Thomas “Bootsey” Begley died when a bomb he was carrying into a fish shop on the Shankill Road exploded. The bomb killed Begley and nine others. The plaque above was unveiled in Ardoyne on October 20th, 2013 – twenty years after the event – to protests from relatives of the deceased (BBC-NI).
These three painted boards, in frames, on the exterior of the Connswater Community Centre, were unveiled this past December (2012). The first commemorates Titanic, the second the Somme, and the third the WWII Blitz.
Graffiti next to a mural commemorating various battles of WWI reads “Prejudice is all in your head!” The Young Citizen Volunteers (YCV) were formed in 1912 and in 1914 became a battalion of the UVF.
Here are four small painted metal-work pieces, signed “B McC”, on the railings of the Ledley Hall Boys & Girls Club, just off Beersbridge Road in east Belfast. The pieces show the building, soccer being played in the shadow of Harland & Wolff – the goal is prevented by a giant red hand – and two boxers boxing – the club was originally a boxing gym (est. 1942), and girls playing hockey and netball.
The colourful mural above is in Pearl Street, in the Willowfield area of east Belfast. It shows children playing and talking, depicted inside of a series of cogs.
Graffiti on the Forthriver Road, in Glencairn: “RIP Maggie Thatcher. True Legend. The Iron Lady.” Beneath a banner reading “Glencairn demands civil rights for all Protestants now!”
As part of the preparations for the centenary celebrations of the Ulster Volunteer Force, Fernhill House, in Glencairn Park to the west of the Ballygomartin Road, was refurbished. The house and park served as headquarters and training ground for the Ulster Volunteers. For images and video of the parade, which included people dressed in period costume, see the Tele. The name and insignia of the Volunteers — a red hand and the phrase ‘For God and Ulster’ — were re-used in the mid-nineteen-sixties, when the modern UVF was established.
The image above shows the centre of a mural in Canada Street depicting Protestant women and children on-board a steamer, the Ulster Queen, leaving Belfast because of rioting and headed for Liverpool, where they were hosted by local Orange families. A shot of the whole is below, as well as a close-up of the laminated letter of thanks to Elsie (Allen) Doyle, one of the organisers in Liverpool.
A very similar mural was in this spot several years ago (though not immediately prior to this one – the wall was blank), featuring three youngsters on the boat, rather than a mother and children. The panel to the right began “In August 1971 many Protestants fled their homes as the IRA launched a bitter sectarian attack on Protestant communities throughout Belfast.” (See M04069.)
This mural and its accompanying plaques, at the mouth of Canada Street, commemorate WWI and celebrate the Victoria Crosses won by members of the 36th (Ulster) Division “For valour”: Cather, McFadzean, Bell, Quigg, Emerson, De Wind, Seaman, Knox, and Harvey. The main mural features insignia of more than thirty units of types ranging from machine gunners to vets.
Seosamh Mac Coille Collection 