“Play is the highest form of research – Albert Einstein.” The quote appears to be a common (mis-)attribution.
This is a new board celebrating the play of children, with a UDA/UFF mural in the background. The artist is Ed Reynolds (steadyhanded.com).
Previously by Ed in the lower Shankill: a full-sized Play mural.
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“Says Joe, ‘Those that they forgot to kill went on to organise.'” Words from ‘(The Ballad Of) Joe Hill’ are included in a mural in Conway Street sponsored by the Australian Electrical Trades Union (ETU) in Victoria.
Previous Australian-sponsored murals: Caırde Sınn Féın | Australian Aid
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Above is the second of three 2013 murals sponsored by Australian groups outside the Republican Museum in Conway Street. This one shows members of the main sponsoring group, Caırde Sınn Féın (Fb).
Previously: Australian Aid
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Above is a detail from, and below is the whole of, a stained glass window in Belfast City Hall commemorating emigration and the great hunger, commonly known as “the famine”. The piece is by Stephen Calderwood of GlassMarque. The window shows a sailing vessel and the coast of north America, scenes of destitution, Clifton House (home to the Belfast Charitable Society, on Clifton Street), and a potato harvest.
Friar’s Bush and Clifton Street graveyards both contain the remains of people in died in the famine (and in cholera epidemics).
Previously: One Big Union (stained glass in City Hall) | White Line (stained glass in An Chultúrlann)
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Like some of the residents of the Divis area in which this cathedral that bears his name now stands, (Saint) Peter found himself in prison. But the night before his trial, there comes an angel who magically releases his shackles and opens all the doors (Acts 12:3-19). James, on the other hand, is not so fortunate. As a scholar on the WP page notes, why James should die while Peter escapes is a “mystery of divine providence”. Wide shot and info board below.
Another previously-featured scriptural conundrum: Occupy Til I Come (Luke 19:13)
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X01693 X01692 X01694 down & connor catholic gothic french medieval two great towers spires jeremiah ryan mcauley barney hughes scrabo sandstone 1866 sunday 14 october organ in 1883 1885 spires added mortimer thompson total cost 35,900
This board on the Cupar Way “peace” line is a project young people in the Impact Training train (part of the Greater Shankill Partnership) concerning murals over the years. Its face has been changed by hundreds of messages and signatures of visitors from all over the world.
“The Changing Faces artwork is a project that has been undertaken by a group of young people from Impact Training . They looked to their surrounding area where they explored and documented how it appears in 2010. What is the Shankill? What does it look like and what does it mean to youth culture now? Murals have been something that has been prevalent in the community for many years. Times change, opinions soften and people can begin to build a changing face.”
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Recent work around Conway and Canmore Streets on Cupar Way has revealed this old piece of graffiti: “We will never be 2nd class citizens to you scum[m]y bastards – L/S C/Coy” [Lower Shankill C Company]. C Company (2nd battalion) was Johnny Adair’s UDA unit and the location is just inside UVF territory (west of Agnes/Northumberland Street); this graffiti might thus date to the feud with the UVF in 2000. Alternatively, the intended audience might be residents in Bombay Street and St. Galls Avenue. If you have more definite information, please leave a comment or send an e-mail.
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Political commentary on the Cupar Way “peace” line (near Lanark Way): “Stick Haass up your ass” — a reference to the negotiations which were taking place around Christmas and New Year’s, led by Richard Haass, into the “legacy issues” of flags and emblems (including murals) and parades. No agreement was reached. (BBC | pdf | BBC)
December update: the Stormont House Agreement covered many of the same areas (WP).
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This board on the Cupar Way “peace” line at the North Howard Street gates features a quote by Mary Harris “Mother” Jones, “the most dangerous woman in America” for her labour organizing: Slowly those who create the wealth of the world are permitted to share it – The future is in labor’s strong, rough hands.” Wide shot below.
The two community boards to the right were featured previously: What Divides Us.
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Gaelic/Gaeılge now appears (since 2011), alongside English/Béarla, on the bus-stop signs and buses in west Belfast. Above is the sign for Saint Comgall’s/Naomh Comhghall (the old school on the Falls) and below is the 10a, headed for Sruthán Na Bantıarna/Ladybrook. According to this BelTel article, there were no immediate plans to add Ulster Scots signage to any routes.
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 