Belfast north

A Word Of Conjure With

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2015-04-14 ConjureWith+

James Connolly was concerned not just with the political independence of Ireland but its economic independence: both political and economic liberty were required in order for the human being to live freely. The quote in the image above comes from Connolly’s 1897 essay “Socialism & Nationalism”. The economic context is clear when we read a little more broadly:

“To the tenant farmer, ground between landlordism on the one hand and American competition on the other, as between the upper and the nether millstone; to the wage-workers in the towns, suffering from the exactions of the slave-driving capitalist to the agricultural labourer, toiling away his life for a wage barely sufficient to keep body and soul together; in fact to every one of the toiling millions upon whose misery the outwardly-splendid fabric of our modern civilisation is reared, the Irish Republic might be made a word to conjure with – a rallying point for the disaffected, a haven for the oppressed, a point of departure for the Socialist, enthusiastic in the cause of human freedom.” (marxists.org)

Takes the place of Padraig Pearse’s “The fools, the fools …“

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02581 5th june 1868 – 12th may 1916

International Workers’ Day

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2015-03-29 SHIPDetail+

A new “historical wall feature” was unveiled by the Shared History Interpretive Project (SHIP) on the outside of the Dockers Club in Pilot Street in Sailortown. The new piece is a montage of about 60 images of vintage photographs, a census form, and posters of industrial life. In the top-middle (behind the lamppost) there can be seen an image of the board this one replaces, which featured two carters pulling away a heavy load, similar to the carter in the image above. Another addition in the new work is the inclusion of Billy McMullen (1888-1982) and John Quinn (1876-1935) alongside Winifred Carney (1887-1943), James Connolly (1868-1916), and Jim Larkin (1876-1947). Both McMullen and Quinn are Belfast trades unionists. Quinn’s headstone in Milltown Cemetery was featured previously, in Forgotten In Life, Remembered In Death. More information about all five, as well as photographs of dockers and of the unveiling, can be found at the SHIP web site.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02573 X02574 X02575 “Sharing more than a century of north Belfast’s industrial and maritime heritage” was officially unveiled on Friday 30th January 2015 by Jack O’Connor, General President “SIPTU” and Jimmy Kelly Irish regional secretary “Unite The Union” in the presence of Belfast’s First Citizen, Lord Mayor Councillor Nichola Mallon. Main sponsor Heritage Lottery Fund and generous support from Fyffes, United Molasses, Unite the Union, SIPTU, Unison. a fine fine meal gallaghers snuff itgwu obu the mission to seafarers elders travel liverpool park drive tall ships may day one big union itgwu irish transport general workers

Isolation

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2015-03-22 IRPWAStencil4+

The mural of Padraig Pearse’s famous quote (“The fools, the fools …”) at the east end of Brompton Park has been replaced by the stencils above and below from the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association (irpwa.com): “Oppose the isolation of Republican prisoners!” and “Stop strip searches!”. The final image is an older but similar stencil from the top of the Whiterock Road.

See also: Scaırt Amach | IRPWA | various Maghaberry murals.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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100 Years Of Conflict

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2014-12-18 BallysillanMilitary+

The three-storey mural above is in Ballysillan and replaced a UVF mural when it was added in 2011. The mural is the work of Jim Russell, shown below at Arts For All where he is artist-in-residence. The information below was provided by Arts For All.

The Great War: The first panel commemorates the Great War that ravaged Europe from 1914 to 1918 and shows troops advancing into battle, the Ulster Tower at Thiepval commemorating the sacrifice at the Somme and an image showing one of the war cemeteries and highlighting the true cost of war.

Second World War: The second panel features some of the devastation visited upon Belfast during a series of Luftwaffe raids during the early years of the Second World War. Belfast suffered greatly with over 1,000 people dying in four nights of bombing in April and May of 1941.

The Troubles: In the third panel highlight the dark history known as the Troubles. It features two events from the years of that time – the murder of the three young off-duty Scottish soldiers in 1971 [the monument depicted was featured in The Highland] and the Bloody Friday bombings of July 1972. In the midst of the horror that accompanied the early years of the Troubles these events still caused many to struggle to understand how people could carry out such atrocities.

Present Day Conflict: Panel four brings us up to the present day. Military service is a tradition for many in Northern Ireland and for many their first overseas trip came on the back of an overseas posting whilst serving in one of the Armed Forces. From times past, through the World Wars, the Korean War, to more recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers and regiments drawn from Norther Ireland continue to play a role.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Art Is A Hammer With Which To Shape Reality

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2014-12-18 DMCJMKShoreRd+

Arts For All (Fb | web) is a community arts organization in north Belfast, sponsoring workshops and events, giving space to artists-in-residence, and putting on exhibits in its John Luke Gallery. The image above is of the mural on the side of their own building on the York Road, painted in 2012 by JMK (Jonny McKerr) and DMC (Dermot McConaghy) – their signatures can be seen on the brickwork at the right. Arts For All were also one of the sponsors of the recent WWI mural by Jonny in Tigers Bay: The Home Front.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Right To Be Happy

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2014-12-11 NewLodge1900+

The life of a child in the New Lodge of the 1900s was one of poverty, disease, mill work, and being displaced by German bombers in 1941, with only a lamppost swing and marbles for relief. (It was also in black-and-white.) The struggle for young people’s rights “to be loved, to family life, to freedom of expression, to life, to your own beliefs, not to be bullied, to be safe from war, to privacy, to play, to be happy” continues in the panels on the right-hand side (for close-ups, see Young People’s Rights and X05068).

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Return To Loyalist Tiger’s Bay

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2014-11-13 LoyalistTigersBay+

The previous board in this location said “‘yes’ to a better future” beneath a tiger, a rainbow, and a DJ at his turntables (see an image at CCDL). That future, it seems, is to go back to a mural similar to the one prior to 2009 – You’re entering Loyalist Tiger’s Bay – though the explicit UDA/UFF insignia are gone, leaving only the clenched fist.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The Reason That We Are Being Tortured

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2014-11-13 NLodgeEndStrip+

Above, “End forced strip search, controlled movement” RNU/Cogús (web) stencil (“End forced strip search, controlled movement”) in front of a gallery of RNU/Cogús boards (see Until All Are Free We Are All Imprisoned).

Below, stencil of the iconic Che over his father’s words: “[In my son’s veins flowed the] Blood of an Irish rebel”. (See previously: Che Guevara Lynch.)

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02362 X02265 oglaıgh na heıreann rnu network unity cogus teach oısín