PUL

As Long As 100 Of Us Remain Alive

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Here is the UDA/UFF mural on the left-hand gable of “Freedom Corner”. The mural is a 2015 repaint of the previous mural, which had to be replaced when it disintegrated. (See Freedom Corner for speculation as to the cause.) At the time, there was some disappointment that it was not repainted in a non-paramilitaristic fashion but defenders described the mural as “historical” (Tele).

The mural shows a UDA-jacketed volunteer with assault rifle and a modified version of the Declaration of Arbroath: “For as long as one hundred of us remain alive we shall never in anyway consent to submit to the Irish for it’s not for glory, honour or riches we fight but for freedom alone which no man loses but with his life – U.D.A./U.F.F”

From left to right: For Freedom Alone | As Long As 100 Of Us Remain Alive | Loyalist East Belfast | The Strangest Victory In All History | Ulster’s Past Defenders | Nationality is included in Loyalist East Belfast | Ulster’s Present Defenders | Freedom Corner

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Their Name Liveth Forevermore

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In May we reported that the RHC mural in Hunt Street had been replaced by a Ballymacarrett Somme Society mural, though the side wall remained a memorial to C Coy RHC. Now the side wall has also been turned into a Somme memorial, with John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields and an image of the Cross of Sacrifice in front of the Thiepval memorial. The larger of the two plaques has been moved to the nearby RHC memorial garden.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Ulster’s Past Defenders

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The Ulster Special Constabulary or B-Specials existed from 1920 to 1970; it was disbanded after being used for riot control in The Battle Of The Bogside. The Ulster Defence Regiment (which was under military control and was, as the mural notes, the largest infantry in the British Army) existed from 1970 until 1992, when it was merged with the Royal Irish Rangers.

From left to right: For Freedom Alone | As Long As 100 Of Us Remain Alive | Loyalist East Belfast | The Strangest Victory In All History | Ulster’s Past Defenders | Nationality is included in Loyalist East Belfast | Ulster’s Present Defenders | Freedom Corner

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03942 UDR over 200 members were killed in the troubles 34 USC members were killed by the IRA painted by John Stewart

Taughmonagh Family Learning Centre

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Three images from the Taughmongh Family Learning Centre (run by Taughmonagh Community Forum) in Finwood Park of children from days gone by: the boys are playing football and girls are playing games in the street, in front of the old bungalows on the estate from the 1940s that were replaced in the 1980s. (For a small gallery of vintage images, see this BBC page.).

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Taughmonagh Remembers

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The bus turnaround at the entrance to Taughmonagh estate has been turned into a Somme Garden (see the third image, below). The “Welcome to Taughmonagh” sign at entrance has been covered over with a Union flag board with “Taughmonagh remembers” and the three figures in the sculpture in the middle have each been given a union jack cap.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03922 X03920 X03921 Taughmonagh heritage and culture society the bulbs for this somme garden were bought with donations by from the estate planted by the children to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle of the somme and in the morning we will remember them

The Duke Of Windsor

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Tommy Dickson ended his career (in 1965) with a partial season at Glentoran. Before that, however, he spent 16 seasons in the first team at Linfield, scoring 451 goals and leading the club to titles in the League Cup, Irish Cup, Gold Cup, Ulster Cup, City Cup, North-South Cup, and County Antrim Shield (shown at the top of the mural). (WP)

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They Shall Not Grow Old

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“Remember With Pride” (with a poppy). Although the dates of his birth and death are given, Stevie “Top Gun” McKeag’s name appears only on the side-wall of this new mural in the Lower Shankill estate. McKeag was the top assassin in the UDA during the 1990s, claiming at least 12 victims. Both his WP page and this Guardian article describe his career and preeminent standing within the UDA.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03892 X03888 X03890 X03889  X03891 X03893 1st april 1970 24th september 2000 ulster young militants terrae filius 2nd batt c.13 shankill road military commander they shall not grow old those we love don’t go away they walk beside us every day sleeping where no shadows fall at the going down of the sun and in the morning remember with pride

The Dead Man’s Penny

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“The Memorial Plaque (Death Penny [or Dead Man’s Penny]) was issued after the First World War to the next of kin of all British and Empire Service personnel who were killed as a result of the war.” The “penny” was in fact five inches in diameter and cast in bronze. It showed Britannia with a trident and two dolphins swimming around her, and a lion on oak, along with the name of the deceased (here, Ronald Mitchison) without indication of rank. (Here is a close-up of a plaque from WP.) The board shown above contains other information about WWI, centrally including the statement that “The 16th Irish Division, the Connaught Rangers [7th battalion] and the Irish Rifles [7th battalion], all fought side-by-side throughout World War I.”

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