Ocras

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

There are two monuments in Cornagrade, Enniskillen, commemorating hunger: An Staılc Ocraıs of 1981 and An tOcras Mór of 1845-1849.

Above and immediately below: a memorial stone to Bobby Sands in Erne Drive. The inscription on the stone reads, “‘Is naofa ıad sıud sa fhulaıngíonn ocras ar son na córa.’ [= Holy are those who suffer hunger for the sake of justice/”Blessed are those who hunger for justice”] I ndíl [ndıl] chuımnhe ar Óglach Bobby Sands, feısıre [= M.P.] Fhearmanach-Thír Eoghaın Theas, a d’éag 5 Bealtaıne 1981 ın aoıs 27 ı ndıaıdh 66 lá ar staıle [staılc] ocraıs ar son stádas polaıtıúıl a chomhchımí agus saoırse na hÉıreann. I measc laochra na nGael go raıbh a anam uasal. ‘Is í gáıre ár bpáıstí an díoltas a bheas agaınn’”

For an alternative translation of Sands’s quote “Our revenge will be the laughter of our children”, see The Spirit Of Freedom in the Peter Moloney Collection.

Below: the “Pauper’s Graveyard” by Éamonn O’Doherty – a table with five empty plates stands between the gable walls of a stone cottage. The plaque reads, “The Famine Memorial: this memorial stands on the site of the main pauper’s graveyard of Enniskillen workhouse during the Great Famine and beyond (1846-1948). “We beg to to direct the attention of the guardians to the shameless, indecent and dangerous piling of the dead paupers in the new ground …” – Letter from Maguiresbridge Relief Committee March 3, 1847. “Allow the fertile crop of change to grow, accept what is past, embrace what is to come” – Martina Feely, Garrison, aged 16, April 1996. Grateful thanks to the Kilmacormick History Group and project benefactors: the National Famine Commemoration Committee, the Arts Council Of Northern Ireland National Lottery Fund and the Central Community Relations Unit. Fermanagh District Council, 28 August, 1996.”

Erne Drive/Derrygore Terrace, Cornagrade, Enniskillen

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X16204 X16205
X16206 X16207

Stop The Game

Extramural Activity2 Comments

The Irish men’s soccer team is scheduled to play Israel in the Nations’ League, on September 27th and – at home – on October 4th, 2026. A campaign was launched to “Stop the game” in Dublin as a form of protest and disengagement, most prominently in the form of an open letter (instagram) sent to the FAI signed by footballers and various musicians.

The FAI instead appealed to UEFA to have the game played behind closed doors in a neutral country, saying that while it was “deeply conscious” of the suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, it did not want to forfeit the points or be disqualified from the competition (FAI).

The large tarp shown above has been added (on June 18th) on top of the long Painting For Palestine mural on Divis Street.

In the bottom right corner of the image above can be seen one of the placards – reading “No to hate”, “Fight racism”, and “Yes to all!” – added last week (June 17th) in response to the rioting in east Belfast and elsewhere – see McMaster Street Remembers. (These additions are reminiscent of the ‘Free Marian Price’ additions in 2013 – see Scaoıl Saor Marian Price in the Peter Moloney Collection.)

Also included (below) is a positive form of sporting support for Palestine: an 10 km “Cycle For Palestine” (web).

Divis Street, west Belfast

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X16200 X16201

Times Bar Bombing

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

A memorial service was held at the Times Bar on Friday June 5th (News Letter) to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the attack on the Times Bar in 1976, in which Edward McMurray and Robert Groves were killed by a republican bomb. (An image of the bombed bar can be found on Xitter.)

Three plaques were added to the memorial garden where the service took place, to William Haddock, James Smyth, and William Flynn. (Compare to 2019.)

As the images from May 10th in the Paddy Duffy Collection show, a painted mural was originally planned for the spot.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X15987 X15988 X15989 X15990 X15991 X15992

McMaster Street Remembers

Extramural Activity3 Comments

McMaster and Lendrick streets – part of a conservation site of Victorian terraced houses (Dept For Communities) – were the epicentre of last week’s anti-immigration riots, with cars and houses in the street set ablaze and families evacuated to safety by the security forces (BBC video). The image below shows the boarded-up windows of number 11 McMaster Street, with a melted satellite dish above the door, while the Union Flag and Ulster Banner in the window of number 9 are unscathed.

Also in the street: An Act Of Betrayal (about the Sea Border) and (before that, c. 2010) Young Newtown UDA.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X15982 [X15983] X15984 [X15985]

East Belfast Blitz Memorial

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

The German Luftwaffe blitzed Belfast on four occasions in April and May of 1941, targeting especially the industrial yards of east Belfast, including H&W shipbuilding and Short Brothers. Nearby streets were hit in the attacks (see Belfast Blitz), and some suffered very heavy damage, including Thistle, Tower, and Westbourne streets. This new memorial (City Council planning application) is in the grounds of Westbourne Presbyterian church, which was built in 1877 (Stone Database), was hit during the war, but survived.

See also: Desano’s.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X15981 X15980

When All That Was Solid Melted Into Air

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

At its peak, the Harland & Wolff shipyard employed 35,000 people (IndustriAll) and the flat-capped worker became a symbol of east Belfast, along – much later – with Samson and Goliath, the two gantry cranes at the shipyard that were raised in 1974 and 1969 (WP) and which have become the symbol of Belfast.

The title of this entry is the first line of Martin Mooney’s poem ‘Launching The Whaler Juan Peron‘.

The silhouetted workers and cranes are on a mobile office in Fraser Pass, Newtownards Road, Belfast, at the end of the Pitt Stop next to the Belfast Bikes racks.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X15986

Palestine Bleeds

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

“Over 20,000 children killed. That’s more than one child killed every hour. And 42,000 injured by the Israeli murder machine. Their revenge will be the laughter of their children. Andersonstown stands with Palestine. We are all Palestinians.” The figures perhaps come from a Save The Children report from September, 2025.

South Link, Andersonstown, west Belfast, next to the large Oppression Breeds Resistance mural.

See also: The Occupied Territories.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X15974

Andersonstown Apache

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Anto “The Apache” Cacace was pictured with two belts – IBF and IBO – in the 2024 mural celebrating his accomplishments. Since then, he has given up the IBF title, defended the IBO title – see The Ringmaster – and added the WBA title by defeating Jazza Dickens in March, 2026.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X15971 X15970 X15972
X15973

The Fallen Comrades Of The INLA

Extramural ActivityLeave a comment

Christopher “Crip” McWilliams has been added this new version of the INLA memorial on Northumberland Street (Visual History). McWilliams was a long-time member of the IPLO and was present at the Lenadoon shout-out with the RUC in Lenadoon in which Bonanza McCann died. He joined the INLA while in prison for the 1991 killing of a snooker-hall manager (Independent) and in 1987 was the gunman in a team of three that killed the LVF’s Billy Wright in the H-Blocks (IRSN | Cory Report (pdf) | MacLean Report (pdf)).

The info board in the final image was originally mounted in 2014 to accompany the version painted on a board which featured Loughran, McLarnon, McCann, and Gallagher, and updated in 2019 for the printed version which added McElkerney.

For images and video from the launch on May 17th, see El Norte De Irlanda.

Click image to enlarge
Copyright © 2026 Seosamh Mac Coılle
X15975