“For God and Ulster” (as seen on the bucket hat) is the more common slogan of the of the Ulster Volunteers, but “For King and Empire” (as seen on the shirt) was occasionally used, as on the colours of Central Antrim’s 3rd battalion (Sam’s Flags | see also The Central Antrim Regiment). The phrase also appears on a plaque outside Carrickfergus Orange hall – see On Foreign Fields.
The items are for sale in the Shankill Historical Society in the middle Shankill. The shop is at least 25 years old.
The Shankill Area Social History (SASH) (Fb) celebrates the people and events of the Shankill Road with a new mural in Downing Street.
From left to right: girls wrapped in Union Flags watching the parade; boys on pallets; the Shankill Mission; Orange Order parade; the Summer festival in Woodvale Park (The Cabin); the former Belfast Savings Bank, now an undertaker’s; the Winter festival and switching-on of the Christmas tree lights, with Mrs. Claus, the Grinch in Santa jacket and hat, and last year’s (2022) celebrity guest Charlie Lawson (youtube); local band Casual Riots (ig). (SASH Fb Gallery)
For a mural of famous Shankill faces and places, see Save The Shankill.
Tomorrow (August 30th, at 12:30) there will be a family fun-day and the launch of a new mural of a colourful drummer boy. The mural is on Peter’s Hill; it takes the place of the “Original Belfast” murals (2009 and 2020) and before that a UDA emblem (M02480).
Painted by Glen Molloy (ig) with support from SAFE Shankill (see Woodvale OK), Alternatives (web), Executive Office, Communities In Transition.
“Ní coırpıgh sınne! Éıreannaıgh sınne! [we are not criminals; we are Irish people] “There is that much to be done that no select or small portion of people can do; only the greater mass of the Irish nation will ensure the achievement of a socialist republic, and this can only be done by hard work and sacrifice.” – Bobby Sands [Hunger strike diary, March 14th, 1981]” With photographs of the ten deceased 1981 hunger strikers.
Kelly’s Bar at the top of the Rock was packed with punters watching a World Cup match between England and West Germany when a car bomb went off outside shortly after 5 p.m.. The bombing was followed by two nights of gun-battles, with loyalists firing from Springmartin, republicans (both PIRA and OIRA) from Ballymurphy, and British Army soldiers (the King’s Own and 1 Para) from Henry Taggart and other mobile locations. Within three hours following the explosion, barman Tommy McIlroy was killed in the gunfire from Springmartin as he helped with clean-up from the bomb, Alan Buckley of the King’s Own was killed by IRA fire, Michael Magee of Na Fıanna was killed by friendly fire, and Robert McMullan was killed by British Army fire. The next night (May 14th), John Pedlow was killed by British Army fire and Martha Campbell was shot by UVF fire from Springmartin (see her memorial plaque). (Lost Lives 352, 353, 354, 355, 358, 359 | Battle At Springmartin (WP))
As with the bombing of McGurk’s bar in north Belfast (see most recently Justice Delayed Is Justice Denied), the bombing was initially spun by the UK forces and government as an IRA attempt to stir up loyalists (An Phoblacht | Lost Lives 352). An inquest into Moran’s death (and thus into how the bombing was carried out) has been opened (BeTel | Independent).
The plaque dates back to 2004 (see M02243); the tarp was added for the 50th anniversary in 2022; the small mural is more recent.
19 towns and cities will hold gatherings for the Twelfth, with the longest parade being the six miles from Carlisle Circus to the field at Barnett Demesne (near Shaw’s Bridge) in Belfast. Today’s images come from a Shankill parade at the end of June, with (above) the (Shankill) Sons Of Ulster (Fb) and (below) the Billy Boys (Rathcoole) (Fb).
For a complete list of gatherings, see Belfast Live
“Far dearer the grave or the prison, Illumed by one patriot name, Than the trophies of all who have risen On Liberty’s ruins to fame.”
Thomas Moore’s lyrics were written for the air The Lamentation of Aughrim, in honour of the Jacobites who died on 12 July, 1691, but they are applied here to Joe Malone of the IRA’s “Expeditionary Force”.
In January 1939 the IRA declared war against Britain and carried out a bombing campaign called the “sabotage plan” (WP S-Plan). Malone was arrested in May when a tear-gas bomb intended for the New Victoria cinema in London exploded prematurely in the cloakroom, injuring his arm and wrist (Belfast Battalion p. 103 | West Australian).
