Monkstown WWI mural in four quadrants showing the emblem of the 36th (Ulster) Division, a soldier at the cross in the Thiepval Cemetery, soldiers feeding a belt of ammunition into a Vicker’s machine gun, and others loading a Stokes mortar.
The background, at least, has been repainted on this UFF mural in Monkstown with three hooded gunmen in balaclavas, black jackets, and blue jeans posing with assault rifles on an outline of the north coast in the colours of the Northern Irish flag. For the original, see Monkstown UFF 1st Batt.
UDA mural in Monkstown “Simply The Best”, along with a faded UVF wall with “The Ulster People’s Army” on one half and “Taigs out” over “Ulster Volunteer Force” on the other. For the mural in the background, see M03088.
Canadian physician John McCrae’s poem In Flanders Fields and the triple arches of the Thiepval memorial to the missing are featured in this Monkstown mural. It is McCrae’s poem that is thought to have given rise to the use of the poppy as a symbol of military remembrance (WP). A close-up of the right-hand side, showing the memorial, is below. The names of over 72,000 dead are inscribed on the memorial (WP | travelfranceonline).
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row/That mark our place; and in the sky/The larks, still bravely singing, fly/Scarce heard amid the guns below.//We are the Dead. Short days ago/We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,/Loved and were loved, and now we lie/In Flanders fields//Take up our quarrel with the foe:/To you from failing hands we throw/The torch; be yours to hold it high./If ye break faith with us who die/We shall not sleep/Though poppies grow/In Flanders fields.”
There are both UDA and UVF murals along Devenish Drive in Monkstown. Here we have a UDA hooded gunman, along with insignia and mottoes of the UFF/UDA/UYM. The UFF/UYM with a red hand closed into a fist, the open palm of the UDA; UFF – Feriens Tego; UYM – Terrae Filius; UDA – Quis Separabit.
This Monkstown mural commemorates four UDA volunteers: Malcolm Fisher, Colin Weir, Jim McClurg and William Hobbs. Hobbs and McClurg were killed when a bomb went off prematurely (CAIN’s Sutton Index 1977) ; there is no mention of the other two. Please leave a comment or send an e-mail if you have any information.
Two masked men with assault rifles flank the red fist and white star emblem of the Ulster Freedom Fighters. The figure on the left is shown in detail below. The South East Antrim UDA’s tumultuous history is substantial enough to warrant its own WP page.
David Lee was a founder, in 1985, of Pride Of The Hill Flute Band in Carnmoney/Ballyduff. Kris Muckle – now deceased – was a long-time member. (Band Parades) Both are commemorated in this mural. If you know what territory is outlined around the red hand in the centre, please comment/e-mail. Our best guess is that it is Carnmoney Hill.
UVF mural showing the flags and insignia of the UVF and YCV (Young Citizen Volunteers), Ballyduff/Glengormley 1st East Antrim Battalion, alongside the flags of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
“They paid the ultimate sacrifice”. The UVF/YCV mural above on a Ballyduff electrical station shows WWI soldiers from the 36th (Ulster) Division in relief against an orange sky (perhaps “at the going down of the sun”), picking their way across the battlefields of Flanders. The Ulster Memorial at Thiepval, which commemorates the 5,000 lost lives and more specifically the role of Orange Order members, is shown in the top left corner of the smaller wall. A plaque, hidden behind the low wall to the right but shown below in close-up, indicates sponsorship from the UVF “1st East Antrim Battalion, Ballyduff & Glengormley”.