“William & Catherine, prince and princess of Wales, baron and baroness of [sic] Carrickfergus.” Prince William was granted the title of “Baron Carrickfergus” upon his marriage to Catherine Middleton in 2011; he was also made Earl Of Strathearn and Duke Of Cambridge (royal.uk). The couple visited Carrickfergus in 2022 (NI World), shortly after Charles acceded to the throne and William gained the title of Prince Of Wales.
Etna Drive in Ardoyne has undergone a make-over in the last twelve months. The large board below was mounted in December 2024, the planters added in March 2025, and the boxes along the street were painted in June. The boxes celebrate local groups and initiatives: “Cıceam Ard Eoın [Fb]”, “Ardoyne-Bone Community health & leisure trust [Fb]”, “Community larder. Drop in. Locally sourced food.”, “Ardoyne Association [Fb] Citizens’ Advice Centre”, and the “Lawrenson-Toal academy of Irish dance [ig]”.
“When you go home tell them of us and say, ‘For your tomorrow we gave our today’.” The Thiepval Memorial commemorates British and South African soldiers who died in the Somme valley and have no known grave. The Battle Of the Somme took place from July 1st to November 18th, 1916, but soldiers were in the area from July 1915 until the end of the war; the Germans attacked in the Somme in the spring of 1918 (Operation Michael) and a second Battle Of The Somme took place in late August, 1918, as part of the Allies’ Hundred Days Offensive.
The words are from an epitaph by John Maxwell Edwards in the Kohima War Cemetery, Nagaland, India.
The upper Woodvale plaque “in memory of all those Protestants and members of the security forces who lost their lives in the greater Shankill area as a result of conflict” has sat unadorned since at least 2008 but now has a pair of boards to accompany it.
On the left, a reproduction of the “Faithful Unto Death” stained-glass window in the Museum of Orange Heritage in Schomberg House on the Cregagh Road (also reproduced in Newbuildings in 2022), along with the emblem of the Country Grand Orange Lodge Of Belfast (Fb).
On the right, a memorial to “all local residents whose lives were cruelly taken by Republican terrorists. Also those who selflessly gave their lives in the service of our country, and those who continue to do so.” (LOL “423” appears to be Banbridge Bible And Crown Defenders.)
This entry provides close-ups of the WWI memorial display in Clarawood, east Belfast, and complements the images and text presented in 2023’s Spared To Testify To Their Glorious Deeds.
The three vertical panels with text read as follows:
“Ulster Division – a great military parade will take place on Saturday, May 8, 1915. The troops of the Ulster Division numbering 17,000 men will be on Parade. Cavalry, Infantry, Pioneers, Engineers, Signallers, Cyclists Cors, Army Service Corps and Army medical Corps. Men and Women of Ulster come and see the Greatest Military Display ever held in Ulster, and do honour to your own Division. God save the King.” (There is video of the May parade on Facebook and NI Screen. The photograph of George V inspecting the troops in Aldershot on September 30th, 1915, can be seen here.)
“The Battle Of Albert (1st – 13th July) 1916. The leading battalions of the 36th (Ulster) Division) [sic] had been ordered out from Thiepval Wood just before 7.30am and laid down near the German trenches … At zero hour the British barrage lifted. Bugles blew the “Advance”. Up sprang the Ulstermen and without forming up in the waves adopted by other divisions, they rushed the German front line … By a combination of sensible tactics and Ulster dash, the prize that eluded so many, the capture of a long section of the German front line, had been accomplished. During the Battle Of The Somme the (Ulster) [sic] Division was the only division of X Corps (British Army) to have achieved its objectives on the opening day of the battle. This came at a heavy price, with the division suffering in two days of fighting 5,500 officers and enlisted men killed, wounded or missing. Of nine Victoria Crosses given to British forces in the battle, 4 were awarded to 36th (Ulster) Division soldiers. ‘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.’ – Captain Wilfred [sic Wilfrid] Spender, 2 July 1916.”