Malone and other prisoners refused to co-operate with prison authorities and began a hunger strike in January 1941; on day five of the strike, force-feeding began and Malone was injured and ordered off the strike by OC Conor McNessa; despite stomach surgery, he died a year later. (Belfast Battalion p. 126, 136)
“In proud and loving memory of Volunteer Joseph Malone, No. 1 battalion, Irish Republican Expeditionary Force. Captured in London May 1939 and died in Parkhurst prison 21st January 1942. RIP.”
As the info board points out, the red hand is used to denote the graves in Milltown of volunteers from the 1920s to 1940s.
“Pobal ag foghlaım, pobal ag forbaırt, pobal ag fás” [a community learning, developing, growing]
Students from “Naíscoıl & Gaelscoıl An Lonnáın (Fb) bun[aithe] 1999″ [Nursery-school and Irish-language [primary] school of the loney, founded 1999] are shown playing Gaelic games, Irish dancing, and playing traditional instruments (and the guitar). On the left are representations from Irish mythology: the Children Of Lear and Setanta killing Culann’s hound (and taking the name Cú Chulaınn in taking its place), along with hedge-row school (see Hedge Row School).
The origin of the name is unclear; the nearest loney [lane] was the “Pound” loney, so-called because of the animal pen just outside Barrack Street, used to store livestock before moving on to the markets the following day (Rushlight | Uachtar Na bhFál). (The Pound Loney is included in the mural in Durham Street – see Et In Arcadia Ego.)
The other well-known loney in Belfast is the “buttermilk loney” which was either/both what is now Ballysillan Park (that is, connecting Olpark with the horsehoe bend) or the top part of the loney that connected Wheatfield (the top of Ardoyne) to the Ligoniel junction and on towards the old Ligoneil House (there are a mixture of usages in this Belfast Forum thread); this image from the 1930s might show the lane in (what was still at the time) the hills above Oldpark; a new housing-development towards the top of the Ballysillan Park is euphemistically called “Buttermilk Loney”. (It is also said to have been a prior name of Skegoniell Avenue (Belfast History).)
(The Uachtar Na bhFál page also mentions “Turf” loney, “Mountain” loney, and “Killoney”.)
The history of the Irish word “lonnán” is unclear. Uachtar na bhFál says the word is of Scots origin (perhaps as “loanin”). (See this BelTel article on the opening of the Ulster-Scots centre in 2014.) Spelled “lonnen”, it is also a Geordie word (Heslop’s Northumberland Words | wiktionary). The Irish News and Belfast Live, working from the same (uncited) press-release about Páırc An Lonnáın (which is along the Westlink below Raıdıó Fáılte), state that “loney” comes from the English word “loaning”. The Irish word “lonnán” does not appear in Dinneen 1904; Dinneen 1953 defines it (hyper-specifically) as “a grassy recess running up into high basaltic cliffs”.
Here are two panels from the front yard of Gaelscoıl An Lonnáın (which recently acquired a new mural).
Above, Lear’s four children are turned into long-living, singing swans by their jealous step-mother Aoıfe, and are restored 900 years later to human form by the pealing of a chapel bell and the touch of a Christian monk. For more on the myth, see The Children Of Lear (and also the story of the mermaid Lí Ban in Sea-Born).
Below, a compilation of local landmarks: Broadway cinema (see At The Pictures), St Peter’s pro-cathedral (see Mysterious Ways), Conway mill (see The Mill), the Corporation Public Baths (and swimming pool), later the Falls Road Public Baths, and here called “The Falls Swimming Baths” (for a reminiscence of the baths, see Belfast History), and the fountain in Dunville Park. The cinema is no more; the baths have been replaced by a leisure centre; the mill stands but functions as a cultural centre.
London social-worker Paddy McCarthy took a job at the Ballymurphy Tenants’ Association in west Belfast in 1970. On August 11th, 1971, he tried to broker a ceasefire and evacuation of children from Ballymurphy, where a curfew had been imposed after the introduction of internment. He carried a Red Cross flag but was shot in the hand. He regrouped and then tried to distribute milk to families, but was stopped by two soldiers who either fired over his head or put an unloaded gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. He died of a heart attack. (Belfast Media | WP | Ballymurphy Massacre | Ballymurphy And The Irish War, written by one of McCarthy’s successors, Ciarán De Baróid, who came to work for the BTA in 1972 – Belfast Media)
The memorial plaque is in Ballymurphy Road, as is the graffiti below: “OIRA [-] Beware hoods.”
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 