The Best Singers In The West

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02749 2015-07-24 KashmirBarCouple+

The Kashmir Bar on the Springfield Road gets a face-lift with a mural of the old Kashmir Bar, including the boast that it was home to the best singers in the west. A look at the Kashmir Bar Facebook page reveals that pool seems to be the foremost activity. For a photo of the old (green-fronted) bar, see D00283. (There is also a small image on the Belfast Forum.) If you can identify any of the locals pictured, please comment or e-mail.

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X02749 X02760 X02751 established 1895 brendan smyth wine spirits céad míle fáılte in memory of IRA volunteer sean gaynor who was murdered in his home at 236 springfield road by members of the ric on the the 26th september 1920 Image of Sean Gaynor’s grave in Milltown. Account of killing and funeral from Rıstead O Murchú

Remembering The Hunger Strikers

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The six weeks from July 8th to August 20th 1981 saw the death of six hunger strikers – McDonnell, Hurson, Lynch, Doherty, McElwee, and Devine – adding to the four who began in March and died in May. All ten, along with Michael Gaughan and Frank Stagg from 1974 and 1976, are remembered in this recent (spring 2015?) board in Rockmore Road, west Belfast.

This is the fourth iteration of this board, which goes back (at least) to 1995. For two of the previous versions, see the Peter Moloney collection: third | first.

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X02696 lark barbed wire bobby sands mp 5th may francis hughes 12th may raymond mccreesh 21st may patsy o’hara 21st may joe mcdonnell 8th july michael gaughan 3rd june 1974 frank stagg 12th february 1976 martin hurson 13th july kevin lynch 1st august kieran doherty 2nd august thomas mcelwee 8th august michael devine 20th august st james commemoration committee sınn féın

Our Community, Our Fleadh, Our People, Ardoyne

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The Wolfe Tones will headline the 2015 Ardoyne Fleadh Cheoıl (Fb) on August 15th. Last year, The Druids caused controversy by advising British Army forces and loyalists to go “back to England” (BelTel).

Along the bottom are various of the posters/programme covers from years past: (left to right) the 1998 cover, by Sean Doran, was also painted in Ardoyne Avenue; Cú Chulaınn on the 1999 poster was painted in Ardoyne Avenue (S00089); the fiddler and bodhrán player appeared on a t-shirt; a classic Wolfe Tones poster shows the four faces in profile; Fleadh Érıu on the 1995 poster (under the go-kart’s left wheel) was painted on this wall in 1994; the 1996 Fleadh poster, also by Sean Doran; disappearing on the right is Doran’s 1997 cover.

The Ardoyne Fleadh Cheoıl emblem (on the go-karter’s t-shirt and under the text on the left) was used in Maıreann An Spıorad. The festival began in 1970.

A new mural will be launched as part of this year’s festival: Boxing Champions.

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You Cannot Kill Ideas

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A week before he was assassinated and his government overthrown, Burkina Faso president Thomas Sankara asserted: “While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.” Sankara gained power of Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta) in a 1983 coup and launched an ambitious programme of literacy, feminism, public health, and agricultural self-sufficiency, in addition to launching a drive against corruption and of nationalizing natural resources. He attempted this all without the assistance of foreign aid or the IMF or World Bank. However, he wielded power outside the jurisdiction of the courts and controlled the press. He and twelve colleagues were killed in October 1987.

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X02695 Korda Fitzpatrick’s Che Guevara, Kernoff’s James Connolly, hammer sickle communism socialism

In The Meanwhile Community Garden

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The Connswater community garden is called “In The Meanwhile” (one of four in east Belfast operated by Groundwork NI to make use of empty ground in the ‘meanwhile’). A field-mouse(?) and a robin share the hedgerow peaceably in the mural that serves as a backdrop. The work is by Friz. The garden has its own Facebook page. For some background see this Irish News article.

Previously: Ed Hicks’s California Dreamin’

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X02791 X02795 connswater st

WIII

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2015-07-22 CosgraveHeightsBilly+

This fine example of King William III at the Battle of the Boyne completes the Tiger’s Bay trio of murals from the past two days (see You Will Become A Great Nation, Even Many Nations & North Of Ireland Armies). Shots of the three together and of the general scene are included below.

For the UDA mural previously in this location, see M04396.

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X02688 X02691 X02690 rem 1690 king billy william of orange bible

North Of Ireland Armies

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Like the array of flags, the adjacent mural of army badges around a burial scene from the first world war features some lesser-seen items. On the left, alongside the Royal Irish Rifles (top left) and the (modern-day) Royal Irish Regiment (at the time of WWI the harp was plain and there was no garland), we see the emblem of the North Irish Horse, a cavalry unit in the Territorial Army. On the right, the emblem of the Royal Irish Rangers (which was folded into the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992) is joined by the star of the Irish Guards (above) and the emblem of the Ulster Special Constabulary or B-Specials (below). Only the Royal Irish Regiment and the Irish Guards remain as regiments of the British Army; “The Horse” now forms squadrons of other units. Of the six, four served in WWI; the B-Specials were formed in 1920 and the Rangers in 1968.

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X02692 quis separabit lest we forget

None Shall Separate Us

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“None shall separate us from those we have loved and lost. Quis separabit. Honour – loyalty – liberty – sacrifice.” A standing stone has been added to the UDA memorial garden in Cosgrave Heights, next to the plaque to the “Scottish Brigade North Ayrshire roll of honour” that was added (circa 2012) to the pair to the North Belfast Brigade that were present in 2008 (see M04397).

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You Will Become A Great Nation, Even Many Nations

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2015-07-22 CosgraveHeightsFlags+

Genesis 35:11 reads (NIV) “And God said to him, “I am God Almighty; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.” The flags of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England are joined in the mural above by those of Australia and (a simplified version of) the Falkland Islands (on the left) and New Zealand and Canada (on the right). The flag flying in the centre is the Royal Standard, flown on the building or vehicle where the monarch – currently EIIR, Elizabeth II Regina, Queen Elizabeth the second – is.

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Like Leaves

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2015-07-22 DeanClarke+

Treebeard the Ent (from Lord Of The Rings) watches over the young people of north Belfast’s Tigers Bay. Dean Clarke, age 16, hanged himself on November 4th, 2007, after a week in hospital recovering from an overdose of ketamine (which he believed to be Valium). The Dean Clarke Foundation (Fb) was founded by his mother Alison in order to provide activities and outings for young people. (BBC-NI | Tele) The foundation is also involved in the Tigers Bay community garden (see Work Ethic).

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X02693 titanic centre hedgehog flowers stone wall