Waterside, Cityside, Quayside

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
02872 2015-08-26 SperrinPkFilm+

The Peace Bridge is shown spanning the Foyle between (the former) Ebrington barracks and the Guildhall, with a film-strip of images, many depicting naval and military scenes, above and below. The detail below shows a gap in the walls of Derry, a poster encouraging people to “Join the Wrens [and free a man for the fleet]” (the Women’s Royal Naval Service; see the poster at IWM), soldiers playing ping-pong in their barracks, and the ship’s bell of the HMS Londonderry (which served as a training ship during the Falkland War (WP)).

02873 2015-08-26 SperrinPkFilmDetail+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02872 X02873 project funded reimaging communities programme supported by shared communities consortium lottery housing executive social development first minister deputy international fund for ireland derry londonderry doire

External & Internal

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
02862 2015-08-26 KildrumWide+

Two images of graffiti in the Kildrum area of Derry. The first (above) sends messages to outsiders (or at least, directed at external pressures) — “Tıocfaıdh ár lá”, “End British Internment”, “Victory to the POWs”, and “RUC not welcome in Foylehill” — while the second, which is in a more secluded spot, contains many for internal audiences — “Drugs out”, “Bring back RAAD” (Republican Action Against Drugs | WP), “Kill Hoods”, “SF scum”, “Not a bullet, not an ounce” (a comment on IRA disarmament), as well as “Free Gaza!!” and “Israel scum”.

02861 2015-08-26 KildrumGraffiti+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02862 X02861 kildrum gdns

Vol. Eamonn Lafferty

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
02863 2015-08-26 Lafferty+

19 year-old Provisional IRA volunteer Eamonn Lafferty was killed on August 18th, 1971, in a gun-battle with British Army forces who were attempting to dismantle barricades in republican “Free Derry”. The mural and plaque shown (and a headstone) are situated—as the mural states—in the location where he was killed, in Creggan’s Kildrum area. (His body is buried in City Cemetery.)

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02863 killed on active service at this spot on by crown forces whilst defending his community was just 19 years old fuaır sé bás ar son na héıreann derry brigade óglaıgh na héıreann beırıgí bua song in Lafferty’s honourimages from Lafferty’s funeral commanding officer 1st battalion

Like The Foam From The Fountain, Like The Mist From The Mountain

Extramural Activity2 Comments
02867 2015-08-26 MacFadzean+

Twenty-year-old William Frederick McFadzean from Lurgan won the Victoria Cross for throwing himself on top of a crate of hand grenades that fell into his trench on July 1st (WP), the first day of the battle of the Somme; July 1st and 2nd would see 5,000 of his comrades from the 36th (Ulster) Division killed or wounded. The portrait on which the image is based can be seen at CultureNI.

Here’s a recording of the song composed in his honour:

Kinsale Park, Caw, Londonderry

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02867 36th Ulster Division (109 Brigade) 9th October 1895 – 1st July 1916 for valour for god and ulster UVF YCV ulster volunteer force young citizen volunteers

In A Foreign Land

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
02865 2015-08-26 LindsayMooneyMem+

The [Sergeant] Lindsay Mooney Memorial Flute Band was formed in 1973 after the St. Patrick’s day death of Lindsay Mooney, a UDA member killed by the premature explosion of a bomb near Lifford, County Donegal (Sutton). The band dissolved in 1993 but commemorative nights are still held (NI World).

The board above is in the Lincoln Court area of Londonderry, from where Mooney and the band both hailed. “To those of us who criticise, to those who cannot see, just remember in a foreign land fell a better man than me.”

The Ballad Of Lindsay Mooney: youtube | lyrics

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02865 sergeant

Ulster Is Not For Sale

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
2015-08-26 AuglishFull+

Quiz: The UDA are called “Wombles” because they resemble the stop-motion characters of the BBC children’s show in (a) their fur-lined parkas, (b) their parading, or (c) their ability to acquire anything? You can find all three explanations on-line. Originally the name seems to have been a derogatory one, used by their UVF rivals, but it was adopted by the group itself. A close-up of the text on the right is below.

2015-08-26 AuglishClose+

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02748 X02747 when our forefather fought and died they led the way that we should go as loyalists united we should stand to send our message across the land that all our enemies would  know ulster is not for sale nor will we let it go no surrender quis separabit nelson drive auglish court

Brandywell Past And Present

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment
02842 2015-08-25 LongTower+

“You are the future” is the message from Long Tower Youth & Community Centre (Fb) to young people in the Brandywell. Sporting heroes of the past, especially boxing and soccer (for a mural of local clubs, see I Don’t Like Mondays) are featured in black and white. (Derry Journal article on the mural and its sponsors.)

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02842 lecky rd serving the community since 1943 2014 derry londonderry dove oak leaf spider kelly tommy mccann george mccann johnny campbell joe healy liam coyle eddie crossan frankie campbell Tony o’doherty jim mcloughlin jobby crossan fay coyle lisa toland anne lyttle jim leland jimmy lyttle st columba’s lumen cristi college