The Beautiful Game

This Tigers Bay house is showing its support for soccer teams in all territories and at all levels: Rangers from Glasgow, Scotland; Northern Ireland internationally; Liverpool from England; and local team Crusaders.

For the UDA memorial garden to the left, see Honur, Loyalty, Liberty, Sacrifice. The remembrance day board was also seen in east Belfast.

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Order Restored

Rangers went into administration in 2012 and the “new” club played in the 4th tier of Scottish football. After four years, they had played themselves back into premiership football. Ten years after their previous league championship, they topped the table at the end of the 2020-2021 season, prompting the board shown above “order restored”. See also: 55 | F*ck Your Ten In A Row | Blues Brothers | We’re Back (and Legends Never Die).

The area in front of the Tiger’s Bay Flute Band mural bears an “Anfield Road’ street sign; and there is a Chelsea FC crest on the house across the street (not shown).

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Glory Days

Henrik Larsson left Glasgow Celtic for Barcelona in 2004, after scoring 174 goals in 221 appearances (WP), but he replaced Katie Taylor as an inspiration to the kids at Victoria Nursery in the New Lodge. (Her faded right shoulder is still visible in the bottom left corner of the image below; for the whole thing, see School Of Champions.)

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For Noah

Four files to be presented in the inquest into the death of teenager Noah Donohoe are being assessed for redaction under the principle of ‘Public-interest immunity’ (BelTel | RN), which has added fuel to the speculation that the PSNI is “hiding Noah’s killer”. Noah would have turned 16 today, November 25th. The campaign for answers in his case continues, with a “carcade” tonight down the Antrim Road from the zoo to Carlisle Circus (NBN), and continued graffiti and stencilling, as shown here. The stone (above) is near the Ballysillan end of the Hightown Road; the graffiti is in Turf Lodge; the stencil (bottom) is in the middle Falls.

Previously: This is now our 14th post on Noah.

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Young Gun

This is the new memorial for Glen “Spacer” Branagh, on the 20th anniversary of his death, at the junction of Canning Street and Orchard Street, north Belfast. For information and the earlier plaque on N Queen St, see Forever Young.

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The Lonely Passion Of Judith Hearne

Novelist Brian Moore grew up on the Antrim Road and went to St Malachy’s, before emigrating to Canada in 1948. For the centenary of his birth in 1921, Paradosso Theatre adapted Moore’s best-known novel, (The Lonely Passion Of) Judith Hearne, for the stage and mounted this mural in Duncairn Avenue, showing the elements of Judith’s life: the bottle, the beads, the aunt who raised her, the piano used for lessons, and her red coat.

The board by Friz (ig) replaces the anti-joy-riding mural “Where’s The Joy?”, the last to go of the three, the others having been in CNR west Belfast and PUL west Belfast.

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Forever Young

On this date twenty years ago (November 11th, 2001 – Remembrance Sunday) sixteen year-old Glen “Spacer” Branagh was killed by the premature blast of a pipe bomb he was carrying during a riot with New Lodge nationalists. He was affiliated with Tiger’s Bay First flute band – which held a memorial parade for him on October 16th (youtube) – and the UDA/UYM – for which see the old “Young Guns” mural on the site of the current Duncairn community garden. Distant relative Kenneth Branagh was also born in Tiger’s Bay (An Phoblacht), before leaving at age nine with his family in 1969 (WP); his film Belfast will be released in the USA tomorrow.

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