Carrickfergus

Sweet Way To Go Gay!

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“Handily packed, delicious to eat, Spangles are the fruitiest sweet! Only 3d a packet. Made by Mars.” A 1952 magazine advertisement for Spangles in the window of a vintage shop in Carrickfergus, showing a street party, perhaps in anticipation of the coronation of Elizabeth II, 16 months after she became queen in February 1952. The boiled sweets were a staple of life until 1984 (WP).

Other early ads for Spangles, which were introduced in 1950, note the price is 3d “and only one point”, meaning that customers would have to use one of the 16 points for non-essential goods from their ration books; control of sweets did not end until February, 1953 (WP).

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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100 Years Of The Covenant

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The covenant was signed in September 1912 (as captured in another famous image from Belfast’s City Hall — see Betting Office). The mural above uses the text of the Covenant as a backdrop to a composite of Edward Carson speaking and a row of Ulster Volunteers, formed in January 1913 (see the similar mural First World War).

Alain Miossec/Murals Irlande Du Nord has a post comparing this painted version with the previous plastic version, which is almost identical, apart from Stormont as a backdrop rather than the text of the Covenant.

Carnhill Walk, Castlemara, Carrickfergus

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Carrickfergus Castle

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The initial Carrickfergus Castle was built in 1177 and today functions as a major tourist attraction. The foot soldier in chainmail and kettle hat in the image above can be seen (in statue form) at the castle, along with a variety of other soldiers from the Norman and English forces that held the castle throughout the centuries.

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Out On The Tiles

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A happier image from Oakfield Drive (compared to Glenfield Community Noticeboard): the interests of local children are reflected in the tiles they made: a Union flag and Ulster banner but also a heart and “Liverpool”. One of four such tile collages on the front of the (now-defunct) Glenfield Community Association building.

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Glenfield Community Noticeboard

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February 2015 saw the controversial painting of two UDA murals in the Glenfield estate, Carrickfergus. They are now graffitied over with “child beaters”, “fuck ur UDA” (above) and “child molester”, “fuck yerz” and the red hand x’ed out (below). It’s not clear what (or who) the allegations concern.

For the originals, see Glenfield Community Association.

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Glenfield Community Association

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The 2010 work of Jade, Andi, Katie, Leigh, Ellen, Lyndsay, Shannon, and Hannah on the substation at the top of the Glenfield estate’s Oakfield Road has been replaced this week by a new UDA mural sporting a hooded gunman facing the viewer with a slogan borrowed from Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata: “Better to die on your feet than live on your knees in an Irish republic. Join the UDA.”. The two wide shots below allow you to compare the scene this week with last week.

The mural has been criticized by both DUP and Alliance councillors (Newsletter). The final words – Join the UDA – have drawn particular ire, as in other respects it is similar to other murals in featuring hooded gunmen, such as these two other Carrickfergus murals: Inclusion | Eternal Vigilance.

Nolan Show discussion of the mural on 2015-02-11: Part 1 | Part 2

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Alternative Ulster

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The upper flag on the right-hand side of this mural – purple saltire on a blue background with star and red hand – is the proposed flag of Ulster nationalists. The position was espoused by the UDA of the 1970s, under the guise of the political parties the Ulster Loyalist Democratic Party and the Ulster Democratic Party, and for a time by the Red Hand Commandos under the Ulster Loyalist Central Coordinating Committee.

For the previous (identical) version, see UFF Carrickfergus in the Peter Moloney collection.

Previously: Northern Island. For the obscured mural on the right, see Out Of The Trenches.

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Between The Crosses

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This mural in Carrick has a 3D element: 312 wood poppies were hand-painted and attached to the wall, one for each local man who did not return. By artist Gary Orr. Full shot below.

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Copyright © 2015 Extramural Activity
X02501 X02502 Carrick Council, Boots Chemists, Sandra Pyper Ltd, Rustic Wood, Dalaradia, Gary’s Menswear, Robert Stewart at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them

Spray-On Culture

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2015-02-06 SprayCulture+

Spray painting is an approved type of youth activity in this Glenfield/Castlemara community mural on a low wall on Oakfield Drive. You can see the ‘coat of arms’ (from the wide shot, below) of the Glenfield Community Association more clearly via their Facebook page.

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