Tullygarley

This series of boards, painted by Caroline Jeffrey, presents life in Larne from the early 20th century. As part of the 2009 Re-Imaging Project, it is largely non-sectarian, and begins with the derivation of the name “Tullygarley” from the Irish for “Hillock of the Grey Calf”, but includes the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division and the gunrunning ship Clyde Valley. It replaces a “God save the queen”/1690 mural, visible here.

Info board:
“Tullygarley” means “Hillock of the Grey Calf” – thus the grey calf grazing with the cows.

The 36th Ulster Division – In September 1914 the Ulster Division was formed from the Ulster Volunteer Force which raised thirteen battalions for the three Irish regiments in Ulster.

Bleaching Green – Linen laid out in fields to bleach. The Bleaching Factory interior depicts the Bleaching process. (The building is currently derelict.) Blue Flax Flowers are the national floral emblem of Northern Ireland.

Local Primary School, Inver and Larne, known locally as “the Bridge”, as it looked in the 1930’s with the Inver River running through it. The bridge that the school was named after no longer exists.

Linen Factory of Glyn [Glynn] Road (no longer exists, site of abandoned garage) with inset depicting workers with weaving machines (circa 1924).

The old Tullygarley playground (mural site) with the Fountain in the foreground, and rows of houses on either side (Glynn Road and South Circular Road).

Sun Laundry Van. Sun Laundry showing people working inside (now Rea’s Furnishings, Bank Road).

Larne Lough – it is an area of special interest, a special protection area and a Ramsar site in order to protect the wetland environment.

SS Clyde Valley – launched in July 1886. Was used in 1914 to transport arms from Hamburg to Larne.

Roseate Tern – Larne Lough is the only breeding colony in Northern Ireland for the Roseate Tern, one of the UK’s rarest birds.

Glynn Road, Larne

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2009, 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00334 X05035 X05036 X05037 [X00466] X05038 [X05039] X05040 X02556

The Pictures

“Artist Daniela Balmaverde has worked with older members of the local community to reminisce and to appreciate those from North Belfast who have made an impact on our broader society. A multiplicity of initiatives has altered the face and conditions of life in this community with Re-Imaging making a positive contribution to a long-term process. The project was launched by the Lord Mayor on August 2009 This project was funded through the Re-Imaging Communities programme of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and delivered by Belfast City Council with the support of Lower Ormeau Road Resident’s Action Group. This project is supported by the Shared Communities Consortium.”

The figures in the mural include Buck Alec Robinson, Rinty Monaghan, Sam McAughtry, Sir James Galway, Dame Mary Peters, Norman Whiteside, and Wayne McCullough. The mural replaced is the one equating the American Confederates with the Ulster Volunteers in Alliance Crescent.

Update: 2022 shot of the blanked wall

Copyright © 2009 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00331 [X00332] X05041 X05042 X05043 [X05044] [X05045] X05046 X05047 [X05048] X05049 X05050 [X05051]
Copyright © 2022 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X10754 X10753

Shankill A-Z

The Drumcree mural (2004 | 2008) is re-imaged in 2009 by this ‘Shankill A-Z’ board, designed by Lesley Cherry.

While bands get mentioned in three letters (“B” for “bands”, “D” for “drums” and “F” for “flutes”), “Unionism” is recast as “working-class ethics” and (perhaps the most striking “re-imaging”) under “X” it is claimed that the people of the lower Shankill voted for the Good Friday Agreement.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2009 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00336 X00337 X00338

Charter Youth Club/Sandy Row Womans Group

Here is a complete set of the nine panels on Blythe Street, five from the Charter Youth Club, four from the Sandy Row Womans Group [sic].

Blythe Street, Sandy Row, south Belfast

Update (2014): The Womans Group/Women’s Group panels were featured in more detail in Mr Saturday Night and Those Days Are Gone.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2007 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00204 X00205 X00207 X00206 X00208 X00211 [X00210] [X00209] X00212 X00214 [X00213] X00215 X00216 X00217 [X00218] [X00219]

Our Family Of “Nations”

The fourteenth and final panel in Thorndyke Street contains a number of small panels, including the two above, along with emblems of local Orange and Black lodges, John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields, a list of acknowledgements, and a copyright claim.

For a list of entries for each panel, see East Belfast Historical And Cultural Society.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00012 X00017 X00033

Hitler Attacks Belfast

From the info board, added later: In the blitz of 15/16th April 1941, “Across Belfast 745 civilians were killed, 420 were seriously injured and more than 1,000 less seriously. April and May 1941 an estimated 56,000 houses were damaged.”

One of fourteen panels in Thorndyke Street, east Belfast. For a list of entries for each panel, see East Belfast Historical And Cultural Society.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2004 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X00019 X00018 [X01540]