Belfast Murals Paintings are part of the Island history isn't It?

Erinfan

The murals paintings in the some streets of Belfast are now part of the image of the city abroad.
And these paintings are not merely tourist attractions in the form of voyeurism of the years of Troubles but a real desire to understand the near and far past of Ireland.
Some paintings depict the great famine in Republican / Nationalist areas and William III of England in Unionist / Loyalist areas.

In any case all these paintings were made with faith, dedication and a lot of talents by their authors.

With peace and stability now almost normal in Northern Ireland, paramilitary murals will be replaced under a government-funded scheme to redecorate Northern Ireland's walls with more welcoming images.
The proposals have been criticised by some tour guides. Tourists can see a lot of Northern Ireland's history with some of the Belfast Murals they have often been described as a picture book that shows the last 35 years of conflict.
The murals in Belfast is one of the most popular, must see attraction for tourists visiting Northern Ireland. Are they just a harmless tourist attraction and a reminder of the past.?

Black Swan

MOD COMMENT:
This OP may be better placed in History & Heritage than in Politics. It will be moved locked so that it may be reviewed by the destination mods for appropriateness.

jonniebgood1

Thread open so long as posts stay within charter.

junder

The mural tradition was actully started of in unionist areas, the oldest which was a king Billy was first painted in my area in 1907, sadly that painting has been lost now

jonniebgood1

The tradition developed in Unionist areas at first. They had a role in the segregation of different areas in Belfast, i.e. establishing the lines between areas according to this piece.

Mural painting has been a feature of unionist popular culture since the early years of this century when images of King William III and other Orange symbols began to adorn the gable walls of the working-class areas of Belfast. They appeared as part of an assertion of the Protestant people's sense of British identity during an extended period of political crisis. In the later stages of the Home Rule campaign and, following partition in 1921, in the period of consolidation of the Northern Irish state, mural paintings were used to complement and extend the existing forms of Orange displays.

From the early years of the nineteenth century elaborate displays of flags, flowers and bunting were hung from houses and across streets for the July commemorations of the Battle of the Boyne. Each year wooden, metal or floral arches were installed in the centres of many towns and villages and in staunchly Protestant residential areas. These displays were highly formalised and showed little variation in their symbolic content from year to year or from place to place (Jarman 1997). Each area was content to affirm its loyalty to the memory of King William III, and celebrate the victory at the Boyne. Such displays served to mark out those towns, villages and streets which were loyal and Protestant.

These displays on the Twelfth of July marked the beginnings of a visible sectarianisation of place. But they were short-lived. Most lasted for no more than a few days and then the streets and buildings returned to their everyday appearance with no overt demonstration of collective identity. However the introduction of mural paintings in working-class areas of Belfast changed all this, making these hitherto temporary and seasonal affirmations of loyalty much more permanent. Streets could now declare their faith throughout the year. They were no longer simply rows of houses, but terraces of Protestant houses. The permanent displays visually confirmed a status above and beyond mere function. While this may have been a relatively minor step in areas which were already recognised as staunchly Protestant, and much of working-class Belfast was highly segregated, such displays helped to make explicit the fact of residential segregation.

Murals helped to transform 'areas where Protestants lived' into 'Protestant areas'. By implication this should also mean that some areas were accepted as 'Catholic areas'. Mural painting was soon recognised as an established feature of Protestant popular culture, and after partition in 1921, helped to define the political and cultural parameters of the Northern Ireland state. New murals, arches and other displays were ritually unveiled by politicians each July in Protestant areas across the north, but the law and the police were utilised to ensure that the nationalist population did not develop a similar tradition within a British Northern Ireland. Although an area could be acknowledged as inhabited by Catholics, it could not easily or readily be regarded as a 'Catholic area' since all Catholics were regarded as Irish nationalists and therefore a threat to the status of Northern Ireland. Gerrymandering ensured that Unionist politicians controlled some areas with a Catholic majority and no area could be regarded as beyond the actual, or symbolic, remit of the Orange state. Loyalist parades were allowed to pass through Catholic areas but attempts by nationalists to parade or erect visual displays were often highly restricted or banned outright. Even the temporary erection of the Irish tricolour was seen as a challenge and an affront, and more permanent displays were almost unknown (but see Rolston 1991, 72).

It seems that nationalist murals did not appear, or at least become prominent until the civil rights movement with the free Derry mural being prominent. The multitude of murals in many of the areas that are toured now as tourist attractions are not all that old, becoming widespread in the 1980's.

The Free Derry mural was an early example of the transformation of public space by nationalists through the installation of political imagery, but for a time it was an isolated example. It was not until the early 1980s that murals became a prominent form of street display in nationalist areas and the brush joined the armalite and the ballot box as a facet of political strategy. Republican strategy changed after the hunger strikes: the military campaign continued, but at the same time a more open political movement began, culminating in the success of Sinn Féin at the polls. This movement tried to emphasise the distinctive cultural base of nationalism, which was deemed to provide the secure foundations for the political movement. Numerous murals and political slogans appeared across nationalist Belfast, kerbstones and lamp-posts were painted, streets were renamed in Irish, and the tricolour flew freely to assert a permanent and visible, political and cultural dominance over the area. This development was exemplified by the transformation of the republican commemorations to mark the introduction of internment each August. During the 1980s this changed from a day of political speeches and rioting to a week-long celebration of Irish culture. Mural painting was encouraged as part of the new West Belfast Festival. Competitions to judge the best painting were held in the early years, while more recently paintings have been especially commissioned for the Festival. The images were used as a means of conveying political ideas, for displaying historical heroes and role models, and extending the parameters of the movement. As with the emergence of unionist murals earlier in the century, the paintings were a prominent part of a wider transformation of nationalist areas.

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/bibdbs/murals/jarman.htm

I wouldnt call the murals harmless- they mean alot to the different communities. I would also think that the dedication shown to them and their upkeep is a healthy deviation for the communities. I would be interested in more information on the murals from the time of partition.

Exile 1798

Politics aside - the first minute and a half of this slideshow has a number of very interesting pictures of the earliest versions of Free Derry corner, including the picture of it at 1.24, after it had been rammed by a saracen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_AyypXTCQM

It's also interesting how after the row of terraced houses on Lecky Rd were demolished in the early 70s, whoever did the demolishing left the lone gable wall standing. This would have been done either by choice or under local pressure, depending on who exactly did the demolition of the street. I wonder if anyone knows the facts surrounding that?

Exile 1798

junder wrote: »

The mural tradition was actully started of in unionist areas, the oldest which was a king Billy was first painted in my area in 1907, sadly that painting has been lost now

Do you mean this one?

The first loyalist mural was painted on the Beersbridge Road in Belfast in 1908. For most of the rest of the twentieth century loyalist murals were painted each July as part of the annual ritual celebrations of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, when King William III (‘King Billy’) defeated King James I in a struggle over the English crown. