A fire was lit at the base of the John Henry Patterson mural (see Operation Lion | Godfather Of The Israeli Army) on Beverley Street, prompting the notice on the railings above: “Where is the equality? This historically significant artwork, was attacked & defaced by Irish Republican racists? Where is the reconciliation?”
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Here are three images from Cluan Place, the PUL street at the bottom of the (CNR) Short Strand in east Belfast. The first two show the flags and bunting in the street, flying from railings, light-poles, and chimney pots. In the third image, crosses have been added to the board at the entrance to the street featured previously Hard Hats Must Be Worn.
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X03684 X03685 X03321 5 people shot houses burnt houses bombed 20 families intimidated out by sinn fein/IRA still loyalist no surrender
The ‘over the top’ mural in Ballyclare has been refreshed, compared to the faded lettering of 2014: the list of battles has been restored (in the bottom right) but the large scroll in the centre has been painted over.
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New South East Antrim UDA/UFF mural in Ballyclare, with the usual emblems and a central board featuring a photograph of a balaclava’ed volunteer: “For as long as 100 loyal men remain Ulster shall be free – Quis Separabit”.
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JP Beadle’s Battle Of The Somme, Attack Of The Ulster Division is reproduced in the 1916 installment of the Poppy Trail in south Belfast. (For more on the painting, see belfastsomme.com.) In addition to listing local men lost in on July 1st – from places such as Roden, Matilda, Kitchener, Barrington, Blythe, Ebor, Rowland, Abingdon, and Combermere Street – it also features an individual from each community who served and died, in this case, Rifleman Paul Irvine from Lower Rockview Street and Private Patrick McGinney from Balkan Street (in the Divis area).
Launched on 2016-06-27; Tele report.
Here are the boards for The Poppy Trail 1914 and The Poppy Trail 1915.
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X03645 X03646 X03647 Pandora St shared history living legacies housing executive greater village regeneration trust King george V how nobly they fight and die
The 1915 board in the ‘Poppy Trail’ series in south Belfast focuses on the Gallipoli campaign, claiming that “more men from Ireland died there than from Australia and New Zealand.” The ship on the left-hand side is the River Clyde, a converted collier, carrying men from the 1st Royal Dublin and 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, who were decimated as they tried to reach shore — “only 372 of the original 900 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers remained”.
As with the 1914 board, the 1915 board includes the stories of men from both south and west Belfast, in this case, Joseph Wilson, who hailed from Donegall Road and died in Belgium, and Michael Magill, from the Divis area, who died at Gallipoli.
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X03648 X03649 X03650 daphne st UVF nursing and medical corp dardanelles turkey turks ottoman empire helles bay
As part of the Poppy Trail, boards bearing the names, ages, addresses, and service units of Belfast casualties during WWI have been erected on walls and lampposts near their homes. Above: William Bloomer from Matilda Street in south Belfast. Below: Thomas Magowan from Tower Street in east Belfast.
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A 2012 Belfast Telegraph opinion piece asked “Is it Orangefest or vodka and Orangefest?” This year sees a campaign to curb alcohol consumption during marching season (including both the centenary of the Somme on July 1st and the traditional Twelfth celebration of the Battle of the Boyne) using the slogan “It’s about the battle not the bottle” and the hashtag #battlenotbottle. Here is a NewsLetter article on the campaign, which includes 25,000 beermats bearing the message.
It also contains (as shown in the wide shot, below) figures for both the number of casualties suffered by the 36th (Ulster) Division on July 1 at the Battle of the Somme (5,500) and the number of Irishmen who served in the Great War (200,000).
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X03640 X03639 let me tell you a story of honour and glory helen’s tower conlig thiepval ulster tower
Garlands of poppies, one for each of 38 local men “who gave their lives during the Battle of the Somme 1st July 1916 – 18th Nov 1916”, form a circle around a photograph of “Ballyclare Main Streeet 18th September 1914” as the men go off to war. For information about 17 of the men, see this Love Ballyclare page.
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X03642 X03641 charles drive lest we forget south east antrim brigade UDA UFF Eddie Beck and Graeme Baird
East Antrim 1st battalion (specifically D Company?) and (North?) Belfast 3rd battalion mural in Erskine Park, Ballyclare.
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 