Bound In Good Style

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The first printing press in Belfast belonged to James Blow and his brother-in-law Patrick Neil in 1694 (DIB | Dublin Penny Journal gives 1696 | Mary Lowry Story Of Belfast gives 1690); a run of 8,000 Bibles is said to have been printed in 1751, one of which is part of the Linen Hall Library’s collection on Early Ulster Printing (RASCAL).

In 1895, Carswell & Sons opened a print-works and book-binders in a warehouse running with frontage in Queen Street and a rear in College Court (the building is now a bingo hall – see Kelly’s Eyes) which is currently being renovated as an office block (Bel Tel) – some of the scaffolding in College Cour can be seen in the later images in We Built This, the street art festival for International Women’s Day, 2023.

To complement those festival pieces, the mouth of College Court has been given a make-over, with work by Peachzz (ig) (above) and lettering by Woskerski (ig) that both draw on the street’s association with printing. If you know who did the “bookbinding” piece, please get in touch.

Previously on either side of College Court there were two pieces by Friz: Fox and Hare.

The bonus image, of a man leaning against the newsagent’s wall, is on the corner with Castle Street.

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Newen

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From the Twitter feed of Colombian street artist Visual AGP (Anderson García Pérez | Flickr), “Newen” means “strength” or “energy” … birds represent the freedom and colors of the Wiphala [the flag of indigenous peoples of the Andes].”

“Graficalia” (in the top right) refers to a street art festival aimed at minimising youth violence in AGP’s home town of Cali, Colombia.

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Copyright © 2023 Paddy Duffy
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Dee Street Remembers

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This sequence of UDA “memorial” murals along Island Street replaces a similar sequence from roughly 2005. Novel features are the poppies featured throughout and the use of Lawrence Binyon’s poem For The Fallen in the third panel (see below). The image above – the left-most of the four – depicts two men standing in reflection upon an above-ground grave, also symbolic of the fallen of World War I, but the mourners are modern UDA volunteers.

Island Street, east Belfast

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Step Back In Time

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The old Ballymacarrett station was the last stop before Belfast when travelling from points east such as Holywood and Bangor. On the morning of January 10th, 1945, a faulty signal caused the 7:10 from Bangor to be halted at Ballymacarrett, only for it to be hit from behind by the oncoming 7:40 from Holywood. The steel lead-car of the Holywood train ploughed through the whole of the last carriage’s wooden coachwork and on into the penultimate carriage, causing the death of 22 people and injury to another 27 (WP).

Dee Street, east Belfast

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