stone

Ulster’s Defenders

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Ulster’s defenders, past and present, from Cuchulainn “Ancient defender of Ulster from Gael attacks”, via the 1893 UDU and WWI soldiers memorialised in the towers at Messines and Thiepval, to the modern UDA/UFF: “In memory of the officers and volunteers of A. Coy. UDA/UFF West Belfast Brigade who unselfishly dedicated their lives in defence of their country.”

There was also a Cuchulainn mural on Newtownards Rd in 1992 (updated in 2005), as well as ‘past defenders’ in the form of B Specials and UDR (1992 | 2005). There is a Visual History page on Cú Chulaınn.

Among the volunteers listed on the stone, 19 year old Alan Simpson was shot in his home in nearby Highfield Drive.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Ghosts Of The Somme

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A memorial stone has been added to the fading mural of soldiers of the 15th battalion heading to France in 1915, beginning a list of former members of the Rathcoole Friends Of The Somme (Fb). For the names of the five portraits, and the mural in better condition, see Many Did Not Return.

Iniscarn Drive, Rathcoole

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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The Great War

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The memorial garden in Mount Vernon, has a “cut-out” mural to the 36th (Ulster) Division and memorial plaques to six UVF members who died between 1974 and 2000, including (lhs of the final image) Joe Shaw, who was shot by the UDA during the 1974-1975 feud. (For details of the killings and its aftermath, see this Balaclava Street article.) The stone in the centre is dedicated to the “3rd battalion North Belfast” Ulster Volunteer Force.

Mount Vernon Gardens, north Belfast

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Buster Keenan

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This mural to William “Buster” Keenan was unveiled on July 8th (2017), coincidentally the anniversary of wife Eileen’s death. Both are listed on the UVF memorial stone in front of the mural, along with David Ervine and the Long-Cordner-Bennett-Seymour quartet.

According to ACT, Keenan was involved in the Battle Of St. Matthew’s (in which Bobby Neill and James McCurrie were killed, along with Henry McIlhone). To the left is another “Ulster Volunteers” stone, a “Sydenham roll of honour – to those who gave their lives in the Great War”.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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IRA – Sinn Fein – ISIS

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A gallery of scenes from IRA bombings surrounds the Bayardo memorial arch, the centre-piece of which are two images from the 2015 paris bombings (shown above). “IRA – Sinn Fein – ISIS no difference”. In an interview for the USA’s PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) the DUP’s Sammie Wilson said he agreed with the equivalence.

Alexander Minto Howell was killed outside the Bayardo bar by the British Army.

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Copyright © 2022 Paddy Duffy
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Hunger Strikers Memorial

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The hunger strikers memorial in Rossville Street, Derry, was launched in 2000. Compared to the entries from 2001 and 2004, this version has a new centre-piece – the metal lark has been replaced by a combination lark and hand cast in stone.

The central “H” carries the names of the ten deceased 1981 strikers, while the stones to either side carry the names of other republicans to have died on hunger strike: Thomas Ashe 1917, Michael Fitzgerald 1920, Joseph Murphy 1920, Terence McSwiney 1920, Joseph Whitty 1923, Denis Barry 1923, Andrew Sullivan 1923, Tony D’Aroy 1940, Jack McNeela 1940, Sean McCaughey 1946, Michael Gaughan 1974, Frank Stagg 1976.

In the background of the image below are (left) Free Derry Corner and (centre-right) The Petrol Bomber.

Rossville Street, Derry

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Copyright © 2007 Paddy Duffy
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