Kennedy Kane McArthur

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“Kennedy Kane McArthur, Olympic hero, Stockholm 1912, gold medal marathon winner. Dervock born and bred.”

Ken McArthur emigrated from Dervock to Johannesburg, South Africa, at age 20 and ran his first marathon at 28. Four years later, he represented South Africa at the Olympics and was victorious in the marathon (WP). There is footage of the race at olympics.com.

“Portrait paintings by pupils of the William Pinkerton Memorial primary school, Dervock. Homage to Kennedy Kane McArthur, 1881 – 1960, Local hero and Olympian. Dervock born and bred.”

Castlecat Road, Dervock

The large medallion is in the visitor centre in Townsend Street, Ballymoney. It reads, “To commemorate the victory of Kennedy K. McArthur in the marathon race at the Olympic Games in Stockholm 1912. This memorial of strength and virtue is dedicated by the people of his native district.”

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The Armoy Armada

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The “Armoy Armada” was (l-r) Joey Dunlop, Frank Kennedy, Jim Dunlop, Mervyn Robinson (AMRRC). The four formed a team of motorcycle racers from 1977 until 1979 when Kennedy was injured in the North West 200. In memory of the quartet, the Armoy Road Races have been held every July since 2009.

This mural was painted by Oliver McParland (web) in 2020 on a gable of a fast-food shop in Armoy. (For the original photograph, see Classic Motorbikes.) The cruder version in the final image, below, is also in Main Street, on the shutters of the Armoy Motorcycle Road Racing club.

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I’ve Been All Around This World

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The Face was last seen on the Cupar Way war-wall in 2019 (see Please Respect Artwork). It was taken down (for reasons unknown) and put into storage in a works yard off Lanark Way, from where it was stolen it by thieves (perhaps thinking it might be valuable for its metal); it was found abandoned near the Slıabh Dubh car park (Belfast Live).

It has now found a home in a new coffee- and souvenir-shop (called Bean Around The World) that has been punched into the fencing at the top of Cupar Way in the shadow of a business park.

Next to The Face is a map of Ireland and Britain divided into regions, and a montage of black-and-white photographs from the Troubles (at least some of which come from the Belfast Archive Project).

The Face was created by Kevin Killen (web) and “the Students from Impact Training (NI) Ltd, Belfast To celebrate and commemorate the Industrial History and Heritage of Belfast City.”

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Battle Of The Somme

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The badge or insignia of the 36th (Ulster) Division most frequently seen in murals is the one on the left of this board in Ballyduff, combining a red hand on a field of shamrocks with the Union Flag and the harp of the Royal Irish Rifles. The simpler insignia of the 36th Division on the right is being seen more frequently – it features a left-handed red hand, while the other uses a right-handed red hand, as do the flags of Ulster and of Northern Ireland.

Ballyduff Gardens, Newtownabbey, replacing a painted mural seen in It Grows In Fields Where Valour Led.

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Armagh For Sam

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“Ádh mór Ard Mhacha” – The board below is from Armagh’s successful 2024 campaign in the senior football championship. The painted well-wishes in the image above might come from 2002, which is the year of Armagh’s only other All-Ireland win, but perhaps from one of the years in which Armagh were Ulster champions (2004, 2005, 2006 or 2008), as the earliest recorded image of it is from 2010.

Drumbreda Crescent and Culdee Drive, Armagh

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Ulster Volunteers

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These faded Armagh murals have the titles “UVF Gun-Smuggler 1913” and “Arms Training 1913”.

The gun-smuggling mural features not the 1914 gun-running on Clyde Valley – the ship that brought in the weapons and ammunition into Larne – but a motor-car. There was earlier gun-running or bulk gun-purchasing – 175 rifles were bought from Harrods by the Earl Of Lanesborough and sent to Enniskillen (Balaclava Street) and 500 rifles were brought from Manchester in August 1913 (Irish Bayonets). (See also History Ireland.) These perhaps used automobiles for distribution, and the Larne gun-running is described as the first time that the horseless carriage was used in a military operation – there were about 350 vehicles in the “Motor Car Corps” (Angelsey p. 3). 

The location of the car, and of the ‘arms training’ in the second mural, are unknown. Here is a 1914 image (Getty) showing tents and a single machine-gun at Ballywalter. The sources of both paintings are unknown.

The murals date back to at least 2012 (see the Peter Moloney Collection).

Gough Avenue, Barrack Hill, Armagh

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Macha

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“Macha – máthaır, bandıa, banríon, gaıs[c]íoch/mother, goddess, queen, warrior.” Armagh is named after Macha, who is shown here pregnant against knot-work of three interwoven horses. In one story about Macha, she wins a race against the horses of Connor, the king of Ulster, even though she is pregnant. The race caused her to give birth and she cursed the men of the Red Branch for nine generations, which would leave them all – except for Cú Chulaınn – unable to fight to the forces of Medb (Visual History).

“Artist: Sheila McGaffin – Samhaın 2025”. McGaffin was profiled in Armagh Jobs.

Above the Cuchulainn Bar in Dobbin Street, Armagh

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Niall And Macha

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This is a mural of King Niall (Nıall Caılle, Niall of the Callan) and Queen Macha. Niall was high king of Ireland (in competition with Fedelmıd of Munster WP) who held off the Vikings in the late 800s (WP) and died in 846 by drowning in the Callan river. Macha is a much earlier and mythological queen, and gives her name to the town: Ard Mhacha.

The central figures reproduce paintings by Jim Fitzpatrick (Visual History). The Niall figure comes from Nemed The Great but the Macha figure comes from a label Fitzpatrick produced in 1988 for Rosc “mead”, even though Macha (one of them, at least) was the wife of Nemed and there is a female figure in Nemed The Great.

Below the planets and stars, St Patrick’s (Catholic) Cathedral is on the left (WP) and St Patrick’s (CofI) Cathedral is on the right (WP).

In the border, clockwise from left to right, we see: the Tandragee Idol (WP), Naomh Bríd/St Brigid’s, St Patrick preaching the trinity, Irish dancing, Gaelic football, Armagh Harps, “Ard Mhacha”, the Armagh county crest in colour in the apex (Club & County), “Armagh”, Na Pıarsaıgh Óga, hurling/camogie, Cú Chulaınn’s, mummers (perhaps specifically the Armagh Rhymers), Jonathan Swift, a steam locomotive (perhaps representing the Armagh rail disaster of 1889, in which 80 people died WP); a vintage image of Callan Street is depicted along the bottom (History Armagh).

The side-wall features the word “welcome” in many languages, and Celtic knot-work surrounding an image of the Celtic Cross below St Patrick’s, perhaps inspired by this 1903 photograph (Flickr).

Painted by a crew of Belfast artists – Danny D and Mark Ervine, along with Lucas Quigley, Marty Lyons, Micky Doherty – and organised by the Callan Street Residents’ Association, with funding from the European Union’s Peace III initiative.

Culdee Crescent/Callan Street, Armagh

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