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

Britannia

“The Union flag, or Union Jack, is the national flag of the United Kingdom and it is so called because it embodies the emblems of three countries united under one sovereign – the Kingdoms of England and Wales, of Scotland and of Ireland. The flag consists of three heraldic crosses, those of St Patrick, St George and St Andrew. The Welsh dragon does not appear on the Union flag. This is because when the first Union flag was created in 1606, Wales by that time was already united with England and was no longer a separate principality.”

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
X00029 X00028

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]

Defending The Community

This (ninth) panel shows UDA paramilitaries (the UVF was formed in 1965, the UDA in 1971) standing guard in front of a barricade of sand-bags.

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
X01642 [X00015] [X00016] ulster news people take stand against republican tyranny july 1972 bloody friday 9 killed 130 injured by pira bombs june 1970 2 dead 28 injured people shot like flies by provo gunmen the city is saved civil and religious liberty for all better the grave than slavery their sacrifice our freedom united kingdom ulster to britain hitler attacks belfast unity solidarity their loyalty betrayed out of the ashes new life

United Kingdom

The central panel in Thorndyke Street, Belfast, reproduces a postcard from during the Home Rule debate: “Ulster to Britain: thou mayest find another daughter with a fairer face than mine, with a gayer voice and sweeter and a softer eye than mine; but thou canst not find another that will love thee half so well!” The Ulster Banner (a flag of Northern Ireland) is used to represent Ireland in the quartet of flags while the shamrock stands alongside daffodil, rose, and thistle. For the Anglo-Norman French around the crown’s coat of arms, see Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense.

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
X00027 [X00030]

Their Sacrifice, Our Freedom

“As we scrambled over the trench ladders the Y.C.V. flag appeared.” One of the many panels in an extended mural in Thorndyke Street, this one inspired by a drawing by Jim Maultsaid, who joined the YCV in 1914 and kept a diary and sketch-book. More of his sketches can be found as part of the Friends Of The Somme’s account of the war in 1916.

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
X00026

Better The Grave Than Slavery

“How is freedom measured? By the effort which it costs to retain freedom!” (See also How Is Freedom Measured? and Deserted! Well – I Can Stand Alone.) This anti-Home Rule mural is the fifth of fourteen panels in Thorndyke Street, east Belfast. The “Ulster Unionist Convention” is connected to the Ulster Defence Union. The mural copies a WWI propaganda postcard.

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
X00011 [X00010]