Four generations of UK royalty: the previous Queen Elizabeth II, the current King Charles III, the heir apparent William, baron Carrickfergus – here written as “baron of Carrickfergus” (also the prince of Wales), and his nine-year-old son George. Charles’s coronation will be on May 6th, 2023.
Ballyearl Terrace, Newtownabbey.
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“Joseph Plunkett & Grace Gifford – their final embrace & farewell.” May 4th is the anniversary of the execution of Joseph Plunkett, one of the planners of the Easter Rising in 1916. Seven hours before he faced the firing squad, he married Grace Gifford. The photograph is from a re-enactment for a 1966 RTÉ programme Insurrection (RTÉ). The ballad Grace, written by Seán and Frank O’Meara in 1985, is now internationally known (here is Jim McCann’s 1985 performance).
This is one of various recent additions to the many memorials in Ard An Lao, Béal Feırste/Ardilea, Belfast. This replaces the board seen in Continuing Their Legacy.
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“Just before Joseph’s execution by British forces in Kilmainham gaol on Thursday May 4th, 1916”
It is a year since the new policy on bilingual street signs was made public; by September there had been 500 applications (Belfast Media) but by January of this year no new signs had been erected and 600 applications were awaiting decision (Belfast Live | Irish News from Feb). One new sign – shown here – was erected in February on Clifton Street (Belfast Media).
From 2016: Céıde Bhaıle Uí Mhurchú
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These are the boards at the chip shop (formerly a Spar and before that a Mace) in the centre of the Mourneview estate, Lurgan.
Above, in Mourne Road, a gallery of photographs of the Craigavon Protestant Boys (Fb) past and present, with a plaque in memory of Victor Stewart. “Our only crime is loyalty.”
Below are the images from the front of the shop, in Pollock Drive:
First/right: “When injustice becomes law resistance becomes duty.” The same panel was seen in Ballyclare, though for the 1st East Antrim battalion rather than the Mid Ulster brigade.
Next: A company, 1st battalion, Mid Ulster brigade UVF – Lurgan as well as Broxburn (outside Edinburgh) and Thornliebank (near Glasgow).
Next: A tribute to the Ulster Volunteers from the area: the 9th battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers joined the 108th brigade in the 36th (Ulster) Division; the 5th battalion joined the 31st brigade and the 10th (Irish) Division. This board goes back to (at least) 2011.
Next: “Believe, we dare not boast,/Believe, we do not fear/We stand to pay the cost,/In all that men hold dear.//What answer from the North?/One Law, one Land, one Throne/If England drive us forth,/We shall not fall alone!” Kipling’s poem Ulster.
The first stanza also appears in a Belfast RHC mural, and other lines from the poem have been used elsewhere: We Perish If We Yield | The Terror, Threats, And Dread.
All of the preceding pieces are UVF/PAF, but the last, high up on the left, is a UDU board in the top left of the wall, to 1 company, D battalion, South Belfast.
With thanks to Jackie Findon for today’s images.
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There are three hooded gunmen on the main panel of this new installation along Conway Street, Belfast, and the side panel is a gallery of 14 photographs of hooded gunmen, flanked on either by two more hooded gunmen.
Please note: the photograph above has been photoshopped for colour. The true colour (orange) can be seen in the wide shot, below.
“No. 5 Platoon, attached to ‘A’ Company, 1st Belfast Battalion, Ulster Volunteer Force, was formed at the onset of the conflict, and was eventually to become one of the most active Units with the Organisation. The Platoon was formed to fulfil one role, the defence of the Protestant community on the Shankill Road, in the wake of increasing, indiscriminate, Republican gun and bomb attacks. To counter these sectarian, murderous incursions, No. 5 Platoon devised a daring strategy, which would see its Volunteers strike at the very heart of the Republican war machine. Such steely determination and gallantry in the face of a deadly enemy, would make the Platoon one of the most deadly military Units within the 1st Belfast Battalion. Throughout the course of the conflict, alongside other UVF Active Service Units, using any and all means at their disposal, No. 5 Platoon Volunteers inflicted massive casualties to those who would seek our demise, and in so doing, brought the Irish Republican Movement to its knees. Today the message remains unchanged. As long as one of us remains, this community will not be shot, bombed, intimidated or coerced, into a United Ireland. Ulster will remain British! Those No. 5 Platoon Volunteers who were imprisoned during the conflict, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the Cause they served, will never be forgotten. They will now and forevermore, be honoured by those of us who remain. For God and Ulster.”
