The Village Songbird

“Born in Moltke Street, Belfast, on 29 March 1935. A child singer who became one of the most popular stars in the 1950s. Her first single reached the Top 3 in 1954 followed by her No 1 hit ‘Softly, Softly’. In 1955 she had five singles in the Top 20 at the same time, an extraordinary record that lasted until the emergence of Madonna in the 1980s. She had her own television show, starred many times at the London Palladium including a Royal Command Performance. She toured worldwide and was performing up to her death on 17th December, 1996” ‘Softly, softly, come to me/Touch my lips so tenderly/Softly, softly, turn the key/And open up my heart.’ (youtube).

Maldon Street, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Banned

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A letterbox on Sandy Row bearing a flyer describing rallies protesting the decision not to fly the Union flag every day at Belfast City Hall, which will (apparently) lead to a future where Martin McGuinness, Gerry Adams and a masked paramilitary rule like Queen Victoria (who, as we know, was also Queen of Ireland, Empress of India). For some background info, see And so This is Christmas; and for graffiti on the matter, Let Your Union Flag Fly.

 A previous letterbox: Letters Only.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00945 Do you want this as your future support our protest in sandy row at boyne bridge every friday night 6pm – 7pm don’t be the generation to fail ulster a shared future for who? then every saturday at kfc, the square meet 12.30 pm for a protest at the city hall from 1pm to 2pm no surrender

British And Proud

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A “British And Proud” banner currently flies adjacent to the board at the bottom of Sandy Row celebrating the (Dutch) William of Orange (or “King Billy” as he is more commonly referred to) (WP) and his “Danish, English, Dutch, French Huguenots, Prussian, Scots, Irish, Swiss, Polish, Italian, Norwegian” forces. The mural was launched July 2nd, 2016, and was painted by artist Ross Wilson (Tele). A time-lapse video of the painting-over of the previous mural and the installation of the various pieces is available on Youtube.

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Copyright © 2013/2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00944 X04739 Prince of orange, king william III, king billy’s on the wall, williamite forces,  welcome to sandy row, william III encourages his troops on the morning of july 12th 1690, let ambition fire thy mind, laat amitie brand uw verstand

Markets Social

In 2008 and 2009 artist Raymond Henshaw completed a series of cultural murals about the Markets area of Belfast. This one showcases the people of the Markets.

Two of the images – bottom right and two spots above it – show a street party to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Emmet in 1953. For a mural from that occasion (in Ardoyne) see Visual History 02.

There were six boards in total: Portraits | Social | Social History | Sport & Culture | Bars | Industry

Lower Stanfield St, Markets, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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For Club And Country

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Sport and politics intersect in this mural at the junction of Broadway and Donegall Avenue in south Belfast. Northern Irish flags provide a backdrop for the shields of Linfield football club and the Northern Ireland football association.

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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00926 proud supporters LFC irish football association

Union Jack – Donegall Pass

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The Union Flag is, how shall we say, “all the rage” these days. (Background from BBC-NI. Here is youtube video of the famous “No Surrender” scream. Gallery of images from protests on Dec 3rd | Dec 8th from U.Tv. Lots of coverage on Slugger O’Toole.) This one is flying over a ‘Give Way’ sign in Donegall Pass.

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Copyright © 2012 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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