Dozens of boards to local soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division (by the 2016 Committee) have been added to the Mount Vernon memorial garden to the soldiers of the Great War (the mural) and contemporary UVF volunteers (the garden). For the mural, memorial stones, and outside plaque, see At Home And On The Mainland.
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The Milltown bonfire will be lit tonight during “11th night” celebrations. It’s not clear if the teddy-bear who was on guard last week goes with it.
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The Pride Of Ballymacash flute band, formed in 2011 from the Pride Of Prince William (bottom left) and Ballymacash Young Conquerors (bottom right), uses the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division, in the centre of the mural. In the background on the left is the Thiepval Memorial and, on the right, the UDR memorial statue in Market Square, Lisburn. To the left (in the second image) is a UDA plaque “In memory of fallen comrades Ballymacash B coy D battaltion, South Belfast Brigade. Quis separabit.” For a close-up of the memorial on the ground, see Death & Life.
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The bonfire in Ballymacash, Lisburn, is big and getting bigger in recent years, and generating some controversy (e.g. 2015 BelTel | 2017 BelTel) which is perhaps the reason for the “No shooting – police notified” sign in the final image. This year is no exception, as today’s images make clear. The third shows that the pyre can be seen over the tops of the houses. Here is drone footage of the 2017 bonfire.
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The skull-and-crossbones is the emblem of the Ballymacash Young Conquerors, which merged with the Pride Of Prince William in 2011 to form the Pride Of Ballymacash. (Fb) The symbol is a potent one, however, and still used by the new band in addition to its own. In the mural in its memorial garden, it is surrounded by poppies, thistles, and orange lilies. If you know the name of the young man in the memorial display (second image), please comment/get in touch.
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Ballymacash estate, now part of Lisburn, was once a village around the location of Drayne’s Farm, with a school at the junction of Glenavy, Brokerstown, Ballymacash, and Nettlehill roads. Lisburn.com has a history of the area. Today it is famous for its enormous 11th night bonfire (see Ballymacash Bonfire, as well as Skull & Crossbones | Death & Life).
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The skull and crossbones was the emblem of the Ballymacash Young Conquerors flute band in Lisburn, and it is still used by members of the new band, the Pride Of Ballymacash (Fb).
For close-ups of the bonfire in the background of the second image, see Ballymacash Bonfire.
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A “hard Brexit” would involve the UK leaving the European Union and the European Economic Area. For Northern Ireland, that would mean (at least) customs checks at the border with the Republic. Politicians on all sides are concerned about what that might mean for the peace, but the split is encouraged by the board above on the “sports zone” next to the Mount Inn on North Queen Street, Belfast. The Navy and RAF ensigns perhaps suggest how the UK’s borders are to be secured.
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“This is what a so called united Ireland would look like” – attacks on pro-Israeli murals in interface areas (in this case, Beverley Street, between the Shankill and the Falls.) This is the latest attack on the Patterson mural just off Northumberland Street (the Battle Of Britain mural was also damaged – Irish News). The mural was previously defaced, also by burning, in June 2016 (not 2017 as on the mural) – see Where Is The Reconciliation? – and graffitied in March 2017 (BBC-NI). The title of the post is part of the line at the bottom, from Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the burial of Patterson’s ashes in 2014.
For the original posts on the mural, see Godfather Of The Israeli Army and Operation Lion.
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“In loving memory of Taughmonagh residents Brian McMillan, Alan ‘Rocky’ Meehan, Dennis Berrty (Sgt UDA), Thomas Vance (2 Para), Thomas Douglas. Murdered by cowards during the conflict in Northern Ireland. Those we love don’t go away, they walk beside us every day.”
McMillan and Meehan were civilians shot along with TA staff sergeant (and English Catholic) Joseph Flemming on July 9th, 1972.
Dennis Berry was shot by the UVF after leaving the UDA social club in Taughmonagh. According to Lost lives, “Reliable loyalist sources said the shooting was the result of a personal row rather than having any political or organisational basis.” (p. 441)
Thomas Vance died in the IRA’s 1979 ambush of the British Army at Narrow Water Castle, near Warrenpoint (WP), on the same day that Louis Mounbatten was killed. (Republican mural in the Peter Moloney Collection.)
Thomas Douglas was shot while walking along the street. His family denied he was a leading loyalist and simply a member of the Orange Order (CAIN | Fb).
This plaque has been added to the UDA memorial garden in Taughmonagh (at the corner of Finbank Gardens & Malfin Drive).
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 