Out Of The Ashes Arose The Bank Building

A covered walkway has been added around the Bank Buildings to join Royal Avenue and Donegall Place while construction goes on after the fire which gutted the building on August 28th, 2018 (BBC-NI).

The artwork above is by Danni Simpson (ig | web) at the Harp Bar; an Instagram story describes the process.

A previous non-militaristic used of the phoenix: Belfast Phoenix by Andy Council in North Street.

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Larne For A Happy Holiday

These three (reproduction) advertisements date to before partition. Thus (on the left) McNeill’s hotel of “Co Antrim, Ireland”, which also transported tourists along the Antrim coastline, promises information on “How to spend a cheap holiday in the north of Ireland”.

On the right is a poster for State Line steamships, which ran services from Glasgow to Liverpool to New Orleans and from Glasgow to Larne to New York (ShipsList).

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To Be Continued

Castlebrooke Investment’s Tribeca Belfast team have revealed(!) dates for a new plan and public consultation on their redevelopment project in the “triangle beside the cathedral”/North East Quarter/Royal Exchange. Here is Save the Cathedral Quarter’s description of the problems with the previous plan. In response to feedback, it seems the new plan will reduce the tower from 27 to 10 storeys and retain a redeveloped North Street arcade, among other changes (BelTel).

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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Irish Republican History Museum

The Irish Republican History Museum in Conway Mill board has returned to the so-called “International Wall” after the 1916 commemorative murals. The board is new (though it conveys the same information as before) and the painting of the cell has been given some details.

The museum is named for Eileen Hickey, a Provisional IRA member who served time in Armagh prison (An Phoblacht obituary), a cell of which is depicted in the image above. Hickey’s portrait is included in a mural opposite the museum.

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Front & Sides

The two derelict houses at the top of the Springfield Road have had a make-over, with a paint-job and fake windows showing curtains and lamps. As can be seen in the two images below, the sides remain the same, with the Ballymurphy Massacre on one side and the Mass Graves Of Ireland mural on the other. Here’s a “before” view on Google Maps.

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Benny’s

Benny’s Café was opened after the Ship Bar – run by Benny Coyle – was blown up in 1972 by a loyalist car bomb, killing two children, Clare Hughes and Paula Strong. (A memorial plaque is on the front of St Joseph’s.) Benny’s is the last remaining business in Short Street in Sailortown (BBC-NI).

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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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