Murals 1
I remember some of you were curious to see the results of some photo walks I was going to take, based around the murals. Well, here's the result of the first one! This was mainly around the Donegall Pass, Donegall Road and Sandy Row areas of Belfast, close to the City Centre and Belfast City Hospital. Most murals in these areas will have been painted by the Protestant community. Most murals are - by their very definition - paintings. But I noticed a new trend, a trend for... not commemorative plaques, as such but what I would almost describe as plexiglass placed on a wall. Reasons for this seem to be that it lasts longer than a mural, and that it contains more information: they seem to be used when lots of information needs to be given so there are large chunks of writing. I won't put all of these down here, but I'll throw in a few, for variety!
I won't know everything about all of these but if you have questions, ask. I might know the answers.
The story behind this is that nearby there used to be a large mural proclaiming "You are now entering Loyalist Sandy Row" with a picture of a balaclava-clad person holding a machine gun. This was wisely painted over, and some people are clearly still angry. A good place to start, I find.
This used to be said balaclava-person. King Billy, as you can see, is carefully carved in plexiglass. He's a running theme. You'll see him again.
And a much more cheerful Sandy Row offering, done in traditional Irish colours rather than 'Protestant' colours. Although you'll notice the bollards/poles are red, white and blue. They do this.
You'll see a lot of the Queen as well. Protestants, or Loyalists/Unionists are loyal to the Queen and the Union with England: the United Kingdom. So they put up pictures of her. Yes, it is bizarre. I could always understand the passion of a painting, but this...?
As you can see, men in balaclavas are going out of fashion. No-one has bothered to restore this one. I'm amused by the 'Culture and arts' poster just at the top of the shot. Past and future, I suppose.
Paramilitary organisations [which are illegal but tended to flourish in working class areas] which primarily fought the other side but also kept peace in their own areas, use military terms a lot. Not unusual to see words like 'Brigadier' and 'Battalion' being thrown about. Presumably a memorial to those who died in illegal combat?
More of similar. "Murdered by the enemies". The UFF is the Ulster Freedom Fighters and the UDA is the Ulster Defence Association. I grew up knowing all the acronyms. Not because it happened in my area, but because of the news and exciting playground gossip about stuff we didn't understand as kids.
Boundary marker:
The beginnings of peace: Men walk towards Stormont Parliament Building for talks, not guns.
WW1 memorial:
Geroge Best, a local sports star who, unfortunately, drank himself to death. The house he grew up in is ten minutes walk from mine and there's a better mural of him there, but someone built a house in front of it and you can only see it properly if you're prepared to climb a fence into someone's backyard. I am not prepared for this.
Alex Higgins, local snooker World Champion did drink a lot, but it was the cigarettes that got him. Throat cancer. NI sports stars in the 60s and 70s lived to excess.
More Alex. Chalk drawing.
And just a choice selection of the plexiglass historical information boards:
Oh, and a final explanation. The Red Hand is the ancient emblem of the province of Ulster, taken from this story. It originally hadn't anything to do with any one side but was propogated by the Protestant community as, well, it's a strong, defiant image. I hope to do some photowalks in Catholic areas soon.
I won't know everything about all of these but if you have questions, ask. I might know the answers.
The story behind this is that nearby there used to be a large mural proclaiming "You are now entering Loyalist Sandy Row" with a picture of a balaclava-clad person holding a machine gun. This was wisely painted over, and some people are clearly still angry. A good place to start, I find.
This used to be said balaclava-person. King Billy, as you can see, is carefully carved in plexiglass. He's a running theme. You'll see him again.
And a much more cheerful Sandy Row offering, done in traditional Irish colours rather than 'Protestant' colours. Although you'll notice the bollards/poles are red, white and blue. They do this.
You'll see a lot of the Queen as well. Protestants, or Loyalists/Unionists are loyal to the Queen and the Union with England: the United Kingdom. So they put up pictures of her. Yes, it is bizarre. I could always understand the passion of a painting, but this...?
As you can see, men in balaclavas are going out of fashion. No-one has bothered to restore this one. I'm amused by the 'Culture and arts' poster just at the top of the shot. Past and future, I suppose.
Paramilitary organisations [which are illegal but tended to flourish in working class areas] which primarily fought the other side but also kept peace in their own areas, use military terms a lot. Not unusual to see words like 'Brigadier' and 'Battalion' being thrown about. Presumably a memorial to those who died in illegal combat?
More of similar. "Murdered by the enemies". The UFF is the Ulster Freedom Fighters and the UDA is the Ulster Defence Association. I grew up knowing all the acronyms. Not because it happened in my area, but because of the news and exciting playground gossip about stuff we didn't understand as kids.
Boundary marker:
The beginnings of peace: Men walk towards Stormont Parliament Building for talks, not guns.
WW1 memorial:
Geroge Best, a local sports star who, unfortunately, drank himself to death. The house he grew up in is ten minutes walk from mine and there's a better mural of him there, but someone built a house in front of it and you can only see it properly if you're prepared to climb a fence into someone's backyard. I am not prepared for this.
Alex Higgins, local snooker World Champion did drink a lot, but it was the cigarettes that got him. Throat cancer. NI sports stars in the 60s and 70s lived to excess.
More Alex. Chalk drawing.
And just a choice selection of the plexiglass historical information boards:
Oh, and a final explanation. The Red Hand is the ancient emblem of the province of Ulster, taken from this story. It originally hadn't anything to do with any one side but was propogated by the Protestant community as, well, it's a strong, defiant image. I hope to do some photowalks in Catholic areas soon.