“36th (Ulster) Division 32,186 killed, wounded, missing. The tower is dedicated to the glory of God in grateful memory of the officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the 36th (Ulster) Division, and the sons of Ulster in other forces who laid down their lives in the Great War, and of all their comrades in arms who, by divine grace, were spared to testify to their glorious deeds.”
There was a march in Belfast (in early September) which went to the offices or stores of some of these businesses (Independent) because they fund or support the Israeli military – the links above outline the connections. There are also campaigns from various groups (here is IPSC’s) to boycott consumer goods from Israeli producers.
“Vol. Brendan Burns, Vol. Brendan Moley, 29 February 1988.” Burns and Moley died “on active service”, meaning the premature explosion of a bomb they were loading into a van (RTÉ video | Sutton | RN). There is a plaque at the spot at which the pair was killed, on the nearby Donaldson’s Road – see M08795. Burns was wanted in connection with the Narrow Water ambush of 1979 (UPI).
“You were being oppressed by the political and military might of the foreign invader. We tried to protect you, we gave you the best that we could, but our time ran out, before the battle was won. Now it’s time for you to give the best you can. Stand together with your comrades we sadly left behind. Be proud to carry on the struggle for the freedom of our land.”
“We must take no steps backward, our steps must [or: will] be onward, for if we don’t, the [ghosts of the] martyrs that died for you, for me, for this country will haunt us forever [or: for eternity].” The words of Máıre Drumm (from an anti-internment rally in Dunville Park on 10th August, 1975 – RN p. 4) appear below a roll of honour for the IRA’s South Armagh Brigade. The list of volunteers is included below; in 1976 Drumm herself was shot dead in her bed by the RHC in the Mater hospital where she was a patient (WP) – she was Vice President of Sınn Féın at the time.
Michael McVerry, Sean Boyle, Francis Jordan, Gerry McKiernan, James Lochrie, Sean Campbell, Peter Cleary, Seamus Harvey, Liam Farrelly, Peadar McElvanna, Kevin Caherty, Raymond McCrees, Brendan Moley, Brendan Burns, Fergal Caraher, Packie Duffy, Eugene Martin, Tim Daly, Malachy Watters, Gary Toner, Keith Rogers, Francie Caraher, Gerald Fearon, Pat Lynch
Twelve more of the martyrs – the Troubles-era hunger-strikes – are on the stone across the street (for a close-up, see the Peter Moloney Collection).
The background to the Avenue Road “Memorial to the 36th (Ulster) Division and to other men of Ulster who served in the Great War 1914 – 1918” has been repainted in the purple and orange of the UVF and the wall simplified by the removal of two smaller boards to each side of the main board (above) which shows soldiers looking out over the edge of a WWI trench. (For the the previous boards, see the Peter Moloney Collection.)
The seat is dedicated to “Jack”, an 11-year-old member of the Avenue Road Memorial flute band who died in 2019 (News Letter), with boxing gloves and emblem of the NI soccer association. 2 Timothy 4:7 says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Avenue Road, Lurgan
The final image is of a board in nearby King’s Park Mews to a soldier who died on “the homefront” – Dublin during the 1916 Rising – Second Lieutenant James Howard Calvert of the 6th Royal Irish Rifles.Calvert lived at 41 Avenue Road, Lurgan.
Oliver Sheppard’s statue of Cú Chulaınn dying – see the Cú Chulaınn Visual History page – memorialises nine IRA volunteers from the Lenadoon area, whose names are listed on the scrolls to each side and whose portraits appear in the apex: Tony Henderson, John Finucane, Brendan O’Callaghan, Joe McDonnell, Laura Crawford, Maıréad Farrell, Patricia Black, Bridie Quinn. Below the statue are the shields of the four provinces and the words “Léana An Dúın – unbowed, unbroken” and “saoırse” [freedom].
The mural dates back to 1996 (see T00160) and was repainted in 2009 (see M05134) and c. 2014 (see M11028, which includes a close-up of the plaque added in 2009.) In this version, nothing has changed in the composition of the mural and the photographic portraits and the Easter Rising centenary board have been retained.
Paddy Duffy Collection 