25 Years – Completed

2013-02-28 Milltown+

March 2013 is the 25th anniversary of the Michael Stone’s attack on mourners attending the burials of the Gibraltar 3 in Milltown cemetery. Stone killed three people. The mural combines images of mourners taking shelter from Stone’s attack with the civil war memorial in Ballyseedy, Co. Kerry (WP) which was famously connected to the Gibraltar 3 in a mural prepared for the return of the coffins to Belfast – see A Legitimate Right To Take Up Arms. (Here is a copy of Tragedies In Kerry.) Images of the mural in progress were presented in a separate entry. (See that post for the photographs on which the mural is based.) The Gibraltar 3 are portrayed on the left; Stone’s victims are on the right. In the top right is an IRA volunteer who had been shot two days earlier, on the night that the coffins of the Gibraltar 3 arrived in Belfast.

25 years ago – 1988 – puts us firmly in the era of video, and so you can see footage on youtube relating to each of these events:

Death On The Rock, a famous Thames Television production about the SAS killings of IRA members Maıréad Farrell, Danny McCann and Seán Savage on March 6th in Gibraltar.

Michael Stone’s attack on mourners at their funerals in Milltown cemetery, March 16th, which killed Thomas McErlean, John Murray, and Caoımhín Mac Brádaıgh (Kevin Brady).

Kevin McCracken funeral, March 17th (died on March 14th) at which British Army corporals Wood and Howes were killed.

The memorial depicted in the background of the mural is a civil war memorial in Ballyseedy, Co. Kerry (WP) which was famously connected to the Gibraltar 3 in a mural prepared for the return of the coffins to Belfast – see A Legitimate Right To Take Up Arms. Here is a copy of Tragedies In Kerry.

These pieces replace the Relatives Action Committee mural, later with Marian Price poster.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00979 maıréad dan seán kevin thomas caoımhín john milltown gibraltar free marian price another victim of british justice ı ndíl [ndıl] chuımhne

Cultural Identity

2013-02-23 StMalachysParish+

“Saint Malachy’s G.A.C. is more than a club. It’s our club. To participate is to represent your community and an expression of your cultural identity.”

A mural celebrating Gaelic games in the parish of St. Malachy/Naomh Maolmhaodhóg, in the Markets area of Belfast. The parish church – featured in the top centre – has a celebrated fan-vaulted ceiling (WP). This mural, on the other hand, features a highly unusual bay window.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00972 established 1936 ar scáth a chéıle a mhaıreann na daoıne

Markets Social

In 2008 and 2009 artist Raymond Henshaw completed a series of cultural murals about the Markets area of Belfast. This one showcases the people of the Markets.

Two of the images – bottom right and two spots above it – show a street party to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Emmet in 1953. For a mural from that occasion (in Ardoyne) see Visual History 02.

There were six boards in total: Portraits | Social | Social History | Sport & Culture | Bars | Industry

Lower Stanfield St, Markets, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01550

Outreach

2013-02-10 Abercorn+

A partly commercial, partly political, mural on the Abercorn Bar, Abercorn Road, London-/Derry/Doire. The figures with outstretched hands are a copy of Maurice Harron’s ‘Hands of Peace’ statue, which is at the roundabout roughly 250m away (where the bridge in the picture lands on the city-side of the Foyle river; the location of the pub is up the hill to the left). He has made a great deal of other interesting work too – check out the video of him at work on his web site.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00942 you are now entering free derry doire ice cold harp

Knock Out

2013-02-05 DungivenMcCloskeys+

A commercial mural in Dún Geımhın/Dungiven promoting McCloskey’s newsagents and the Irish News by association with Derry (Gaelic) footballers (and a hurler in the background) and local boxers John Duddy (from Derry) and Paul McCloskey (WP) who was born in Dungiven (and is presumably related to the shop owners??).

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00928 newspaper of the year, john duddy on the up, paul mccloskey hits top form paddy heaney against the breeze tuesday

Kevin Lynch

02866 2015-08-26 LynchDungiven+

Mural to Kevin Lynch (WP) in Dún Geımhın/Dungiven. Lynch died after 71 days on hunger strike – the longest-surviving striker – in Long Kesh/the Maze prison.

The four black-and-white squares show (top left) Mary Nelis, Kathleen Deeny and Theresa Deery, protesting the arrests of their sons; (bottom left) the memorial to Lynch in nearby Park, where has was born; (top right) blanketmen Hugh Rooney and Freddie Toal; (bottom right) Lynch’s gravestone in Dungiven.

Along the bottom are the emblems of Kevin Lynch Memorial flute band (Fb), Kevin Lynch’s hurling club (“mısneach ‘s dílseacht”), and St Dympna’s football club, Luton (Fb).

2013-02-05 DungivenLynch+

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Copyright © 2013 Extramural Activity
X02866 X00927 kevin lynch 1956 1981 i’ll wear no convicts uniform nor meekly serve my time that Britain might brand Ireland’s fight 800 years of crime memorial flute band mısneach is dílseacht st. dympna’s gaelic football club my sister brother son is not a criminal

KevinLynch U16DerryHurling
Lynch raising the Under-16 County Derry hurling trophy.

Piece Process

2013-01-24 JigsawPieces+

Walk over the Albert Bridge onto the Short Strand and just before you turn into Mountpottinger Road on your left there is a little park known as ‘An Glas – The Green’; these jigsaw pieces can be seen there, hanging on the wire fencing facing out onto the main road. See the wide shot and text below for more about the project. Launched 2008-11 (BBC-NI).

2013-01-24 JigsawWide+

Frankie Quinn of the Red Barn Gallery has a a photograph of the two little boys in the bottom left of the board as adults. Also in the background (proceeding anti-clockwise) one can see MickeyMarley’s Roundabout and the old Scirocco Works factory, as well as the Harland & Wolff cranes Samson and Goliath, Belfast CityHall, and the wire sculpture next to the Waterfront.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00907 X00908 final piece to the jig-saw; this artwork came about by the working in partnership with a number of community groups schools and agencies namely the lower castlereagh community group short strand community forum beechfield primary school st. matthews primary conflect resolution consortium the core project northern ireland housing executive and the relations council; had the idea of an interface art project involving that are situation along the interface; also approached the artists for the project who are two east belfast artists; worked with the young people involved to come up with the idea as to what the artwork should look like with the end result being a picture taken of all the smiling and laughing together and then their eyes and moths taken out of the picuture and portrayed on the big pieces on the interface wall