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Are You Sitting Comfortably?

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JJB Sports is still closed (since 2012) and the Weatherspoons never materialised, so Leo Boyd’s (web | ig | Fb) art on the hoarding has expanded into a triptych with pieces on either side of No Signal. In June he added the piece on the right (shown below), and now on the left (shown above, with signature) is one in a series called “Are You Sitting Comfortably?” The Vault’s Christmas market is on this weekend at HQ on the Newtownards Road – tickets can be booked on Fb.

Previously by Leo.

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The Glen Memory Wall

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The Cregagh Glen – Lisnabreeny walk (National Trust) is home to a memorial marking the site of the (former) Lisnabreeny American Military Cemetery (recorded separately). Today’s images feature a smaller and more recent memorial site, to the coronavirus lockdown. The sign asks for colourful items such as locks and ribbons but the picture above also shows a Translink ticket and a doggie poop bag.

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Dire Wolf

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Dawn Aston’s (ig) wolf in High Street, Larne, is inspired by the dire wolves in Game Of Thrones (BelTel) and ties that to the disappearance of wolves from Ireland: “Local legend claims that the last wolf in Ireland was found dead in 1712 near a village near Camlough and that the locals rejoiced to be finally rid of the beast, which had taken their livestock and given their children nightmares.”

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The Maidens

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The Maidens was originally a pair of lighthouses built on a pair of rocky islets (also called the Maidens) about 9 km from Ballygally, first made operational in 1729. One tower was abandoned in 1903 and the remaining tower was automated in 1977 (WP).

“Audrey Kyle is a watercolour artist from Islandmagee and draws inspiration from the area’s rich maritime history and beautiful scenery. Her painting shows one of the Maidens Lighthouses off the coast of Islandmagee, along with a Schooner and the Princess Victoria. This is to demonstrate maritime history both old and new. One of the local stories related to the Maidens is from 1830s when the Assistant Keeper of one lighthouse fell in love with daughter of the keeper of the other. He would visit his love by boat, until the girl’s father found out and he forbade them to meet. The story ends with the couple eloping to Carrickfergus on the mainland.”

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Fair Head

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Glentaisie Drive – site of this mural by Friz (web) – is named for Glentaisie, the glen – one of the nine Glens Of Antrim, at the foot of which lies Ballycastle – and Glentaisie is named for Taise Taobhgheal (Taise the bright-cheeked), daughter of King Donn of Rathlin island, renowned for her beauty, and who lived in the glen with her husband Congal, who had to kill the Norwegian king Nabghdon to prevent her being carried off (Archaeology Ireland). Or so they say. She also inspired the name “Fair Head” for the local cliffs. Or so they say.

In later years (1565), Sorley Boy MacDonnell was taken prisoner by the O’Neill’s after a battle in Glentaisie (WP).

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