PUL

Maradona Good, Pelé Better, George Best

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From the age of two-and-a-half George Best lived in Cregagh and played football on the pitch at the centre of the estate, where Cregagh Boys played their home games. After playing for Lisnasharragh Secondary he went to Manchester United at age fifteen – in 1961 – and from there to international stardom. When he died in 2005, he was remembered in the estate by a mural (that replaced a UFF mural). It stood for about ten years and now been updated with the mural shown in today’s images, along with the family home that has been returned to a 1960’s appearance – complete with George Best memorabilia – and is available to rent on AirBnb. The home and playing fields are also the starting part of the George Best Trail.

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For The Football

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Before he died (in 2005), George Best asked that people “remember me for my football” and the phrase became the title of a Best retrospective. It is also inspired the life-size title of the statue of created by Tony Currie and funded by fans (Belfast Live) in front of Windsor Park (and the Glen Molly (ig) mural in Hill Street). When it was launched, the statue drew criticism for not looking like its subject (BBC | Newsletter). Soccer star sculptures are perhaps hard to do: here’s a list of ten questionable statues of soccer stars, including Maradona in Kolkata (Guardian) and Ronaldo in Madeira (BBC), but missing Mo Salah in Sharm al-Sheikh (BBC).

For an awkward painting of Best, see The Best A Man Can Get in Newtownards.

See also the new Best mural in Cregagh: Maradona Good, Pelé Better, George Best

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Somme Memorial Cross

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The ‘bend in the road’ (Crumlin Road, just before Ligoniel) is the site of the Somme Memorial Cross. It’s not clear who erected or maintains it and indeed the Union flag flying behind it has been reduced to a stump.

A little further up the road, a new ‘cultural hub’ has been proposed for the site of the old Ligoniel Orange hall (Belfast Live) which was destroyed in a fire in 2000 (BBC).

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This Bare And Tortured Land

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The ‘bare and tortured land’ is Messines (now Mesen) in West Flanders, Belgium, where approximately 25,000 soldiers on both sides were killed or injured at the start of June, 1917, as Allied forces retook the ridge between Messines and Wytschaete.

The central figure is the 1922 bronze statue in Winchester, England, by John Tweed, depicting a soldier from the Kings Royal Rifle Corps, which does not appear to have fought at Messines, though both the 36th (Ulster) and 16th (Irish) divisions were there (WP) and this is the reason for a number of Messines murals that have been painted in recent years: see Messines 1917 and Brothers In Arms in Newtownards | Comrades In Arms in Londonderry. During the battle, Sopwith Pups (biplanes – the triplane was used by naval squadrons (Military History)) were ordered to fly low and strafe enemy targets (Key Aero | FirstWorldWar | Vintage Aviator).

The poetry – “When you and I are buried/With grasses overhead/The memory of our fights will stand/Above this bare and tortured land/We knew ere we were dead.” – appears to be original.

There is a “No ball games allowed” notice on the left-hand side.

By Dee Craig in Wellington Green, Larne

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The Dress Is Yellow And Black

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“Geraldine Connon [web] – Geraldine is a well renowned fashion designer based in Larne. She has created this piece inspired by the Games of Thrones and Larne’s Ulster Scots Heritage. Geraldine used Irish linen in the tasel [sic], mesh within the helmet, and created the neck cuff from black feathers representing a crow. Crows are iconic in the TV series. The yellow and black tartan skirt brings in the Ulster Scots element to the piece. The image was photographed by fashion photographer Mitchell Cahoon [ig].”

The official name of the outfit is “Valentine”. This is another of the Game Of Thrones-inspired pieces in Larne town centre – Lower Quay St in this case – sponsored by the Mid & East Antrim Council, with Larne Renovation Generation (Fb) and the Traders Forum (BelTel | News Desk | Fb video). See previously: Larne – The Original Tourist Resort | The Battle Of Ulfreksfjord | Dire Wolf.

