The Old New Lodge

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Ed Reynolds has completed a set of more than 20 panels at the switchback steps and ramps that lift pedestrians from North Queen Street into the New Lodge estate. As described on his web site, many of the panels are based on old photographs of the area and its residents. The work was officially unveiled on Wednesday (June 18th) and was sponsored by New Lodge Arts and Belfast City Council.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Faces From The Past

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Here is a final set of images of the New Lodge community mural, painted by Ed Reynolds. Above is a detail from one of the panels. Below are a wide shot of the whole, a picture of Ed repairing the vandalism which can be see towards the left of the wide shot, and finally one of the crew covering the piece in an anti-graffiti varnish.

More images of the work in progress can be seen at Ed’s web site, steadyhanded.com.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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St. Patrick’s

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St. Patrick’s on Donegall Street serves as the local Catholic church for the New Lodge. Its spire rises above the houses in a detail from the community mural at the bottom of the New Lodge, painted by Ed Reynolds (steadyhanded.com), based on vintage photographs of the area and its residents.

Previously: The Old New Lodge | On My Wedding Day

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Joe The Goal

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Cliftonville FC are 2013-2014 NI Premiership and League Cup champions thanks in part to player of the year Joe Gormley who scored 37 goals during the season – a club record. He is shown here breaking an LP record.

Previously: The Red Army  | Just Can’t Get Enough (Cliftonville – Celtic) | Welcome To Our Park

Unveiled 2014-05-17. Replaces a “Say No 2 Drug Dealers” board

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Between Mountains

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The Medjugorje [here, Medugorje] mural on Berwick Road in Ard Eoın/Ardoyne has been touched up. The mural shows an apparition of “Our Lady Of Medjugorje, The Queen Of Peace” and St. James Church in the countryside “between the mountains” in (what is now) Herzegovina. The town became famous after two apparitions in 1981 and since then has been a destination for pilgrims (WP).

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Growing Up Too Fast

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A young girl wearing an adult’s pushes a pram in the first of a dozen panels from the new ‘Fáılte go dtí Ard Eoın’ mural in Ardyone Avenue. The image is perhaps based on the (unattributed) photo, shown below the images of the mural.

2-3: The woman on the right is a spinner – her job is to ensure that the fibres of threads being wound together to make a strong thread do not break. The occupation of the man on the right is unknown. Please comment or send an e-mail if you recognize his occupation.

5-6: Two panels featuring boxers, possibly Freddie Gilroy and Eamonn Magee — leave a comment or e-mail if you can identify either.

8: Holy Cross church on the Crumlin Road.

9: A British soldier patrols the streets while a girl walks home from school and a boy plays hurley. This is one of the panels in the long mural at the shops on Ardoyne Avenue.

10-11: Two go-karters appear to be brandishing bottles as they ride while, to their left, two (rather stylish?) youths appear to be banging bin-lids.

“Is fearr Gaeılge brıste ná Bearla [Béarla] clıste” means “Broken Irish is better than clever English”.

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The Inaccessible Present

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A new mural on the International Wall combines two current events. One is the furore surrounding the recent description of Islam as “satanic” by Belfast pastor James McConnell (Tele) and a ‘Rally Against Racism’ that took place on Saturday (31st) (Tele). The middle of the mural reads “Respect and defend our Muslim brothers + sisters – kardeslik azadi”.

The other is the death of Maya Angelou (WP), who died this past Wednesday (May 28th). Angelou is pictured in the top half of the mural with Muhammad Ali along with a quote: “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the past inaccessible.”

In the bottom half appear Padraıg Pearse and James Connolly and a line from the Proclamation of the Irish Republic: “Cherish all the children of the nation equally.”

Takes the place of the Miami Five.

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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Belfast’s Infamous Prison

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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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