Oak Street is a fitting place for a mural about the Siege of Derry, as the oak leaf, shown to the left and right of the board above (and in the wide shot, below) is a symbol of the town, “doire” meaning an oak grove. The gates to the city were locked by thirteen apprentices, against the wishes of Governor Robert Lundy who wised to surrender the city. When the deposed king James II and his army arrived and demanded the surrender of the city of Derry, the cry from within was “No surrender!” The city was then besieged for 105 days until relief arrived in the form of ships of the navy of the newly crowned William & Mary.
The board shown above celebrates 50 years of the No Surrender Club South Belfast (1963-2013) a club affiliated with the Apprentice Boys Of Derry.
South Belfast MP Robert Bradford was assassinated by the Provisional IRA in Finaghy at a meeting with constituents; the caretaker of the community centre, Ken Campbell, was also killed by the fleeing attackers. Taking place in late 1981, with the hunger strikes having ended only a month before, the killing was noted around the world and raised fears of broad civil unrest (BBC | NYTimes). The board above serves as a substitute for an earlier mural to Bradford on the adjacent gable wall.
Young Conquerors Flute Band mural in Pine Street, south Belfast, connecting the band to local soldiers who died in WWI. The two boards to either side show a photograph of the original Donegall Pass Defenders Flute Band, which lasted a short time in the 1970s before the formation of the Conquerors in 1977 (Fb). The second shows the patch of the band.
The bugler in period uniform and the language of the poem are reminiscent of WWI but all of the UVF mural, roll of honour, and reproduction of an old YCV mural refer to the modern UVF and in particular to William Millar [sometimes given as “Miller”], Bobby Morton, and Tommy McAllister. Millar and Morton were ambushed by the RUC on the 16th of March 1983 – Millar died and Morton was injured (Long Kesh Inside Out). Millar was included in an old Cregagh mural – see C00956). Morton died in 2016 (Young Conquerors), hence his portrait shows him as an older man. The same is true of McAllister’s portrait, though no information about him is readily available.
“As the bugler blows/O’er the graves in rows/As reveille sounds/Over death[‘]s parade ground/Where our fallen comrades lie/With our standards proud/Once their deathbeds shroud/We will come from far and near/To salute our dead/And the roles they played/With the Ulster Volunteers.”
The mural was launched on March 19th (ACT) in Pine St. Below the new mural are a roll of honour and a board reproducing a former mural by Gareth Keys one street over, in Walnut Street – see The Young, The Brave, The Fearless.
This is the scene at the Rex Bar at (the old) Moscow Street on the Shankill, including, below, three boards describing the formation of the Ulster Volunteers (‘A Force For Ulster’) and using the Thiepval Memorial To The Missing Of The Somme against a background of portraits to commemorate the losses suffered by the 36th (Ulster) Division of the British Army, which the Volunteers became, at the Somme and in other battles, mowed down by “the Hun machine guns” (‘The Great War’). 32,186 men from west Belfast were killed, wounded, or missing. “To them bravery was without limit, to us memory is without end”.
On the Shankill proper (at the newly-christened “Scots Corner”) is a board and plaque to the UVF’s “Scottish Brigade”: “Aye ready they stood, aye ready they fought, through conflict, blood and tears, loyal to the end, every one, the Scottish volunteers.” “Aye ready” was the motto of the 59th Scinde Rifles of the British Indian Army (and later of the Canadian Navy) but is best known from the label of Camp Coffee, in which a Highlander was served a cup of Camp by a Sikh servant (nowadays, they both have a cup of their own).
A Scottish soldier plays the pipes over a list of the “Battalion Of The Dead”, Scottish volunteers from the (modern) UVF. The list is led by William “Big Bill” Campbell, who has had a small plaque in his memory at this spot since (at least) 2014. Preacher and DUP politician George Seawright (see A Crown Of Life) is also included – he was born in Glasgow in 1951.
The 100th anniversary plaque and board shown in this entry are on the spot of Bloomfield House (web), where guns from Clyde Valley were held for the East Belfast battalion of the Ulster Volunteers in 1914.
See also: John Henry Patterson’s involvement in Operation Lion.
“In memory of the men and women from the Orangefield area, who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of our freedom in all theatres of conflict, both foreign and at home.” These boards are memorials to the members of the 8th battalion 36th (Ulster) Division, formed from men from Avoniel and Strandtown.
The civic spirit of Bedfordshire’s Captain Tom Moore has been celebrated in murals across the UK, including this one by Blaze FX in Clonduff. Moore attempted to raise funds for the NHS during covid by doing laps around his garden with his walker in advance of his hundredth birthday. He originally aimed at raising 1,000 pounds but ended up raising 30 million after the effort went viral.
On the left is a tree cross-section (or “tree disk”) (on the left) that has been decorated with a hooded gunman and the insignia of the (east Belfast) UVF and YCV, along with a printed board with “The uniform may have changed but the cause remains the same. Ulster Volunteer Force” around the UVF emblem and “Fallen, not forgotten” below. There is a very close variant of this wording on a mural in Bowtown (Newtownards).
Tullyard Way, Castlereagh
Update, 2024: the mural has been – mostly – blacked out
“[Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous.] In war you can only be killed once. In politics, many times. [ – Winston Churchill, 1903] Our British identity is non-negotiable! UVF East Belfast Battalion.” Hooded UVF volunteers are shown in active poses (as compared to the cradled rifles in The Erosion Of Our Identity) ready to resist any compromise in the still-unresolved tension between Brexit and the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement of 1998.
The second board, on a similar theme, is in Belvoir Street, in east Belfast: “The prevention of the erosion of our identity is now our priority”.
Left: “The Annals of the Four Masters record that in 665 AD, the Battle of Farset (Belfast) took place between the County Down Dal Fiatach, self styled Ulaid, and the Pretani or Cruthin where Cathasach, son of Laircine, was slain. This was an attempt by the Dal Fiatach to encroach on the Curtain territory of Trian Congail. The “third of Congal”, which encompassed territory on both sides of the Lagan, corresponding more to less to Uppers and Lower Clandeboye, including modern Belfast. Cathasach was Congal’s grandson. The battle was the first mention of Belfast in Irish history.”
The battle scene shown is Jim Fitzpatrick’s vision of the battle of Moira (in 637), rather than “Bellum Fertsi”. The salience of this description of intra-Ulster fighting is that there is a contention that the Cruthin were Scots (Picts) thus allowing for the idea (employed especially by the UDA – see Ulster’s Defenders and Defender Of Ulster From Irish Attacks) that present-day northern Protestants have a heritage, and a history of fighting for what is roughly Co. Antrim, that pre-dates the plantations. For more information and a similar board, featuring the tower blocks of Rathcoole rather than Cuchulainn and the Battle of Moira, see Kingdom Of The Pretani. For the debate over a connection to the Picts, see WP.
The Annals date back to the 1630s though they mostly comprise a variety of earlier sources.
The image of the gentleman with the sword appears to be a stock fantasy image, used for at least two characters in Game Of Thrones fandom (Rhaegon Targaryen and Lord Cameron Umber).
Middle: 2021 was the centenary of the creation of Northern Ireland and the year in which Scottish football club Glasgow Rangers won their 55th league title. Support for the club is widespread among the PUL community in Northern Ireland; local soccer and the international team is overseen by the IFA.
Right: “Centenary of cultural expression 1921-2021. Sons Of Belfast LOL 743. Castleton Temperance LOL 867. The Memorial LOL 1197. Belfast Harbour LOL 1883. The Coote Memorial LOL 1921. Cave Hill Temperance LOL 1956.”
Paddy Duffy Collection 