Ultras Celtic

03276 2016-02-03 Ultras Celtic+

The Green Brigade, founded in 2006, (web | WP) is an ultra-fanatical supporters club for Scottish football team Celtic. The poster above, which shows a supporter with scarf over the lower part of his face and aiming a slingshot, is in the Clonard area of west Belfast.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Woodbourne Village

03274 2016-01-30 Woodbourne Village+

This new mural of local landmarks — including centrally St. John The Baptist Anglican church — by Fra Maher was erected last November (2015) as part of a re-imaging and re-development project sponsored by the Housing Executive, and joins the art on the Woodbourne police station in brightening up the area — see Only God Can Judge Me.

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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X03274 woodbourne cr wilkommen fáilte maligayang pagdating vitajte welcome witamy welkom bienvenue shalom suffolk stewartstown

Blue Sky Thinking

03269 2016-01-25 Painting Peace Line Over+

The Manor Street “peace” line dividing north Belfast’s Lower Oldpark and Cliftonville areas got a facelift in January — the beige was painted over with a sky blue colour. For the painted gable on the left, see Soccer Stars.

The wide shot, (third image, below,) gives an impression of its height and extent (and this is only the north-south part of the line.) 

The fourth image is of an old European Union “Urban” mural showing the north Belfast skyline, including Cave Hill (and Napoleon’s Nose) and Belfast Lough. (For more info on Urban II and the mural, see minute 17 onward in this NVTv documentary).

03268 2016-01-25 Painting Peace Line Statue+

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03266 2016-01-25 Painting Peace Line Urban+

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God Approves Our Undertakings

03255 2016-01-20 G Skeleton+

The All-Seeing Eye Of Providence joins the Eye Of Horus in a conspiracy-minded mural by Visual Waste at the Muddlers’ Club in Belfast. The eye is familiar from Freemasons and the 1 dollar bill in US currency (and the Illuminati!). Also included – against a background consisting of a secret handshake, a skull, and a floating skeleton – are the Square & Compasses of the Freemasons (with a “G” for “God” or “geometry”) a set of scales weighing money, a crown, the word “FATE” tattooed across the knuckles, a keyhole, a gem, the dollar sign, a drop of water, and the Chi-Rho of Catholic and Coptic faiths.

To the left is another, smaller, piece – see The Wider Conspiracy.

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Stardust

03263 2016-01-20 Bowie VisualWaste+

More David Bowie commemoration in Belfast’s city centre: Visual Waste (Web | Fb) reproduces Bowie as Aladdin Sane, successor to Ziggy Stardust. Here’s an Independent article on the iconic image of Bowie with blue and red lightning bolt across his face. On the make-up artist for both Aladdin Sane and Ziggy Stardust, Pierre LaRoche, see this article.

Previously: Bowie by Boyd – Oh! You Pretty Thing

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Game Of Throats

03256 2016-01-20 DarkHorseThrones Studio+

The HBO show Game Of Thrones wrapped up its sixth season recently in its customary fashion, which is to say, with intrigue and murder.

Interior scenes for the show are shot at the old Harland & Wolff ‘Paint Hall’ in the Titanic Quarter. The filming is parodied in the image above — the boom operator is wearing a Northern Ireland football top and has a tattoo saying “Is grá liom uisce” (“I love water”) on his bicep.

The popularity of the show has proven a bonanza for tourism: Wilderness Ireland provides a list of filming locations and Discover Northern Ireland has a page listing many tours. The most famous is the Dark Hedges near Ballymoney.

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Conflict Tourism

03257 2016-01-20 DarkHorse Taxi Mural Tour+

Black taxi tours of the murals from both sides of the political divide in west Belfast are a well-established part of the tourist industry. (There are also tours of east Belfast.) The various gates in the “peace” line — shown here as closing nightly at 19:69 — are generally open during daylight hours.

Previous ‘gates’ news: See-Through Sectarianism | Belfast Lock-Up.

Bonus image below: benches from the courtyard.

02790 2015-08-20 Benches+

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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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