It would seem that the mural being painted in the top panel was in Clarence Place? (Inferred from this first-person account of life in The Fountain from the Londonderry Sentinel. (Add a comment if you can confirm/refute this.)
The mural of the Mountjoy, taking part in the Breaking of the Boom that ended the Siege of Derry in 1689, has seen better days, in part because of the replacement of the original two-line street sign with a modern single-line one which does not fit into the mural.
The Irish went to America, the pigs went to England. “Beware! Pigs Crossing. Bacon curing was one of the city’s oldest industries. People fattened pigs in their back yard. The women delivered them to the factories close to the quays in case their men spent the pig money on drink on the way home.”
One of loyalism’s most famous muraling icons – paradoxically of the peace-time era – is Eddie The Trooper. This one is in the Waterside’s Ebrington Terrace, Londonderry. For others in other locations, see Eddie’s Visual History page.
The first part of the words above the board come from the last paragraph of this WWI order: “There must be no retirement. With our backs to the wall and believing in the justice of our cause each one of us must fight on to the end”.
The last sentence of Haig’s order is not included; instead we here have “We determine the guilty. We decide the punishment.” which appears to be the motto of a “fantasy tabletop war game” Warhammer 40,000.
The image is a 1997 (according to Peter Moloney) replica, with additions, of a 1983 Iron Maiden cover (WP). This character, “Eddie”, was featured in much of Iron Maiden’s artwork. The two images below show a close-up of Eddie, now sporting a UFF badge on his shoulder, and of the victim on the left, now wearing a distinctively gold coloured epaulette to go with his green uniform and white sash.
The board was painted by a group called ‘Attitude Artwork’, made up of Dee Logan, Mark Logan, and Marty Edwards (CAIN). In an interview with the BBC, Marty Edwards said, “I work for Attitude Mural Artists. We’re based in the Waterside, Londonderry and we paint predominantly Protestant paintings. We would usually paint paramilitary paintings for UDA people, UVF people in their own estates. You know, sort of to mark their territory bounds like, you know, stuff like that. Usually we’re left to our own devices, to come up with something that’s really intimidating, will antagonise Catholics. But this project I’ve been involved with two groups from both sides of the community, four schools. … ” (BBC)
The Covenant and Somme boards originally on the corner of Barrington Gardens before demolition (see July 1st) have been mounted together on a metal frame inside the security gates.
“Born in Moltke Street, Belfast, on 29 March 1935. A child singer who became one of the most popular stars in the 1950s. Her first single reached the Top 3 in 1954 followed by her No 1 hit ‘Softly, Softly’. In 1955 she had five singles in the Top 20 at the same time, an extraordinary record that lasted until the emergence of Madonna in the 1980s. She had her own television show, starred many times at the London Palladium including a Royal Command Performance. She toured worldwide and was performing up to her death on 17th December, 1996” ‘Softly, softly, come to me/Touch my lips so tenderly/Softly, softly, turn the key/And open up my heart.’ (youtube).
A “British And Proud” banner currently flies adjacent to the board at the bottom of Sandy Row celebrating the (Dutch) William of Orange (or “King Billy” as he is more commonly referred to) (WP) and his “Danish, English, Dutch, French Huguenots, Prussian, Scots, Irish, Swiss, Polish, Italian, Norwegian” forces. The mural was launched July 2nd, 2016, and was painted by artist Ross Wilson (Tele). A time-lapse video of the painting-over of the previous mural and the installation of the various pieces is available on Youtube.
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 