IRA

Killed In Action

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“Killed in action” (on the mural) or “on active service” (on the plaque) often means killed by a bomb exploding prematurely, as in the case of Finbarr McKenna, who died in Crocus Street intending to attack the RUC station on the Springfield Road at Violet Street. Here is an account of McKenna’s death from a British soldier. Lost Lives estimates that as many as 163 volunteers (9% of the total killed by the IRA) died from premature explosions. Footage of McKenna’s funeral appears in the (Sınn Féın-produced) account of Larry Marley’s funeral.

The plaque dates back to at least 2004.

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04992 In memory of IRA Volunteer Finbarr McKenna who died on active service in Crocus St. 2nd May 1987. Erected by the Greater Clonard Ex-Prisoners Association.

Here To Stay

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The wall of the Royal (on the Falls just above Springfield Road) continues to serve as a prime spot for graffiti. “IRA – here to stay” is connected with the recent controversy over “IRA” lettering and an assault rifle (Belfast Live) mounted on flagposts both here (Irish News) and on Divis Street (see Life In The Old Dogs Yet).

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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McLarnan, McCabe, Doherty

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“Dedicated to the memory of INLA volunteer Matt McLarnon, Nora McCabe and Peter Doherty who were murdered in this area by British state forces during the 1981 H-Block hunger strike. A Mhuıre banríon na nGael guí ar a son”. The area in question is Clonard/Falls. Doherty and McCabe were hit by plastic bullets; McLarnon was shot by a sniper on Divis tower. Erected by a Sınn Féın group (Lower Falls/Clonard Committee) rather than INLA. Linden Street, Belfast.

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04989

32 Or Nothing

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This poster, which is all over the lower Falls, is in response to recent Gerry Adams  interviews, one with Peter Taylor, in which he told dissidents to “Go away”, and aninterview with Andrew Marr where Adams said that the IRA is gone: “We are not going anywhere, Gerry. 32 [county Ireland] or nothing … the IRA.”

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Do Not Touch

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Towards the end of August the advertising hoarding at the corner of Divis and Northumberland Streets was covered with brown paint and a warning scrawled along the bottom rail: “D-Coy wall – Do not touch – Belfast D Coy wall” (though the two “D”s were painted over). (See the second image.)

A few weeks later, the banner above was added, showing the men of the northern IRA’s D Coy “active service unit” (“ASU”), between images of the (Troubles-era) D Coy mural and memorial garden (PMC | History Carved In Stone). A direct line between the IRA of  and the PIRA unit is possible – some of the Northern Division went with Joe McKelvey, leader of the 3rd Division, to Dublin to support the anti-Treaty forces (WP) though most of the northern IRA accepted the assurance that the six counties would soon join the South. (For some guesstimates at the number of northerners who served pro-Treaty, see treasonfelony.)

But perhaps only an ideological heritage is intended, that the Black Mountain unit of 1921, and the D Coy of the Troubles, and the contemporary D Coy, alike aim at (Northern) Irish independence.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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If You Strike Us Down Now, We Shall Rise Again

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“[I assume that I am speaking to Englishmen who value their freedom, and who profess to be fighting for the freedom of Belgium and Serbia [in WWI].] Believe that we too love freedom and desire it. To us it is more than anything else in the world. If you strike us down now, we shall rise again and renew the fight. You cannot conquer Ireland; you cannot extinguish the Irish passion for freedom. If our deed has not been sufficient to win freedom, then our children will win it by a better deed – Gen. P. H. Pearse” at his court martial in 1916.

Here are eight images of the memorial plaques to deceased Ardoyne IRA fianna and ógliagh fromt he 1970s: David McAuley, Joseph Campbell, Joseph McComiskey, Bernard Fox, Charles McCann, Seamus Cassidy, Trevor McKibbin, James McDade, Gerard McDade, James Reid, Terry Toolan, Brian Smyth, Paddy McAdorey, Denis Brown, Jim Mulvenna, Jackie Mailey, Frankie Donnelly, Laurence Montgomery.

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X04494 X04495 X04496 X04496 X04497 X04498 X04499 X04500 X04493 herbert st

Brıogáıd Dhoıre

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The Linsfort Drive (Creggan) memorial garden (see M02663 and M02775) is featured in the centre of this board of IRA volunteers from the 2nd battalion of the Derry Brigade. There are two similarly designed boards to the 1st battalion in Westland Street and in Lecky Road.

Below is a fresh “IRA” nail-up in Central Drive.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Those Who Gave Their Lives

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“We salute those who gave their lives for Irish freedom”, including James Connolly and Padraig Pearse in the 1916 Easter Rising, planned by Pearse (and others in the military committee of the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). The IRA would be formed in 1919. The mural in the wide shot was featured in Mothers & Sisters.

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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