Organ Donation week officially ended on September 13th but the murals are still to be seen, on the “International Wall” on Divis Street, Belfast, and, as shown above, on Free Derry Corner, showing 3-year-old Dáıthí Mac Gabhann.
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Copyright © 2020 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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Clare Crockett gave up her acting career (IMDb) to become a Servant Sister. She is pictured in the info board along with the five postulants who died with her during a 2016 earthquake in Playa Prieta, Ecuador. A web site has been established in her memory and a movie made about her life; there have been calls to make her a saint (Irish News). (Update, Jan 2025: Crockett is to be beatified – Irish Times)
Painted by UV Arts (tw) in Derry’s Brandywell, where she originally came from (BelTel).
“Sr Clare Crockett was born in Derry 14th November 1982. The daughter of Gerard and Margaret Crockett. During a Holy Week Retreat in Spain in the year 2000 she experienced the intensity of the Lord’s Death and Resurrection that led to a deep conversion of her life. Sr Clare entered the Servant Sisters of the House of the Mother 11th August 2001. She went to found a new community in Jacksonville, Florida in October 2006. Sr Clare took Perpetual vows 8th September 2010. In 2014, Sr Clare undertook the mission in Ecuador. She died in an Earthquake, protecting her pupils 16th April 2016. She was buried in Derry 2nd May 2016.”
“Sister Clare’s Prayer: Heavenly Father, for your Glory, that or [of] your beloved Son, that of the Holy Spirit and that of the Mother Of God, we ask that grant us the grace (mention your request in the silence of your heart) … as a sign that the life of our Sister Clare Theresa Crockett has been pleasing to you on this earth and that she is now rejoicing with you in Heaven. We ask this through your Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Update, 2026: the mural has been repainted.
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“The people of Derry support the Donohoe family.” Free Derry Corner is given blue hearts in support of the campaign for more information about the disappearance of Belfast teenager Noah. See previously: #RememberMyNoah | Wide Blue Yonder | Gloria Ab Intus.
A small photograph of John Hume, which was added to the yellow version of the “NHS keyworkers” wall after his death on August 3rd was shifted from the centre to the left-hand side.
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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” This RSYM (tw) mural in William Street, Derry, expresses solidarity with the protests over the killing of George Floyd by the Minneapolis PD. Among Floyd’s last words were “I can’t breathe.” The painter was surveilled and arrested on his way home from painting the mural (IRSP) perhaps because he included “ACAB” [all cops are bastards].
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“Seasaıgí an fód ın aghaıdh an chıníochaıs – Stand [your ground] against racism”. The back of Free Derry Corner has been given a Sınn Féın board in support of the protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In the foreground is a banner in support of (former) ETA member Patxi Ruiz, who quit his 31-day hunger strike protesting prison abuse yesterday (2020-06-10). He is serving 30 years for the 1998 murder of a Pamplona city councillor (ABC). “Tá muıd lıbh! [We are with you!] Espetxeak apurtu! [Break the prisons!]”
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This is the pro-NHS mural in Newbuildings, south of London-/Derry. The “S” of NHS has been turned into the “S” of superman (see also Prepared For Work, Ready For Coronavirus). The rainbow (7-stripe rather than the gay pride 6-stripe) has become a symbol of positivity in the time of the coronavirus pandemic (see e.g. NHS Forever | Thank You, Postmen).
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Copyright © 2020 Andy McDonagh/Eclipso Pictures (ig | Fb)
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The garden of remembrance in Newbuildings was opened in November, 2018, and has grown to include several boards (second image), including “Newbuildings Victoria LOL 1087 remembers our murdered brethren.” (for “Orange Victims” day in September, 2019), troops going over the top at the Somme, and a Celtic Cross with Irish-based British Army regiments (and their battles): Royal Irish Rifles, Royal Irish Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rangers, and Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. On the front railings are now tarps related to the pandemic (“Thank you to all our NHS staff and essential workers from the local Orange family. Together fighting Covid-19”) and the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
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The Siege Of Derry began in June 1689 when King James II was rebuffed with cries of “No surrender!” It lasted 105 days, during which about half of the townspeople died. Part of the siege equipment was a boom placed across the River Foyle about halfway between Derry and Culmore. Five ships took part in ending the siege. Shown in this new Tullyally mural (by Glen Molloy) is the Dartmouth, which attacked the shoreline besiegers at Culmore so that three small ships could bring in provisions – the Mountjoy and Phoenix approaching the boom and the Jerusalem hanging back until success was assured. They were accompanied by a longboat from the Swallow, filled with sailors who with “hatchets and cutlasses” were “hewing and hacking away at the boom” (Witherow at Library Ireland) so that it could be broken by Mountjoy.
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Commentary on the coronavirus pandemic Great James Street, London-/Derry: “Lockdown is killing thousands. Covid = Flu”. The coronavirus ‘shelter in place’ orders in the UK and Ireland have various negative health consequences, including poverty from unemployment, an increase in alcohol consumption and domestic violence, and an unwillingness to seek medical attention for non-Covid-related ailments. But it’s far from clear that “thousands” have died. Nonetheless, the continued isolation and disruption to normal living is proving difficult to bear.
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The Derry Girls, and the wee fella, James, are now a tourist attraction, thanks to the success of the television show.
It is reported that they have been given masks in support of NHS and essential workers during the coronavirus pandemic (Derry Now).
In Orchard St, London-/Derry, by UVArts (ig).
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 