Young Newton branch of the Ulster Young Militants, 1st Battalion, East Belfast Brigade. “Simply the best.”
Previously: Young Newton Says No | Young Newton at Freedom Corner.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
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Tomorrow Belongs To Us
Michael Stone is removed from the central circle (see J0550) and replaced by an UYM fist. Jonathan “JJ” Gray – son of Jim Gray – died on holiday in Thailand in 2002. Jim Gray, who once owned the pub at the top of the street (Avenue One), himself would be shot in October 2005 after being expelled from the UDA in March. Rab Brown is perhaps the UVF commander – it’s not clear why he’s on a UDA mural. The flag of the ‘Ulster nation’ joins the Ulster Banner. Templemore Avenue, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Consolidate The Peace
“Release east Belfast’s loyalist prisoners”. This mural of Maze/Long Kesh watchtowers and barbed wire dates back to at least 1997, during the peace process. Harvey Court, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Gertrude Star Flute Band
These two murals face one another in the mouth of Martin Street at Templemore Avenue, in east Belfast. Gertrude Star flute band (Fb) was formed in 1961. The southern mural features Spike (from Tom And Jerry) dressed as a band member above an Ulster Banner in the shape of Northern Ireland. The mural on the northern side shows a coat of arms with six-pointed star and red hand, below a crown.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Freedom Corner
This is a complete set of images of the UDA’s “Freedom Corner” along Newtownards Road, Belfast. The use of Cuchulainn as a loyalist icon (the mural is in its second incarnation – for the first, see Defender Of Ulster From Irish Attacks) rests on the theory that the people of mythical Ulster are different from those in the rest of Ireland and are related to ancient Scots: Dalaradia was “was a kingdom of the Cruthin in the north-east of Ireland and parts of Scotland in the first millennium.” The “Ulster Nation” flag/shield (which also appears in the final image) is a St Patrick’s cross on a blue background with six-pointed star and red hand, the flag of the Ulster (Northern Ireland) independence movement.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Ulsters Peoples Soldiers
Were it not for the Red Hand Commando emblem to the right (second image) this could be a strictly WWI mural, with the crest of the 36th (Ulster) Division and flags of the Ulster Volunteers and battle honours of the YCV/Royal Irish Rifles 14th battalion. The RHC were formed in 1972. Newtownards Road, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Murder Most Foul
“Murder Most Foul – 27th/28th June 1970. As I look back in my mind’s eye/I see a night that makes me cry/That Saturday started like any day/People shopping and children at play//Later that night at darkness fell/PIRA opened up like something from hell/Man, woman and child had to dive/It’s a wonder so ma[n]y escaped alive//A woman was shot at Wolff Street/Blood on the ground, all around her feet/As the ambulance arrived to take her away/A wounded man inside was heard to pray//From St. Matthew’s Chapel with murderous intent/PIRA kept firing till every bullet was spent/From the tower where the bells kept their silent peel/It’s from here PIRA shot dead Bobby Neill//Making his way home in a hurry/PIRA shot dead Jimmy McCurrie/As he lay at the Beechfield School Gate/The wounded kept rising till it reached twenty-eight//When I look back in the light of day/There can be no compromise with the IRA/The date should be burned in our brain/East Belfast cannot let this happen again – W. J. Magee – 2002”. This is a poetic account of the Battle Of St Matthew’s, in which three people died, including James McCurrie and Robert Neill. Tommy Reid (in the plaque on the left) was hit by a projectile earlier in the day on the Springfield Road and died six days later. Loughins, Gould, and Kincaid (in the plaque on the right) were killed by the Provisionals on the Crumlin Road that same afternoon.
Newtownards Road, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Ulster Volunteer Force
UVF and YCV insignia in Pitt Place, Belfast, in the shadow of one of the H&W cranes, with the community centre (Ballymac) on the right.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Our Grip Is Tight
“It’s not for glory or riches that we fight but for our people. Ulster’s destiny is in our hands; our grip is tight; we’ll never let go.” A Red Hand Commando volunteer kneels in a garland of poppies. Tower Street, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
Short Strand Roll Of Honour
“I ndíl chuihmne ar óglaigh chomplacht B an triú cathlan briogáid Bhéal Feirste Óglaigh na hÉireann a fuair bás ar son saoirse na hÉireann and all others who died as a result of British occupation of our country.” Roll of honour for IRA volunteers (up to 1978) in and from east Belfast, beginning with Charlie Monaghan/Monahan who died in 1916 the day before the Rising and who would get a mural in 2006 (and another in the Markets in 2017), as would Sean Martin who died in 1940.
Beechfield Street, Belfast.
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Copyright © 2005 Peter Moloney
