Belfast west

The Dead Man’s Penny

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“The Memorial Plaque (Death Penny [or Dead Man’s Penny]) was issued after the First World War to the next of kin of all British and Empire Service personnel who were killed as a result of the war.” The “penny” was in fact five inches in diameter and cast in bronze. It showed Britannia with a trident and two dolphins swimming around her, and a lion on oak, along with the name of the deceased (here, Ronald Mitchison) without indication of rank. (Here is a close-up of a plaque from WP.) The board shown above contains other information about WWI, centrally including the statement that “The 16th Irish Division, the Connaught Rangers [7th battalion] and the Irish Rifles [7th battalion], all fought side-by-side throughout World War I.”

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03880 denmark st ulster tower thiepval

A Mother And Father Of Ulster

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Billy Moir, who died this past May (2016) was a central figure in the Glasgow flute-band scene. The board above, dedicated to Billy and his wife Anne, is in the lower Shankill estate. “Dedicated to a mother & father of Ulster: William (Big Billy) & Anne Moir, in appreciation for their Dedication, Loyalty, Support and Friendship to all the people of the Shankill Road and their beloved ULSTER. In Glorious Memory, Lest We Forget, Quis Separabit.”

Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Ár Tae Will Come

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Sınn Féın representatives Paul Maskey (above), Gerry Adams, and Martin McGuinness are photoshopped into these beverage-themed, Irish-language puns outside the ‘Falls Rolls’ bakery: Ár tae will come, Tıocfaıgh [sic] ár látte, and Mocha-ra.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03829 X03830 X03831 X03832 falls rd sıopa báıceareachta na bhfál

RPG Avenue

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Since 1982 (and perhaps earlier) Beechmount Avenue in west Belfast has been known as “RPG Avenue”, after the rocket-propelled grenade launchers used by the IRA. The tarpaulins shown in the first two images (from a recent dedication at the memorial garden across the street) here recall the 80s, with images of armed volunteers and of the support for the blanket men and hunger strikers from “Beechmount/Iveagh H Block-Armagh Committee”.

The first (above) was previously used in 2001 – see J1054. The final image, taken in June of this year, shows that the street still retains its unofficial name and also gives the names of various volunteers from A Coy, 2nd Battalion, including Pat McGeown, a hunger striker whose family intervened when he lapsed into a coma, and who was elected to Belfast City Council in 1993 and died in 1996 of a heart attack.

For the murals in the background see Free Tony Taylor and Bilal Kayed.

See also: RPG west Belfast 1981 | PLO-IRA RPG 1982 | RPG with phoenix north Belfast 1986 | RPG with ‘Vote Adams’ 1987 | RPG with phoenix west Belfast 1989 | RPG south Belfast 2002 | also surface-to-air missile launcher and SAM-7 Avenue in Strabane.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03826 X03825 X03463 roll of honour stan carberry frankie dodds paul fox sean bailey paul marlowe tony campbell albert kavanagh tom mcGoldrick fuaır sıad bás as son na héıreann ireland unfree will never be at peace ascaıll ard na bhfeá

Layer Upon Layer

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Another selection of distressed posters, torn to reveal … more posters. The electrical box in the third image was included in last year’s collection: We Had Our Distresses.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03821 X03816 X03815 X03940 fight for 15 QUB socialist society keely mullen the people’s parade unfinished business sábháil roinn na gaeilge

Justice For Robert

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This small plaque is on Northumberland Way, on the ‘Dignity’ panel of the Amnesty mural and to the right of La Historia Es Nuestra. It is presumably a reference to the killing of Robert McCartney (WP) though by the time of this photograph, Jock Davison – whom the family believed had given the order for Robert’s stabbing – had already been shot dead (Bel Tel).

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An tAos Óg Ag Sıúl

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Some of the people on 35th anniversary march were perhaps among the “Short Strand Youth Against H-Block & Armagh” in 1981 but the speakers at the Dunville Park rally were intentionally drawn from the younger Sinn Féin leaders, including Nıall Ó Donnghaıle from the Short Strand (An Phoblacht).

Here’s Michael McVeigh’s contribution to the Guthanna ’81 project; he was a member of the youth group during the blanket and hunger strikes.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03748 X03749 X03750 young people on the march na cúıg achuınge the five demands