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Play Spaces Should Be Safe Spaces

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“Factory Residents’ Rights – How could any play park be worse than this?” The playground in the Factory area of Larne (Ferris Park) was closed in early 2021 because the surface was deemed unsafe. The local residents held a protest in April aimed at getting the attention of Mid- & East-Antrim council (Fb) and in October the council voted to build a new park some time in 2022 or 2023 if funding is available (NI World). As of mid-February, 2022, the playground is still in disrepair but – as can be seen from these images – it is being used by children.

For the murals on the long wall in the background of the second image, see Ad Vera Petenda.

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The Loyalty Of Northern Ireland

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Two final pieces from Lower Waterloo Road, Larne: above, Winston Churchill, and below, Rangers. The Churchill quote comes from a letter to NI Prime Minister John Andrews when he stepped down in 1943. In full it reads “But for the loyalty of Northern Ireland [and its devotion to what has now become the cause of thirty Governments or nations,] we should have been confronted with slavery and death, and the light which now shines so strongly throughout the world would have been quenched.” Had the board been been erected more recently, it might have quoted another line from the letter: “During your Premiership the bonds of affection between Great Britain and the people of Northern Ireland have been tempered by fire, and are now, I firmly believe, unbreakable.”

Below is Walter Smith, two-time manager of Rangers, who died in 2021. See The Gaffer.

This post completes the set from Lower Waterloo Road in Larne – the wide shot shows Mephedrone to the far left; then Rangers, Duke Of Edinburgh, NI Centenary, and Churchill; Women Are A Whole Community is out of shot to the right.


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Is Your Home Worth Fighting For?

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“… It will be too late to fight when the enemy is at your door.” In 1914, at the time of the Larne gun-running – see the mural in the second image and (previously) Amazing Night At Larne – the enemy was the threat of Home Rule and its enforcement by British Army forces and RIC that would remain under British control for at least three years after the commencement of home rule (Home Rule And Ulster’s Resistance p. 9). A bill to amend home rule by excluding some or all of the Ulster counties was introduced in July, 1914 (WP), but both Home Rule and the amendment were put aside when the Great War began; the enemy of Unionists then became the Central Powers. The contemporary enemy is the NI Protocol and Brexit, with the powers in Westminster again suggesting a separation of Britain and (Northern) Ireland.

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The Central Antrim Regiment

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As this plaque in the Factory area of Larne indicates, the 2nd battalion of the Central Antrim regiment (of the Antrim division) of the Ulster Volunteers was drawn from Larne. Edward Carson reviewed the entire regiment at Drumalis in Larne on July 11th, 1914, (here is a postcard depicting the review) where he was presented with the colours of the 2nd from a Lady Smiley of First Larne Presbyterian. (The colours of the 1st and 2nd battalions are included below; the colours of the 3rd (Carrickfergus) Battalion can be seen at Sam’s Flags.) In the Royal Irish Rifles of WWI, Central Antrim became the 12th battalion (War Time Memories Project); its members included Larne man Rifleman Robert King.

“The Clydevalley flute band [Fb] proudly remembers all who served in the [Antrim Division,] Central Antrim Regt, 2nd Larne Battalion, Ulster Volunteer Force. Lest we forget.”

The plaque is on the gun-running mural and next to a King Billy mural in Greenland Drive. Both murals were seen previously in 2016; see Amazing Night At Larne and Civil & Religious Liberty.

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The Battle Of Ulfreksfjord

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According to 13th century Icelandic historian Snorri Sturluson, The Battle Of Latharna (now Larne) took place in 1018 between Irish warriors and Orkney vikings at Larne Lough or “Ulfreksfjord” which name eventually became “Olderfleet”, to the south of the harbour.

This is the contribution of artist Kim Montgomery (web) to a Larne Council project to add art to the city centre (BelTel). See previously, Dawn Aston’s Dire Wolf.

Main St, Larne

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