The official title of this piece is ‘The Estate With Love In It’ (Love Ballymena) but the figure at the centre of it appears to be heading toward some faraway land. Nonetheless, efforts are being made by the proud residents (Fb group) to improve the estate, compared to conditions a decade ago – see the short film from 2013 at Poverty & Social Exclusion.
The work is by Carly Wright (web) and Sam McAleese – who also did Beacon Of Hope in the town’s Ballykeel estate, and a piece in Belfast for HTN 2023 – in September 2023, with support from the Doury Road Development Group (Fb) and the Housing Executive.
A statue to WWII hero Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne (1915-1955) stands in Conway Square, in front of the Newtownards town hall and close to the “Colonel Paddy” café (final image); the family grave is in Movilla Abbey. He is featured in the nearby mural at Russell & Co solicitors and there was previously a mural in his honour in the Movilla area of the town.
The plaque at the base of the statue reads: “Lt Colonel Robert Blair “Paddy” Mayne was born in Newtownards and attended Regent House Grammar School. From an early age his talent on the rugby field was apparent, with successes playing for his school, his country and the British Lions. Blair Mayne is, however, remembered principally for his military prowess. He first served with the Office Training Corps at Queen’s University Belfast where he was studying law. However, his military career began in earnest in 1939 when he obtained a commission in the Royal Artillery. He went on to serve with the Royal Ulster Rifles, the Cameronians and the newly formed 11th Scottish Commando with which, in 1941, he first saw action at the Litiani River in Syria [WP] and was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery. The offer from Colonel David Stirling to join “L” Detachment of the newly formed Special Air Services followed and it was on a subsequent raid in the North African desert that he gained the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Later acts of outstanding bravery in Sicily, France and North Western Europe added three bars to his DSO and his regiment ended the war in Norway assisting with the surrender of German forces there. Lt Colonel Maybe was also honoured by the French and Belgian nations when he was awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d’Honneur (with palme). Following the war Blair Mayne continued to practice law and was appointed Secretary of the Law Society, although due to injuries sustained in combat he was unable to resume his rugby career. He died in a car accident in Newtownards on 10th December 1955. His funeral was the largest ever witnesses in the town and was attended by senior military figures and other dignitaries. At his graveside his former padre said: “The gift of leadership and the ability to inspire complete devotion and loyalty were his to an exceptional degree.” Blair Mayne is buried in the family play in Movilla Cemetery, Newtownards. This statue was erected by Ards Borough Council and funded by public subscription with assistance of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s National Lottery Fund.”
Donaghadee harbour celebrated the bicentennial of its construction (which took from 1821-1834) with a mural towards the bottom of Manor Street. From left to right, we can see the “motte” or “moat”, an Anglo-Norman motte-and-bailey castle from the 1100s; the lifeboat (behind the crew) is the Sir Samuel Kelly, named for a hero of the Princess Victoria sinking in 1953 (Historic UK) – the station was established in 1910; the Copeland Islands and holiday-makers; Tom Blower, who left from Donaghadee to swim the North Channel in 1947; Bobby Simpson hiring out row-boats below the lighthouse, which was built in 1836.
Planning for a statue in honour of blues guitarist Rory Gallagher goes back to 2016 (BBC) and the project finally came to fruition this month, January 2025. The sculpture repays the devotion that Gallagher showed Belfast during the Troubles, playing there at least once a year. The sculpture is entitled “On the boards” after the second album by the band Taste, released in 1970, the same year in which Gallagher left the band to pursue a solo career. The photograph that inspired the sculpture – of Gallagher on stage at the Ulster Hall – appeared on the cover of Melody Maker in 1972. (WP)
The statue was produced by Anto Brennan (web), Jessica Checkley (web) and David O’Brien (web) and can be seen in Bedford Street, outside the Ulster Hall. There is also a statue of Gallagher in Ballyshannon, where he was born.
A kraken awakes in Belfast harbour, under the watchful eyes of working-class men on the waterfront in Belfast’s Sailortown, in front of local landmarks.
This pair of Sandy Row murals will this year celebrate their 35th anniversary, being two of the three painted in the street in 1990 for the 300th anniversary of the Battle Of The Boyne. For the murals in the year of their creation, see M00823 and M00826.
Above is the crest of the city of Londonderry – the siege ended in 1690; below is the crest of the Young Citizen Volunteers, the part-time territorial force for young adults established in 1912, which became the 14th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and part of the 36th (Ulster) Division in WWI.
The Ulster First Flute mural in Linfield Road will be twenty-eight years old this year (2025). There is an image in the Collection from 1998 and images in the other collections from 1997, 2009, and 2018. The band formed in 1996, according to its Fb page, though at the bottom the text reads “Est. 1997”.
The festive atmosphere depicted along the bottom of the Pride Of Ballybeen flute band’s new mural, with people clapping and waving and doing cartwheels as the parade passes by, is in contrast with the regimental emblems in the upper part of the mural: we see (on the left-hand side; first close-up below) the Highlanders (“Cuidich’n Righ” is Scots Gaelic for “Help the king”) and the Irish Guards (motto “quis separabit”; 1783 is the year the Order Of St Patrick was created), and (right-hand side, second close-up below), the Royal Irish Regiment and the Logistics Corp (motto “Honi soit qui mal y pense“). These are perhaps regiments in which band-members serve or have served; the band does not have a (public) internet presence.
This entry updates (with close-ups) the image seen in 2022’s Luminaries And Legends Of Eastside which showed (from afar) the ‘famous faces’ mural at Connswater/CS Lewis Square in east Belfast with a large “smiley” face over DJ David Holmes – a (presumably) unauthorised addition to the 2017 original. Word is that Holmes’s image was painted over because he is not from east Belfast. It’s not clear (from on-line sources) where exactly in Belfast Holmes is from; he lived in Los Angeles, California, for a time before returning c. 2014 (Irish Times).
(MaskerAid is an app that allows one to cover faces in photos with smiley-faces and other emoji.)
Storm Darragh originally took only the top third off the UVF “Prepared for peace, ready for war” mural in Mount Vernon (see Taken By Storm) but the entire wall was subsequently demolished – as shown in these images – due to concerns about its safety. The Sunday World reports that residents in the estate do not want the mural to be repainted; the wall is/was NIHE property (pdf).
Paddy Duffy Collection 