2006 was the 25th anniversary of the second hunger strike, in 1981. This Ardoyne commemorative piece combines a painted border of Celtic knotwork with boards depicting scenes from 1981: a funeral volley, Derry women in blankets, women banging binlids, a masked protester throwing a Molotov cocktail at an armoured jeep, marchers outside a polling station.
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Copyright © 2008 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The close-up shows three generations of toddler hurlers, from barefoot and cloth-cap to boots and braces to baseball cap and tracksuit. Kickhams is the local Cumann Luthchleas Gael (GAA club) (Fb | tw), founded 1907, named for republican writer Charles Kickham. The mural shows football, hurling, and handball.
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Londoner Stephen Lawrence was murdered by stabbing in 1993 and, although arrests were made, no charges were brought. A 1998 public inquiry found that the Metropolitan Police Service was “institutionally racist”. In 2012, two of the original suspects were found guilty of the murder (WP). Catholic Robert Hamill was beaten to death by loyalists in Portadown in 1997 while police in an RUC land-rover looked on (WP).
Brompton Park, Ardoyne, north Belfast. The same board (in slightly different colours) appeared in Artana Street, south Belfast.
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Copyright © 2008 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“UVF” painted on sheet of metal in front of a padlocked barn on the upper Crumlin/Ballyutoag Road, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2008 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“Kill all taigs [Catholics]”. C-18 is ‘Combat 18’, a neo-Nazi movement in the UK, hence the swastika.
Glenvale Street, Woodvale, west Belfast
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“Meet our need – not developers greed”, “Local needs ignored over profit”, “Regeneration not gentification [sic]”, “We need social housing not yuppy apartments” (not shown). Graffiti on the hoarding around the (proposed) construction site on the lower Shankill Road.
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Copyright © 2008 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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These are images of three sides of the electrical sub-station beside Boundary Way (at the bottom of the lower Shankill estate) – the fourth side is up against the hoarding around the construction site. Divis tower is the distance.
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“Andrew Jackson was the 7th President of the USA and the first of Ulster-Scots descent, his family emigrated from Carrickfergus to North Carolina in 1765. After leading the army to victory in the Battle Of New Orleans in 1815 Jackson became a national hero and became known as “Old Hickory” after the tough wood of the native American tree. His “common man” credentials earned Jackson a massive popular vote and swept him into the Presidency for two consecutive terms (1829-1837).” He also hated the British, owned slaves, and signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which led to the infamous “Trail of Tears” (Irish Times).
See also the Visual History page on Ulster-Scots murals.
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“In loving memory of all our fallen comrades from A Coy, B Coy, C Coy, 2nd Batt UFF West Belfast Brigade. Murdered by the enemies of Ulster.” UDA Lieutenant-Colonel McCullough was killed by the INLA on October 16th, 1981, outside his home in Denmark Street (out of frame to the right), on information supplied by fellow UDA member James Craig, who feared that McCullough would expose his embezzling of UDA funds.
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Copyright © 2008 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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This lower Shankill mural commemorates prisoners kept in Long Kesh and the H-Blocks during the Troubles (and prior to the Agreement).
Previously, the left flank bore the letters UDA and the right flank UFF, with LPOW at the bottom of each.
Hopewell Crescent, lower Shankill, west Belfast
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 