A monorail glides by on an arched railway bridge above a field of flowers in which children play Ring-A-Ring-O’-Rosie. This mural is on the Barrack Street side of St Mary’s Primary School (web).
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09296 T09295 T09294
The Irish men’s soccer team is scheduled to play Israel in the Nations’ League, on September 27th and – at home – on October 4th, 2026. A campaign was launched to “Stop the game” in Dublin as a form of protest and disengagement, most prominently in the form of an open letter (instagram) sent to the FAI signed by footballers and various musicians.
The FAI instead appealed to UEFA to have the game played behind closed doors in a neutral country, saying that while it was “deeply conscious” of the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, it did not want to forfeit the points or be disqualified from the competition (FAI).
The large tarp shown above has been added (on June 18th) on top of the long Painting For Palestine mural on Divis Street.
The various placards reading “No to hate”, “Fight racism”, and “Yes to all!” were added last week (June 17th) in response to the rioting in east Belfast and elsewhere – see McMaster Street Remembers. (These additions are reminiscent of the ‘Free Marian Price’ additions in 2013 – see Scaoıl Saor Marian Price in the Peter Moloney Collection.)
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09298 T09299
T09297 T09300 T09301
McMaster and Lendrick streets – part of a conservation site of Victorian terraced houses (Dept For Communities) – were the epicentre of last week’s anti-immigration riots, with cars and houses in the street set ablaze and families evacuated to safety by the security forces (BBC video).
Also in the street: An Act Of Betrayal (about the Sea Border) and (before that, c. 2010) Young Newtown UDA.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09293
“Lest we forget.” JP Beadle’s painting “Battle Of The Somme: Attack Of The Ulster Division” shows soldiers of the 36th Division bravely going to their death on July 1st, 1916. The original painting hangs in Belfast City Hall (militaryprints.com). In the board shown here, a foreground of poppies has been added, along with the Ulster Tower in Thiepval, France, on the right.
Grange Drive, Ballyclare
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09288 T09289 T09287
A “living mural” on and around the wall around the Ark Housing (web) in Millisle, Co Down, was announced in the summer of 2025 (Newtownards Chronicle), with art by Blaze FX (ig) to be complemented by planters. By March, 2026, only background colours and various line-drawings of wildlife had been completed – see the images towards the bottom of the page – but now the whole the colours and details have been added.
With support from the Millisle And District Community Association (Fb) and Ulster Wildlife (Fb).
Ballymacruise Drive, Millisle
March 20th, 2026:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09266 T09265 [T09267] T09268 T09269
T09264 T09263 T09262 T09270
in-progress: T08653 [T08654] T08655 T08656 T08657 T08658 [T08659] T08660
“Come for the music … stay for the craic.” Alana McDowell (ig) and Ana Fish (web) have been working in the city centre, converting the permanently closed (since 2012) shutters of JJB Sports, as well as the shutters of Jean Millar Bridal, into a tribute to Belfast’s music scene – see the ‘Music Matters’ plan in the entry on the UNESCO City Of Music mural – and the upcoming Fleadh Cheoıl from August 2nd to 9th (web).
Royal Avenue, replacing a number of pieces by Leo Boyd. The in-progress shots are from June 16th.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09454 [T09255]
[T09256] T09302
T09303 [T09257] T09258
T09304 [T09259] T09305 [T09260] T09261
T09306
The association of lions with the English monarchy goes back to Henry II and his sons Richard (“the lionheart”) and John (WP). Why they were represented by lions is unclear; it perhaps stems from the prominence of lions in the Bible and the Lion Of Judah from Genesis 49:9.
These lions, somehow carrying Union Flags, are in Lord Street at Lord Street Mews, east Belfast
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09233 T09234 T09235 T09236 T09237
“1st south Belfast LSC [Fb] remembers. Lest we forget.” “To the glory of God and in honourable memory of the former players from Linfield Football Club who laid down the glory of their youth upon the altar of freedom during the Great War of 1914 – 1918.
The main part of this new board in the Village shows the Linfield memorial at Bertrancourt, France. The memorial was unveiled in 2022 (BBC). The BBC article explains the reference to “Rifleman Walker” in the poem by Johnny Jamison at the centre of the memorial: Walker had been a Linfield player before joining the Royal Irish Rifles and dying on May 6th, 1916. Jamison recites his poem in this Fb video. In the background is the familiar Ulster Tower.
Broadway, the Village, south Belfast. For the small boards above, see Village Team On Tour and I Would Rather Be An Ulsterman.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09251 T09253 T09254 T09252
A memorial service was held at the Times Bar on Friday (June 5th) (News Letter) to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the attack on the Times Bar in 1976, in which Edward McMurray and Robert Groves were killed by a republican bomb. (An image of the bombed bar can be found on Xitter.)
Three plaques were added to the memorial garden where the service took place, to William Haddock, James Smyth, and William Flynn. (Compare to 2019.)
As the images from May 10th, below, show, a painted mural was originally planned for the spot.
May 10th:
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09220 [T09221] T09223 T09222
T09081 T09082
T09224 T09225 T09226
The colours of the third (Carrickfergus) battalion of the Central Antrim regiment of the Ulster Volunteers can be seen at Sam’s Flags. They are very similar to the piece shown above, except for the addition of the emblem in the top right corner (close-up immediately below) which shows the Ulster Volunteers drilling with a machine-gun mounted in a car, preparing to resist Home Rule – see this 1988 mural and the photograph in this History Ireland article. (See also UVF Motor Car Corps.) In the Royal Irish Rifles of WWI, however, Central Antrim became the 12th battalion (War Time Memories Project).
Next to the Central Antrim flag is a board marking the “110th anniversary of the Battle Of The Somme 1 July 1916 – 1 July 2026. Honouring their courage, remembering their sacrifice. Lest we forget.”
Hawthorn Avenue/Sandes Court, Sunnylands, Carrickfergus, replacing Remembering Our Fallen.
Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Paddy Duffy
T09217 T09218 T09216
T09219
Paddy Duffy Collection 