James Magennis

2013-05-20 TullMagennis+

Victoria Cross recipient James Magennis was the only person from Northern Ireland awarded the VC for action during WWII (WP). Although the mural is in loyalist Tullycarnet, Magennis was a Catholic, born in west Belfast, though he later lived in Castlereagh.

A memorial to Magennis can be found in the grounds of City Hall (National Maritime Museum).

The mural replaces the Tullycarnet version of Eddie The Trooper (see Eddie’s Visual History page).

Previously: Edward Bingham, WWI VC recipient

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01106 Kings Road born 1919 died 1986 mcginnes

Many Did Not Return

2013-05-19 15thBatt+

This mural and memorial in Rathcoole commemorates soldiers from the north Belfast area who went to France in 1915 as part of the 15th (North Belfast) Royal Irish Rifles, and in particular the five whose faces appear in the apex of the mural: Magookin, La Harpur, Forrester, Baird and Templeton.

The information board is reproduced below.

2013-05-19 15thBattInfo+

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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On Her Their Lives Depend

2013-05-19 OnHerTheirLives+

Women Munition Workers during the First World War are celebrated in this 2011 mural on Inniscarn/Iniscarn Drive in Rathcoole. A ‘Canary Girl’ readies for work as a TNT shell maker. The term stems from the fact that TNT can turn the skin a yellow-orange colour.

The recruitment poster on which the mural is based is shown below. British Pathé has some footage of women working in a munitions factory, presumably in England somewhere. BBC has a page on a massive explosion at the Chilwell (Nottingham) factory. An image of workers amongst shells in 1915 can be seen at http://smnmcshannon.hubpages.com/.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Ulster Connection

2013-05-09 RangersConnection+

A mural in east Belfast listing local players who have played for Rangers, in Glasgow, Scotland. Featured in the centre is S. English, who scored 72 goals in 81 appearances, including 44 in the 1931-1932 season. Additional player plaques have been added since 2008, as well as the dedication in the lower right corner: “In memory of Moses McNeill, a teenage boy of Ulster-Scots stock & his brothers and friends who in 1872 formed a football team in Glasgow that today is known around the world as the Rangers Football Club “.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01089 we are the people in memory of moses mcneil a teenage boy of ulster-scots stock & his brothers and friends who in 1872 formed a football team in Glasgow that today is known around the world as the rangers football club, 50 title

Volunteering

2013-05-05 TrekTheMournes+

Two of the UVF flags put up to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the formation of the UVF still flying (on May 5th) above the black-and-white UVF mural in Carrington Street at the junction with the Ravenhill Road. The flags were supposed to come down directly after the parade on April 20th (BBC-NI) but there is now confusion as to who is responsible for their removal.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01085 formation of the UVF east belfast battalion for god and ulster trek the stunning mourne mountains oxfam trailfrekker samson goliath masked