Phlegm (ig) – a Sheffield-based engraver and artist – was in town for Hit The North 2026 and painted this large piece in Corporation Street of spindly creatures teetering on the backs of the dead as they war with each other.
The in-progress images are from May 4th and 2nd.
May 4th
May 2nd
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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A dove takes flight and petals fall from roses in this new work by Fenz (web) for Hit The North 2026 on the shuttered offices of Rollins Insurance Brokers in Clarence Street.
The in-progress images are from April 28th.
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This new piece – placing a cosmetological beauty in a jungle scene of exotic plants and a black panther – was painted for 2026’s Hit The North street-art festival by HMC (web) in Nelson Street (near Great Patrick Street).
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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“Sorry it was all for nothing – It’s on each and every one of us to save what our forefathers fought and died for.”
This is a According to this Facebook post, the perceived threat being warned against here is “Communistic Islamification”. The “Islamification” is represented by partial flag of Pakistan (an Islamic republic) being carried by yelling Caucasian figures in long black robes, advancing through a graveyard, in which an elderly man – perhaps King Charles – kneels in front of a headstone bearing a red Christian cross. That the cemetery is a military one is indicated by the medals on the mourner’s chest and the line from Binyon’s ‘For The Fallen’, which provides a referent for the apology and the word “forefathers”.
How the “communistic” threat is conveyed is less clear.
Two men were cautioned by the police for displaying offensive material (Sunday Life). The Cloughfern Young Conquerors declined to play at the launch and family fun-day (Sunday Life), but the event went ahead (on May 8th) (youtube). Additional changes were made to the site in the days prior to the launch; see What Our Forefathers Fought And Died For.
Doagh Road, Cloughfern, Newtownabbey
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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Frankfurt-based artist Case Maclaim (ig) was one of the international guests for Hit The North 2026 and painted this upside-down face outside Lanyon Place train station.
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Here are two pieces by artist Silver Formz (ig) painted for this year’s (2026) Hit The North. The clown above and immediately below is in Dunbar Street; the distorted bust is in Union Street.
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Hamilton House in Joy Street, Belfast, (former) home of Hamilton Architects, has a small statue of Charlie Chaplin on its fourth floor parapet to commemorate the fact that he briefly lived in Joy Street while he appeared at the Palace Of Varieties (the Grand Opera House) in 1908.
There are also reliefs of four famous architects above the first-floor windows. The four are Alvar Aalto (perhaps shown with a folding screen), Frank Lloyd Wright (Guggenheim Museum), Charles Rennie Mackintosh (Glasgow Rose), and Carlo Scarpa (Brion Tomb). The four were created by Claire Sampson (web).
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Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
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This scene from the story of Clann Lır (the Children Of Lear) appears to be the moment that Aoıfe casts a spell that turns her four step-children into swans on Loch Daırbhreach.
Painted by Loretta Lizzio (web) at the same time (2023-09) as her Dark Dreamer on the Oldpark Road, just below the first Cliftonville roundabout.
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“Remembered with pride – Stevie McCrea, Village, south Belfast”. A plaque has been added below the large board describing Stevie McCrea’s life in Kilburn Street (seen in 2022’s Here Lies A Soldier, which includes the text on the board).
Also included below are close-ups of the plaques to McCrea and Sammy Mehaffy in Tavanagh Street, (seen together in Village UVF).
Village, south Belfast
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“We don’t just inherit, we lead across time and space.”
Here is the second half of the Ulster-Scots (Visual History) mural painted in North Howard Street and Fifth Street, continuing the work seen in Echoes Of The Ulster Scots, which took the Scotch-Irish from Ulster to the Appalachians.
The new panels bring us from the founding of the United States in 1776 to the space age. The panel above is a rendition of John Trumbull’s painting ‘Declaration Of Independence’ (image at WP) along with (below the “250”) the signature of “Cha[rles] Thomson”, who was born in Maghera, served as Secretary of the Continental Congress, designed the Great Seal Of The United States (which appears next to the right), and signed the Declaration (Ulster Scots Agency pdf).
The person third from the left is Robert R. Livingston, one of the Committee Of Five that prepared the Declaration; he also negotiated the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 (Discover Ulster Scots).
The flag is a combination of a proposed Ulster Scots flag and the Stars And Stripes of the United States.
North Howard Street/Fifth Street, west Belfast
April 19th: Artist DMC at work on the second half of the mural.
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Paddy Duffy Collection 