Author: Extramural Activity

The Famous

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Sons Of Kai flute band (ig) re-formed in 2006 (youtube | Coin Talk) but here claims as its origin date “1972”. IWM gives the founding year as 1970, and quotes one of the founders, Bo Kerr, saying that the band was named after Danish soccer player Kai Johansen (WP), who played for Rangers from 1965-1970, and that the “tartan” gang (History Ireland) ‘Rathcoole KAI’ subsequently took its named from the band. Then (BelTel) and now (Irish News | Slugger) “KAI” is understood to stand for “Kill All Irish”. A 1982 image of the Rathcoole KAI “red devils” mural can be seen in the Ciaran McGowan collection at IWM.

[2024 update: the band’s foundation story is told in more detail in Kai Johansen’s Bar.]

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On The Occasion Of Her Platinum Jubilee

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“The people of Rathcoole send their sincere and heartfelt congratulations to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the historic occasion of Her Platinum Jubilee.” The Monday at the end of May is usually a bank holiday in the UK, but this year it is being postponed until the end of the week and combined with an additional one to create a four-day weekend beginning this Thursday in celebration of the 70th (“platinum”) anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth on February 6th, 1952 (the coronation was on June 2nd, 1953).

The mural centrally shows an official portrait from 1992, wearing the orders of George VI and George V; the four medallions show Elizabeth at her birth, her coronation, “trooping the colour” on her birthday, and 70th wedding anniversary in 2017.

With support from RATH (Rathcoole Achieving, Transforming, Helping each other) and Dalaradia (web). For another Dalaradia board in Rathcoole, see Kingdom Of The Pretani ; for a Cuchulainn version of the Dalaradia board, see Defending Ulster From Gaelic Attacks.

See previously: Rathcoole UDA celebrate the golden jubilee.

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Remember Your Neighbourhood

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“A scramble for the window seat/Steam curls as the whistle blows/Clickety clack train on track.//Remember your neighbourhood in the late afternoon sun/The district was a different place then/All you owned was a box full of toys and a smile on your face.”

The York Road railway station was a few minutes’ walk below Ritchie Street – site of this mural and community garden – until it closed in 1992. The original line was to Ballymena and then Coleraine and London-/Derry, with service to Carrick and Larne added later. It was badly damaged in WWII and its final demise came with the opening of Belfast Central in 1976 (WP). It was replaced with Yorkgate in 1992 which no longer serves as a terminus (WP), but the line still runs along behind the end of the streets along York Road and the Grove area of the Shore Road.

Ritchie Street, Belfast

Previously in Ritchie St: Union Flag

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A Tale Of Two Protests

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While 17,000 people in red t-shirts – many of them young (see image below) – were marching for an Irish Language Act (Acht Gaeılge) (BBC | Belfast Live | BelTel | youtube video | organised by An Dream Dearg tw), a dozen grey-hairs were outside city hall protesting the 2022 meeting of the World Economic Forum (which ends tomorrow in Davos). Among the … hypotheses … presented: “Zi great rezet needs war” (a German-ised – and thus more sinister – version of The Great Reset (WEF video); “Pfizer knew their vaccine would kill” (a headline from The Light newspaper); a cashless society will mean a social credit score; devices on the internet of things will be hooked up to a “5G monitoring system”; UBI is “Austerity”; an end to privately-owned businesses; an end to single-family homes; a global government, currency, central bank, and military; an end to all privately-owned property (more threateningly put as “You will own nothing and you will be happy” (meme) at the barrel of a gun).

Today’s post is bookended by two images of the emblem of An Dream Dearg – a white ring or fáınne on a red background – flying over the top of the ‘Rock and on Slıabh Dubh.

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Evoke

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In sequence, here is the east side of Kent Street, below Union Street. This wall begins with emic’s 3-D hands and then the new (HTN22) pieces begin: Claire Provoust (ig), Holly Pereira (ig), DMC, ADW (ig) (this piece was featured previously in Spring Into Art), Det + Mash, Omin + Oner + Kone, Vents (below Biggie Smalls in Only Love Can Save Us). The Codo piece from last year is still on the shutters at the end (see Before An Audience).

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Vagabonds Of The Western World | Red Heads | The Children Of Gear | A Burning World | Love, Loss, And Beyond.

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Love, Loss, And Beyond

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Here is the HTN22 street art and writing along Union Street, Belfast, west of Kent Street, in sequence from east to west. The pieces are by Nial.OL (ig), JMK (ig), Kenz (ig) (whose piece is entitled ‘Love, Loss, And Beyond’), KMG (ig), Inkie (ig), Aches (ig), and Homer Simpson with Garfield legs by Bust (ig) whose large piece can also be seen, in the background of the third image (and was featured previously in Belfast Or Bust).

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Vagabonds Of The Western World | Red Heads | The Children Of Gear | Evoke | A Burning World.

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A Burning World

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Here, in sequence, are the HTN22 pieces on Union Street to the east of Kent Street, with work by Razer (ig) (reproducing a Judah Passow photograph from Divis flats), NOYS (ig), Irony (ig), KVLR (ig), Lobster Robin (ig), Friz (ig), Shane Ha (ig), and Ink Fun (ig). ADW’s 2016 piece Keep Her Lit completes the wall.

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Vagabonds Of The Western World | Red Heads | The Children Of Gear | Evoke | Love, Loss, And Beyond.

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Red Heads

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Here, in sequence, are the HTN22 pieces on the west side of Kent Street, above the gates into the construction site: unicorns from Zurdie (ig), Not Pop (ig), ‘Hope Never Dies’ from Glen Molloy (ig), sushi from Zippy (ig), FGB (ig), ‘The Belle Of Belfast City’ from Alana McDowell (ig), Leo Boyd (ig), Codo (ig).

The Lyra McKee tribute (If You Listen Very Carefully, You Can Hear Her Breathe) completes this side of the wall.

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Vagabonds Of The Western World | The Children Of Gear | A Burning World | Evoke | Love, Loss, And Beyond.

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Vagabonds Of The Western World

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Hit The North (organised by Seedhead Arts and sponsored by Hennessy) brings street artists from around the world to Belfast. All of today’s images – which show the lower west side of Kent Street – are by artists from Ireland, north and south – with work by KloWi (ig), Conor McClure (ig) who has painted Phil Lynott, NRMN (Gerry Norman ig), HM Constance (ig), Kilian (ig) who has painted UK chancellor Rishi Sunak saying “Give me all your money, punk”, Liam Gillick‘s quote “How can quantum gravity explain the origin of the universe?” (previously in lower Ormeau) by Laura Nelson (ig), Kerrie Hanna (ig), and All The Doodz (ig).

For other walls painted during this year’s HTN, see Red Heads | The Children Of Gear | Evoke | A Burning World | Love, Loss, And Beyond.

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