“In honour of the men and women from Ballyclare and surrounding areas who gave their life in war. ‘They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them’. Lest we forget.” With emblems of the Royal British Legion (left), Navy and Merchant Navy (right), and a separate stone for the UDR “When danger threatened, some made the supreme sacrifice”.
The main obelisk is dedicated “in the honoured memory of those men from Ballyclare & District who gave their lives for King and country in the Great War 1914-1918, 1939-1945. ‘Look not on this in sorrow but in pride and may ye live as nobly as they died.”
The remaining image shows the info board describing two aeroplane crashes around Big Collin Mountain, in which eleven airmen died while on training flights, one the result of an engine fire, the other crashed into the side of the mountain.
Ballyclare War Memorial Park, Ballyclare Road, Ballyclare. There are also separate murals in Erskine Park to the locals who died in WWI and in WWII.
These are images from loyal Ballyclare of goods for sale in the shops along Main Street, including “flegs” and slates commemorative of the coronation of Charles III.
The Shankill Memorial Garden next to West Kirk Presbyterian is home to memorials to WWI (see Who Went To War And Never Returned) and the Shankill Bombing (see In The Shadow Of Death) . It has also become the site of many small memorials to local people, including volunteers in the UVF. For “S Company” see S Company, C Company.
That is, king or queen “by the grace of God” or divine right. The first UK monarch to use the phrase was Henry V in the early 1400s and it has been used as a royal motto since then, up to and including the present-day monarchs shown on this board in the Caw, Londonderry.
On the left, the past – Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; in the centre, the present – His Majesty King Charles III; on the right, the future – William Prince Of Wales, Baron Of [sic] Carrickfergus.
The Welsh dragon is included alongside the three flags/crests that make up the Union Flag – St George’s Cross for England, St Andrew’s Saltire for Scotland, and St Patrick’s Saltire for Ireland.
“This memorial was unveiled by The Worshipful The Mayor, Councillor Jim Montgomery [tw], in memory of those from Antrim and Newtownabbey who list their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic. May 2021. Always remembered.” According to the COVID dashboard for NI (NISRA), deaths did plateau in the spring and summer of 2021 – perhaps explaining the timing of the plaque above – before increasing again in the autumn. As of May 5th, 2023, 5,283 deaths in NI were attributable to COVID-19, including 463 in the Antrim & Newtownabbey borough area.
“God save the King.” When Charles acceded to the monarchy last September upon the death of Elizabeth II, he also became head of the Church Of England. Among the first oaths he took as king was one to preserve the Church Of Scotland, which is Presbyerian rather than Anglican. There does not appear to be any oath relating specifically to any denomination in Ireland, and so the Shankill mural above borrows from the Church Of Scotland oath. It stops short of the references to Scotland:
“I, Charles the Third, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of my other Realms and Territories, King, Defender of the Faith, do faithfully promise and swear that I should inviolably maintain and preserve the Settlement of the true Protestant religion …” [… as established by the Laws made in Scotland in prosecution of the Claim of Right and particularly by an Act intituled “An Act for securing the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government” and by the Acts passed in the Parliament of both Kingdoms for Union of the two Kingdoms, together with the Government, Worship, Discipline, Rights and Privileges of the Church of Scotland.] (Royal UK)
At the coronation, Charles swore an oath similar to the above, but referring to the Church Of England, and swore that he was a faithful Protestant (Country Life).
Art by Danny Rumbl (ig), HMConstance (ig), KMG (ig), Zippy (ig), Codo (ig), and various writers on the Cupar Way “peace” line, on top of pieces from last year by Bust, Lobster, and others – New Levels, Same Devils.
Here are three new pieces above the security gates on Northumberland Street, covering over the “Deserted! Well, We Can Stand Alone” graffiti in the last remaining spot on the wall without a mural. From left to right:
Arthur Guinness: “Black Protestant Porter” as a description of Guinness stems from Arthur Guinness’s opposition to the 1798 rebellion (Indo). The Union Star (newspaper in Belfast – A Planet Of Light And Heat) called Guinness a spy and advised that “United Irishmen will be cautious of dealing with any publican who sells his drink.” (An Phoblacht).
Gusty Spence, a former commander of the UVF, read out the ceasefire statement of the “Combined Loyalist Military Command” (UVF, RHC, and UDA): “Let us firmly resolve to respect our different views of freedom, culture and aspiration and never again permit our political circumstances to degenerate into bloody warfare – Gusty Spence, loyalist ceasefire [statement in full], 13 October, 1994.”
“Welcome To The Shankill Road – we are proud, resilient, welcoming”: The original ‘three hands’ was on Northumberland Street, just above this spot – see Proud, Defiant, Welcoming – which was then reproduced in reduced form in Gardiner Street – see Welcome To The Shankill Road.
This is the most conciliatory statement ever made by loyalism and the decision to put it on Northumberland Street, especially in the context of the internationally famous and associated-with-Ireland Guinness and the “welcome” mural, suggests that the trio is directed at tourists rather than locals.
“Some believe it is only high walls that can hold fear in check but that is not what I have found. I have found that it is the small, everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay, small acts of kindness and love – Gandalf and me [called_to_create_ (ig)].” The quote is from the movie of ‘The Hobbit – An Unexpected Journey’ (youtube) and not any Tolkein book. Whatever the truth of the quotation, residents generally want the so-called “peace” walls to remain: 2023 BelTel (about Derry) | 2019 Irish Times | 2015 BBC.
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 