Below the “peace” line, a confederate flag flies alongside the union jack over a new board in Cluan Place reading “Unbowed, Unbroken” and “east Belfast UVF” graffiti.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02085 camlachie royal star flue band welcome to uvf
The Elms/The Globe/The Elms/The Club is making way for a Tesco Express (Tele). Above is the bloodshot eyeball street art (by KVLR? – please confirm) that adorned the tradesman’s entrance of the bar in its most recent incarnation.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02081 red bull
Flyer in Hill Street: A water-colour fish and a modified version of “I will be still and know you are god” – the designer of the flyer omitted the “I will” and someone has inserted an extra “o” by hand, changing “god” to “good”.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X01970
Bobby Sands’s poem The Rhythm Of Time, published in 1981 as part of Prison Poems, is printed in full along with images of Long Kesh and other prisons in which republican prisoners were held.
The work was launched 2014-08-10, to coincide with the anniversary of the introduction of interment in 1971 (see e.g. this BBC news report).
Ardoyne Avenue, north Belfast
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02082 1954 h-block palestinian flag starry plough dedicated to all past and present principled ex-prisoners maidstone maghaberry crumlin magilligan armagh women’s rooney toal
There’s an inner thing in every man, Do you know this thing my friend? It has withstood the blows of a million years, And will do so to the end.
It was born when time did not exist, And it grew up out of life, It cut down evil’s strangling vines, Like a slashing searing knife.
It lit fires when fires were not, And burnt the mind of man, Tempering leadened hearts to steel, From the time that time began.
It wept by the waters of Babylon, And when all men were a loss, It screeched in writhing And it hung bleeding from the Cross.
It died in Rome by lion and sword, And in defiant cruel array, When the deathly word was ‘Spartacus’ Along the Appian Way.
It marched with Wat the Tyler’s poor, And frightened lord and king, And it was emblazoned in their deathly stare, As e’er a living thing.
It smiled in holy innocence, Before conquistadors of old, So meek and tame and unaware, Of the deathly power of gold.
It burst forth through pitiful Paris streets, And stormed the old Bastille, And marched upon the serpent’s head, And crushed it ‘neath its heel.
It died in blood on Buffalo Plains, And starved by moons of rain, Its heart was buried in Wounded Knee, But it will come to rise again.
It screamed aloud by Kerry lakes, As it was knelt upon the ground, And it died in great defiance, As they coldly shot it down.
It is found in every light of hope, It knows no bounds nor space It has risen in red and black and white, It is there in every race.
It lies in the hearts of heroes dead, It screams in tyrants’ eyes, It has reached the peak of mountains high, It comes searing ‘cross the skies.
It lights the dark of this prison cell, It thunders forth its might, It is ‘the undauntable thought’, my friend, That thought that says ‘I’m right!’
A selection of shovels and brooms stand to attention in the courtyard of The Hideout bar, in Donegall Pass, beneath boards to the 14th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and soldiers in WWI.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02079 somme thiepval beaumont hamel st. quentin ypres messines arras passchendaele they shall not grow old as we that are left grow old age shall not weary them nor the years condemn at the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them lest we forget ycv young citizen volunteers
Loyalist graffiti on the topic of money for regulated bonfires and community celebrations (for more, see Culture Before Cash), atop a piece of spray-paint writing by NOKA, one of the FA Krew.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02080
Four images portray a long graffito on the Cupar Way “peace” line. In full, it reads:
Provisional IRA leader Gerry Adams on Sinn Feins stadgey [= strategy] of Orange parades
“Ask any activist, did Drumcree happen by accident and they tell you “No”.
“3 years of hard work helped create those situations for us to exploit.”
Drumcree, Ormo [= Ormeau], Twad[d]ell, Dunloy. “Where next”??
