Belfast city centre

No Topless Bathing – Ulster Has Suffered Enough

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2013-11-16 SunflowerFront+

The Sunflower pub in Union Street has added a sign replicating the graffiti that stood for a long time two blocks further along the street (at the junction with Little Donegall Street): No Topless Bathing – Ulster Has Suffered Enough. An image of the graffiti appears on Flickr user James Hughes’s page. CAIN reports that another version was in Upper Queen Street in 1999. The Union Street graffiti is also the version that inspired a 2005 gallery show of the same name, except that the show had “Belfast” in the title; an image of a “Belfast” version, which is perhaps an altered version of the Union Street “Ulster” version, appears on the show’s page at Green Dog Arts.

The graphics on the rear of the building were done by Malarky (Fb) for Culture Night Belfast 2013.

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2014-09-26 MalarkySunflower+

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Don’t Drone Me, Bro

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2013-11-01 DontDroneMeBro+

Stencil and graffiti in College Street (in the city centre; the Fountain Centre is visible in the background): “Don’t drone me, bro.” over a stencil of U.S. president Barack Obama. This image was taken the day the leader of the Pakistani Taliban was killed by a U.S. drone (Guardian). The Obama administration has launched six times more drone strikes in Pakistan than the Bush administration (WP). For the original phrase ‘Don’t tase me, bro’, see knowyourmeme.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Old Foundary 1767

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2013-10-12 Foundary+

Above is a scored clay piece showing workers in a “foundary” (foundry). There are foundries in Belfast dating to the mid-to-late 1700s (e.g. Eileen McCracken, “Charcoal-Burning Ironworks in Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Ireland”, Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 21 (1957)) but nothing specifically about 1767 or about a foundry in Exchange Place (or whatever preceded it – Exchange Place dates to the Victorian era). If you have information, please get in touch. There is a set of six pieces in a similar style on the Cupar Way “peace” line, regrettably covered in graffiti and tourists’ signatures. See also: Pot-House Lane.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Apocalypse Mime

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2013-10-07 ExchangePlaceNoAlibis+

Here are two of the panels (and a wide shot) done by davidcreative (web | Fb) in Exchange Place for Apocalypse Mime – a play that was readied for Culture Night Belfast (20th Sept.)

The first features the ‘no alibis’ book store, which is on Botanic Avenue and specialises in crime fiction, and a piece of ‘not for $hale’ graffiti (see previously). Here are some pictures of the work in progress.

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Copyright © 2013 Extramural Activity
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Till Labour Knows No Master

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2013-10-06 ICTUWide+

“There can be no dignity in labour, till labour knows no master.” The statue of Jim Larkin in Donegall Street Place has been augmented with a massive mural celebrating the many unions which have membership in Ireland. 2013 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Dublin lock-out, which ran from August 1913 to January 1914. The images below show a close-up of the statue (which was previously recorded sporting a placard), three female figures in the border to the right of Larkin (Winifred Carney, Inez McCormack, and Betty Sinclair?) and finally, the plans for the piece, which were hanging on the left-hand wall prior to completion.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01370 X01368 X01369 X01325 An Injury To One Is An Injury To All ictu tssa iboa nasuwt atl ucu nuj journalists peace work progress said joe what they forgot to kill went on to organise break the connection with capitalism titanic disaster great loss of life gmb siptu services industrial professional technical i.n.t.o. irish national teachers organisation equity arts means jobs fire brigade ucatt serving youth against racism protect public services education union campaign usdaw workers together hands off my mate la révolution prolétairienne communication we want bread and roses too nipsa pcsc defending jobs and services stronger together congress play for your side join your trade union solidarity forever H&W a better and fairer way unions northern committee