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There was previously a (painted) mural on this wall – see Passchendaele Court – but this latest display is a large printed board, with photographs blended together and framed by graveside mourners, poppies, and the emblems of the Pride Of Govan flute band and the Govan Somme Association (Fb), which also supported the previous mural.
To the left, as seen in the final images, is a smaller UVF (1st Battalion) A Company 5th Platoon board – like the other new board in the street We Will Always Be Ready (and on the other side of Conway Street – see When Needed We Shall Rise Again).
Conway Walk, Belfast
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The Citizens’ Assembly is a group of 99 randomly-chosen Irish citizens, plus a chair, that considers large-scale issues over the course of months. It began in 2016 by taking up the Eighth Amendment on abortion, the “pensions timebomb” fixed-term parliaments, voter turnout and referendums, and climate change – it is not restricted, like its predecessor the Constitutional Convention, to constitutional issues (WP). The 2020-2021 Assembly considered gender equality and biodiversity loss. Sınn Féın called for an Assembly on Irish unity at its November (2022) Ard Fheıs (Irish Examiner | Derry Journal | youtube panel) and Belfast City Council passed an SDLP motion to recommend that the Taoıseach form an Assembly (News Letter); in December, the Dublin City Council approved a measure calling for an Assembly to consider the topic (SF).
“The Irish government should establish a citizens’ assembly on Irish unity/tıonól na saoránach ar aontú na hÉıreann.” Sınn Féın’s preferred outcome of such a process is given at the bottom of the board: “#Time4Unity/Am d’Aontacht”. The images show the board in north Belfast (Limestone Road).
The “Bill Of Shame” (on the left of the wide image) is the legislation to forbid prosecutions for legacy killings.
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In addition to the repainted mural in Donore Court (featured yesterday in Time For The Truth) a number of information boards have been mounted along the New Lodge Road and on Teach Eithne, presenting photographs and profiles of the six youths who were killed, and a map and description of the events that took place on the night of February 3rd-4th, 1973.
The board concludes, “It is equally true that many others from the neighbouring Unionist and Protestant communities lost their lives during the conflict – these tragedies too bring a painful sense of loss that must be acknowledged. With over 100 lives lost by a combination of loyalist and British State forces – the Greater New Lodge community experience speaks to a story of State execution, collusion and naked sectarian killings over a 35 year period. … The New Lodge community has a narrative that remains to be told – this includes lives lost, imprisonment and discrimination. It is extremely difficult to accurately convey the enormity of the devastation and pain of lives lost in the conflict. … The New Lodge conflict narrative is not of passive victimhood, but of a community who survived the most difficult circumstances and who remain steadfast in their determination to pursue truth and justice for their loved ones.”
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Charlie Carson James McCann James Sloan Ambrose Hardy Tony TC Campbell Brendan ‘Fat’ Maguire John Loughran
A new braille plaque bearing the now-iconic saying “You are now enterting Free Derry” was unveiled last Tuesday (January 24th) by the founder of Children In Crossfire Richard Moore (featured previously in The Derry Lama) who was blinded in 1972 when he was hit with a rubber bullet.
Derry Journal has a gallery of images from the launch.
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Here are six pieces on the fence above the Townsend Street gates in the west Belfast “peace” line (seen previously Da War Is Not Over Yet and Mickey Marley’s Roundabout) depicting life in years gone by in the Townsend Street/Brown’s Square area. The six are (from left to right on the street/top to bottom on this page):
My Da Was A Pigeon Man – a tribute to the many pigeon lofts and clubs in Belfast. There is a pigeon-loft mural in east Belfast.
Messages – “Doing” or “running” “messages” means grocery shopping.
Half Moon – the “half moon” was the semi-circular area on the pavement outside a terraced house that would become shiny with repeated washing. Here are some descriptions and memories from Belfast Forum.
Born, Wed And Buried On Townsend St
Atlas & Soho: The Soho iron foundry in Townsend Street was owned and managed by Robert Shipboy McAdam and his brother James (Ricorso | Grace’s); the Atlas foundry was at 73 Townsend Street and owned by Victor C Taylor (Lennon Wylie).
Dog Walking Man
These appear to be prints or photographs on boards, rather than stone casts as on the CNR side of the gates: see The Oasis.
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Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 