The board was been moved to this Falls Road location from Ardoyne; it replaces an anti-RUC/PSNI mural.
Hugo Street, west Belfast
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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The twelve “Gertrude Street Great War Fatalities” are: Robert Harvey; William Duff; James Fagan; Alexander Leckey; George McCune; Hugh Nabney; William Nabney; Matthew Scott; Robert C. Skillen; James Watson; Samuel Wright; James Burns.
This board was originally next to the To France And Flanders mural on the adjacent wall; the mural also named these twelve but which only lasted a year. That mural depicted the damaged basilica tower in the village of Albert and there is a similar mural in the village itself – a photograph of the mural and the rebuilt tower can be seen in the top right of the board; the mural can be seen in full here.
As the map in the top left shows, Gertrude Street was where Wolff Close now is, running north from the Newtownards Road; the original Gertrude Star mural (circa 1989) was on the first gable of what is now called “Freedom Corner” – see D00388.
The emblem of the Gertrude Star flute band serves as a background. The band’s 50th/60th anniversary mural is across the street.
“‘The Legacy Of Gertrude Street. Twelve brave young men from Gertrude Street,/Bravely fought in world war one./They tried their best as legends do./But never returned back home.//They dragged through muddy trenches,/In the darkness of the night./But never once would they give up,/As they bravely continued to fight.//Each year these men will be honoured,/As we stand together taking time to reflect./It’s vital to show these heroes the uttermost respect.//For now they lie in Flanders fields,/Between crosses row by row./They lived, they fought for our country,/And gave their lives many years ago.//Forever we will speak of these men,/Who came from Gertrude Street./Their legacy will always live on,/When we think of their marching feet.’ By Angela McCully”
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Masked UVF gunman in Inverary Drive, east Belfast, in a style similar to UVF gunmen in Carrickfergus, Larne, and Millbrook.
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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The board appears to show a “show of strength” (firing into the air) rather than a parade, by hooded gunmen of the east Belfast UVF. The crowd is gathered on Newtownards Road at Dee Street, date unknown (but prior to 2008).
Newtownards Road, east Belfast.
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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This board commemorates the action and deaths of the British Army’s 36th (Ulster) Division in World War I’s Battle Of The Somme, of which Captain Wilfrid Spender wrote, “I am not an Ulsterman but yesterday, the 1st July, as I followed their amazing attack, I felt that I would rather be an Ulsterman than anything else in the world. My pen cannot describe adequately the hundreds of heroic acts that I witnessed … The Ulster Volunteer Force, from which the division was made, has won a name which equals any in history.”
For images of the launch (on 2016-03-08) see Belfast Live.
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Ronnie’s hardware shop in east Belfast, vacant for many years and the site of Our Brave Defenders, was finally torn down last year and a pocket park created with murals commemorating east Belfast volunteers who died in the Great War and the UVF Regimental Band (tw), this year celebrating its 50 anniversary (video of the launch). See previously: 40th anniversary banner at the same spot (Belvoir Bar).
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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“The dead we honour here made the noble sacrifice for a cause that should never be forgotten.” A new board has been added to the memorial to the Ulster Volunteers on the Newtownards Road at St Leonard’s Crescent (the old Newcastle Street) over the bricked-up windows of the Belvoir Bar (see previously Not For Sale). The annual parade of the Belvoir Somme Association took place at the end of September (youtube)
The portrait of Carson was previously on the corner of Welland Street. The UVF Band mural is to the right of the memorial: see The Great War and They Said We’d Never Last.
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Ulster’s VC Heroes david nelson ernest wright alexander william mcfadzean edmund de win richard annesley west hugh colvin james somers jams duffy robert morrow edward barry stewart bingham thomas hughes robert hill hanna robert quigg john spencer dunville eric norman frankland bell james crichton geoffrey st. george shillington cather james anson otho brooke john alexander sinton dedicated to the women of east belfast that served in wwi and wwii
Tower Street in east Belfast is (unofficially) renamed “Ulster Tower Street” to complement the mural at the corner with Beechfield Street. The work was created in 2016 and is now (2022) showing its age. The image of the Ulster Tower at Thiepval, in the centre of the main panel, is fading, though the list of battles in which the 36th (Ulster) Division participated remain legible.
There is also some fading and peeling paint on both the main wall and side-wall. The smaller board on the side-wall features a poem from local children: “The Great War took a lot of Pray/It’s hard to say w[h]ere all these brave men lay/A lot of souls still waiting to be found/Buried deep below the ground.//In the fields w[h]ere the bright red poppies grow/Stood men so brave of fight and foe/Some men so young they just didn’t know/A journey with friends they all wanted to go.// When they got there what a different tail [tale] they did tell/Many letters home describing it as hell/Young men put to front to fight/We can only imagine the awful sight.//Fighting beside their mate to keep Britain great/And we still remember them till this date/Nearly one hundred years on/A lot of these great men have gone/Forget them we will not as a thought is not a lot.”
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Four members of the East Belfast UVF are commemorated by a new mural in Fraser Pass, Ballymacarrett. The four named are: Robert Seymour, shot dead by the PIRA in 1988; James Cordner and Joseph Long, who were killed in a premature explosion in 1977; Robert Bennett, killed by the British Army during a riot in 1973.
In a previous version of the mural, Seymour and Long were featured alongside Crawford and Craig (of the Home Rule era) – see God, Give Us Men! (which also includes a close-up of the small plaque embedded in the front wall).
These same four are commemorated in the controversial 2013 mural featured in Years Of Sacrifice.
In-progress image:
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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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The end wall of Columbia Street in the Woodvale was knocked down, taking with it a former Duke Elliott/UDA mural, which was then replaced with boards (rather than murals) commemorating the history of the UDA and Elliott. Elliott lived one street over, in Leopold Street (WP). He was killed in 1972, at age 28, in a dispute with other UDA members.
Ohio St
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Paddy Duffy Collection 