Wood (Crimes Of Loyalty p. 202) gives the following quote, reportedly a transcript of remarks made by Adams at a Sınn Féın meeting in Meath, as, “Ask any activist in the North, did Drumcree happen by accident, and he will tell you “No.”. Three years of work on the Ormeau Road, in Portadown, and parts of Fermanagh and Newry, Armagh, and in Bellaghy, and up in Londonderry [other sources, such as the Irish Times, give the much more likely “Derry”]. Three years of work went into creating that situation and fair play to those who put the work in. They are the type of scene chances we need to focus on and develop and exploit.”
Descriptions of the contentious parades in the places mentioned can be found on CAIN.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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South Belfast Ulster Volunteer Force 2nd Battalion “A” Company Donegall Pass, with the flag of England (St. George’s Cross) in one corner and in the other an orange star with “1912” written below, the year the Ulster Volunteers were founded. The colour-scheme is the reverse of the Orange Order’s: its flag has the purple star of the Williamites on an orange field.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02073
A pre-launch version (from May) of the Whiterock Flute Band mural in Brookmount Street can be seen in the Peter Moloney collection; this includes the main panel and the ‘brief history’ on the left. Since then a golden disc has been mounted above the main panel, and to the right have been added another panel of photographs, a list of members past and present, and an updated history panel. [The final image, from 2015, shows the addition of “Whiterock F.B.” in bold, white, lettering along the top right
“A sunny Saturday, 14th June 2014, witnessed another memorable afternoon in the fifty-two year history of the Whiterock flute band by the unveiling and dedication of new colourful piece of mural artwork erected on the gable wall at the corner of Brookmount Street and the Shankill Road. The detailed display reflects images and reading articles dating back to the foundation of the band during the year 1962.
This eventful day began around 1:00 pm parading from the and practice rooms at Highfield Rangers with many invited Loyal Order Brethren in attendance to Brookmount Street junction where Band Chairman Robert Wellington opened the service by welcoming all there.
Worshipful Brother, Reverend Dr Billy Malcolmson BD officiated with prayer and scripture reading, which was then followed by the unveiling of the mural, the honour being bestowed on Alex Thompson as the Whiterock’s longest serving band member with fifty-one years of service. Before pulling the string to unveil the mural, Alex initially thanks the band secretary, Rab Hillis and a loyal friend Brother Ed Spence for their contribution to the construction of this project; along with his appreciation to the band’s President and Vice President respectively, Matt and Joan Nimmo from Newcastle in the North East of England for their personal attendance at the proceedings.
After Alex had unveiled the mural Worship Brother; Reverend Malcolmson conferred the official dedication which was followed by the Whiterock’s rendition of one of their first learned tunes in 1962 .. “the Blackboard of my Heart”.
The project could have gone ahead without the kind assistance of the local MLA, Btother William Humphrey who secured the necessary funding from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive’s Community Cohesion unit through the support and kind assistance of Ms Jennifer Hawthorne head of Income Collection and Neighbourhoods.
Thanks was also publically recorded to the West Belfast Athletic and Cultural Society, for their assistance and support throughout the lead-up proceedings to ensure the overall project went as smooth as possible, overtly demonstrating the working in partnership that is for the better good of the Greater Shankill area and its people.
As a token of that appreciation and to mark the day’s events, each of the aforementioned, received a commemorative certificate.
Finally the officers and members of the Whiterock flute band wish to extend their combined sincerity to everyone, who in any way, no matter how small it may have been, contributed to the success of this unveiling and dedication ceremony, which is and will remain, truly appreciated. The mural will also be forever, a lasting expression of our gratitude to the people of the Shankill Road for their support down through the years, and may God bless you all … ‘the true salt of the earth’.”
Update: further additions were made to the display in 2021.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Copyright © 2015 Seosamh Mac Coılle
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Visible from the Ormeau Road, this large union flag greets visitors to Donegall Pass in the south of the city. It asserts the presence of the UVF and connects the original Ulster Volunteer Force of 1913 to the present-day group one hundred years later: the aim of the original UVF was to resist the impending rule by Catholics under Home Rule.
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Copyright © 2014 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X02062 2013
