A Red Hand Commando board in Whitehill (Bangor) is starting to show its age.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Broken Wings
printed board/placard
Available Here
On the right of this image there is a European Regional Development Fund plaque (dating back to at least 2008) but we do not have any record of a previous piece in this spot (Main Street, Conlig). It is not likely that it is referring to the Red Hand Commando board. Please get in touch if you have any information. See also the UVF board on the Today’s Local in the Glen estate, Newtownards.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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1912 UVF
This post updates a 2017 one (Always A Little Further) from Whitehill, Bangor, with the addition of “1912 UVF” between the two “East Belfast UVF” boards, suggesting a softening of message. Similarly, a long “Ulster Volunteer Force” has been blacked out directly across the street.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Brothers In Arms
The 36th (Ulster) Division fought in the Battle Of Albert at the beginning of the Battle Of The Somme (July 1st-13th), and the 16th (Irish) in the battles of Guillemont and Ginchy in September (WP). The 10th (Irish) served at Gallipoli (and later in Macedonia and Palestine). The scene above shows soldiers from the 36th and 16th hand-in-hand at “The Somme 1916” – both division took part in the Battle – which lasted four and half months – but not at the same time; such scenes were instead reported of the battle at Messines in 1917 (see previously: Messines 1917).
Of the icons along the top, we see from left to right: Scrabo Tower; the red hand of the 36th; the green bar badge of the 10th (Irish) Division; the harp of the Connaught Rangers (battalions of which served in 10th and 16th Divisions); the emblem of the Black Watch – Royal Highlanders (the piping soldier right of centre wears a tartan patch of the Black Watch); the shamrock of the 16th (Irish) Division; the Maid Of Erin harp of the Royal Irish Rifles; Helen’s Tower/Thiepval Tower. It’s not clear why the Black Watch is included, as its battalions do not seem to have served with any of the 10th, 16th, or 36th and is a Scottish regiment rather than an Irish one. Please comment/get in touch if you can explain.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Our Heritage In Your Hands
The Ulster Tower at Thiepval, France, is a replica of Helen’s Tower in Clandeboye, around which the 36th (Ulster) Brigade, formed in August 1914 from the Ulster Volunteers and Young Citizen Volunteers, began their training (see this gallery of images from North Down Museum at BBC-NI). After a year of training in Ireland and England, the Division was deployed to France in September 1915.
In the top corners are two views of the local Scrabo Tower, which can be seen to the right in the wide shot, below. Produced by muraltec.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Today’s Local
A UVF board covers up the diamond tiling in the gable wall of the ViVO supermarket in the Glen Estate, Newtownards.
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Digital Eddie
As a zombie skeleton, Eddie The Head (here in his guise as a Light Brigade ‘Trooper’) lived long enough to enter the digital age of muraling, with a cartoon-style version added at the site of the original Eddie mural – Ebrington Terrace, Londonderry, which can be seen on Eddie’s own Visual History page – in 2016. The mural, however, started falling apart immediately and is now entirely removed.
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Copyright © 2016 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Ulster Defence Unions
The UDA/UFF in North Down is divided into two factions, led by Dicky Barry in Newtownards and Dee Stitt in Bangor. Barry’s group is affiliated with the Shankill (west Belfast) UDA and Stitt’s with the East Belfast UDA. According to this BelTel article, their respective numbers are 600 to 150, respectively. The Peter Moloney Collection of murals has a 2007 image of a ‘west Belfast’ board in Bangor. For the UDU reference see UDU-UFF-UDF.
2024 Update: Barry is stood down (BelTel).
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Bad Road Transport
“Sub-standard BRT discriminates against residents, traders, the disabled and their carers.” The new Belfast Rapid Transport has begun testing (BelfastLive | BelTel) in preparation for the official launch on September 3rd, with routes from the city centre to east and west Belfast and a “Citi” loop. To facilitate the new “Gliders”, a lane of traffic is being dedicated to the service from 7 am to 7 pm (also open to other public transport, cyclists, and taxis). Some are worried about traffic congestion (Talking Retail) and one business in west Belfast has closed because of the loss of street parking (Irish News). Another concern is that the new transport hub is not integrated with BRT – its stops for the West and East routes will be 380 and 500 meters away (BelTel).
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Copyright © 2018 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X06021 Falls Road
Relative
This Dublin exhibition from The Complex pairs images of rebels from the 1916 Rising with a statement from witness accounts and an image of a relative. (Witness accounts of soldiers from 1913-1921 are archived at the Bureau Of Military History.) Above is Mamie Kilmartin, a nurse. Bríd Smith, grand-daughter of Barney Murphy (shown in the final image, below) is People Before Profit TD for Dublin South Central and launched the original exhibition, which ran for nine months in the Law Society Of Ireland in 2016 before being moved to Benburb Street.
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Copyright © 2017 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X04323 X04322 X04324 X04325 photographs by steve mccullough curated by annemarie kilshaw the complex at little green street fourcourts three hundred irish volunteers cumann na mban and fıanna éıreann law society of ireland
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 