City/Town

Operation Iraqi Liberation

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This two-panel mural on the International Wall on Divis Street protests the US occupation of Iraq.

On the left, George W. Bush sucks down Iraqi oil (and black bubbles with dollar-signs come out of his ears). On the right, Iraq lies in rubble and bones, conquered by a tattered US flag. (According to the artists – see final image – the frame on the right reproduces/is based on a magazine cover during the Viet Nam war.) The “British Support Hook” is has been added in the strip in the middle between the main panels.

Originally, the given reason for “Operation Iraqi Freedom” (not “liberation” as that would have yielded “OIL”) was the hunt for “weapons of mass destruction” but that search was suspended in January.

The mural to the left is Cherish The Children; to the right is Castilla Nacion.

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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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george w bush rockets red glare gave proof through the air that our flag was still there basra Bhaghdad Baghdad

Recycle Centre/Civic Amenity

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More graffiti referencing Johnny Adair: “J-Adair his only crime killed a young handicap Protestant lad”. The “lad” in question was Noel Cardwell, who had a mental age of 12. His crime was to tell the RUC the names of two men who had spiked his drink; they were UDA and friends of Adair. He was beaten and shot in the head (Sunday Mirror). Adair denied involvement and was not charged with the killing when arrested on charges of directing terrorism.

Huss Row, lower Shankill, west Belfast

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Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Hedge Row School

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“Labhaır an teanga Ghaeılge lıom.” Catholic (and Presbyterian) education was prohibited by the penal laws (WP) and particularly the Education Act of 1695 (WP) – this is probably what’s on the notice on the left-hand tree. Schooling by Catholics (in Irish) nonetheless took place, in covert houses and outhouses, as well as in fields and hedge-rows. The Act was repealed in 1782, provided the teacher took an oath of allegiance to the Crown.

The mural is in Ardoyne Avenue, alongside the Mass Rock mural. See also the Cromwell mural in the lower Shankill estate.

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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
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The Mass Rock

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This mural commemorates the repression of Catholicism and use of mass rocks as secret locations in the days of Cromwellian conquest and the penal laws, c. 1650-1800. The 1652 Act Of Settlement banished Catholic priests from the island and services had to be held at short notice in remote locations, with sentries posted to keep watch against soldiers from the New Model Army. Laws against the practice of Catholicism in Ireland were not lifted until the 1782 Roman Catholic Relief Act (PCUG).

“Is í an charraıg seo ıonad adhartha ar náıthreacha, áıt ar cothaıodh an creıdeamh do na glúnta a bhí le teacht.” [“This rock is our ancestors’ place of worship, where religion was preserved for the generations that were to come.”]

Ardoyne Avenue, Ard Eoın/Ardoyne, north Belfast

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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
X00067 ıs í an charraıg seo ıonad adhartha ar náıthreacha áıt ar cothaıodh an creıdeamh do na glúnta a bhí le teacht

The Great Hunger

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Board remembering An Gorta Mór, The Great Hunger, The Famine/Genocide (WP) with an (actual) old-fashioned plough in front. There is a Visual History page on The Great Hunger.

“They buried us without shroud or coffin” is a line from an unrelated Seamus Heaney poem Requiem For The Croppies. The imagery comes from the Illustrated London News: (from left to right) The Ejectment, The Day After The Ejectment, The Embarkation, Waterloo Docks Liverpool.

Update: Replaced in 2012 by Staır Na Gaeılge.

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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
X00046 eviction, emmigration, ardoyne art & environment project

Easter Lilies

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Easter lilies, starry plough (WP), Irish tricolour, black beret and gloves, commemorating dead IRA volunteers from the third battalion of the Belfast brigade.

The plaque on the stone in the corner thanks local residents for their contribution to the struggle. There’s a close-up of the stone in Peter Moloney’s collection (M02420).

“This mural is dedicated to the memory of those local republican activists [34 portraits of volunteers from “A, D, F foıreannacha, cathlann 3rú, Brıogáıd mBéal Feırste”] who devoted their lives to the cause of Irish freedom. Ar son na c[ú]ıse. Óglaıgh na hÉıreann. Unveiled by Sınn Féın councillors Martin Meehan and Margaret McClenaghan.”

“Many suffer so that some day future generations may live in justice and peace – Bobby Sands MP.”

“Dedicated to those friends and neighbours from Ardoyne, the Bone and Ligoniel whose contribution and support to our struggle was and remains invaluable. Aıthníonn muıd a gcrógacht. Óglaıgh na hÉıreann. Meán Fómhaır 2003.”

Ardoyne Avenue, north Belfast

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Copyright © 2004 Cathal Woods
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