The waste-ground at the corner of Templemore Avenue and Newtownards Road (where the flyers featured in Harland & Why were posted) was given a face-lift with images of east Belfast heroes Van Morrison and George Best and the words “East Side – Inspiring Belfast”. The red-white-and-blue is supplied by the phone-boxes and the passer-by.
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Copyright © 2013 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Her Majesty’s Prison Belfast, better known as The Crumlin Road Gaol, was visited by the Queen on Tuesday (2014-06-24), probably not at the beckoning of this advertisement on the corner of Divis and Northumberland streets, next to the mural of Kieran Nugent and Brendan Hughes. One of the former residents of the jail, Martin McGuiness, showed the Queen around (which not everyone was happy with – The Guardian).
The jail opened in 1846 (under Queen Victoria, during the Hunger), closed in 1996, was transferred to OFM/dFM in 2003, and opened to the public in 2007 (DSI). Other notable prisoners include seven militant suffragettes (among them Dorothy Evans and Madge Muir, arrested for possession of explosives BBC – includes 6 min. audio | Belfast Suffragettes | WRDA), Eamon De Valera, Bobby Sands, Ian Paisley, and Michael Stone (WP), as well as Tom Mitchell and Phil Clarke, elected to Westminster in 1955 for Sinn Féin while still in prison (An Phoblacht).
Audio tour of the prison from CultureNI | Video footage of the Queen’s visit from The Telegraph.
The (unattributed) photo on which the Kieran Nugent mural is based in included below. See also this BBC video.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01914 the only way they’ll get a prison uniform on me is if they nail it to my back the first blanket man free margaritta d’arcy margaretta (WP) smash h-block wanted for murder and torture irish torchlight march rally margaret thatcher
One more piece of graffiti related to the arrest and questioning of Sınn Féın leader Gerry Adams at the start of May from the junction of Finaghy Road North and Trench Park.
Previously: In-Former Republicans (1) | In-Former Republicans (2) | It Was Gerry | Get The Real Story
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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“In-Former Republicans – Boston College touts – McIntyre”. The graffiti refers to the Boston College oral history project, directed by Ed Moloney and involving former IRA volunteer Anthony McIntyre (who now writes at The Pensive Quill), a collection of interviews of former members of paramilitary groups (on both sides) between 2001-2006, some of which the PSNI gained access to after legal action and which are reported to have formed the basis of Gerry Adams’s interrogation (see Get The Real Story). More background from the BBC.
For legal commentary, see Folkman Law.
Wall Street, Carrick Hill, west Belfast. The same graffiti appeared on Divis Street.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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More graffiti relating to the Gerry Adams arrest last week, this time on Divis Street: “In-Former Republicans – Boston College touts”. The graffiti refers to a collection of interviews made by former members of paramilitary groups (on both sides), some of which the PSNI gained access to after legal action and which are reported to have formed the basis of Adams’s interrogation. More background from the BBC.
The graffiti also appeared in Wall Street.
Previously in this location: Divis Isn’t Working.
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Copyright © 2014 Extramural Activity
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“Peacemaker, leader, visionary”. A new mural of Sınn Féın leader Gerry Adams was officially unveiled yesterday (Saturday, May 3rd, 2014), taking its place on the International Wall between the Local Volunteers mural and the current WBTA mural (and replacing the Falls Curfew mural).
The second image, below, is of the Adams piece alone. The mural was quickly painted after Adams’s arrest on Wednesday evening (April 30th) after he went for questioning about the Jean McConville case (see also: Headstone); he was released today without charge. An earlier version of the mural (completed May 2) had the word “tout” spray-painted on it on the night of May 2nd-3rd, in the location where “ar aghaıdh lınn” now appears.
A sizeable crowd turned out, as the launch served as a rally in support of Adams, featuring a statement by Martin McGuinness. As can be seen in the third image, below, of McGuinness and Martina Anderson, protesters at the unveiling/rally carried posters showing a picture of Adams with Nelson Mandela, between the words “Defend the peace process – Release Gerry Adams TD”. Video of the launch/rally from the BBC | images from the BelTel.
For the WBTA mural on the left, see Local History From Local People.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01813 X03002 X01816 fear an phobaıl, ar aghaıgh linn, west belfast taxi association local history from local people 40 years unbroken service
Graffiti in the Rathcoole estate, in Newtownabbey just north of Belfast, “It was Gerry [Adams]”, next to “RHC” – “Red Hand Commandos”.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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The latest message on Slıabh Dubh (Black Mountain) went up on Thursday and is gone today (Saturday). It is the work of the 1916 Societies and their ‘One Ireland, One Vote’ campaign. (See the GaelForceArt Fb page for shots of the work in progress.) The Belfast Telegraph reports that politicians, including Jim McVeigh of Sınn Féın, have called for signs on the mountainside to cease. However, the field in which the signs appear – known as the Hatchet Field – is privately owned.
Also: Visual History of the messages on Black Mountain
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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This printed tarp on the side of the Falls Road commemorates the ten 1981 hunger strikers (along with Frank Stagg, Michael Gaughan, Nora Connolly, and Maıréad Farrell, paired with international figures Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Leonard Peltier, and Nelson Mandela) and features a verse from a Bobby Sands poem The Crime Of Castlereagh: “All things must come to pass as one/So hope should never die/There is no height or bloody might/That a freeman can’t defy./There is no source or foreign force/Can break one man who knows,/That his free will no thing can kill/And from that freedom grows.”
This tarp, which is 20′ x 20′, was printed from Mo Chara’s original 8′ x 8′ painting; it was also printed on a 30′ x 30′ tarp in New York. For all three, see the Chronological Catalogue of Mo Chara’s works.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01742 freedom saoırse easter lily an róısín roısín dubh mahatma gandhi MLK martin luther king nelson mandela fuıseog barbed wire their cause is ours dedicated brave irish sacrificed
This board on the Cupar Way “peace” line is a project young people in the Impact Training train (part of the Greater Shankill Partnership) concerning murals over the years. Its face has been changed by hundreds of messages and signatures of visitors from all over the world.
“The Changing Faces artwork is a project that has been undertaken by a group of young people from Impact Training . They looked to their surrounding area where they explored and documented how it appears in 2010. What is the Shankill? What does it look like and what does it mean to youth culture now? Murals have been something that has been prevalent in the community for many years. Times change, opinions soften and people can begin to build a changing face.”
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 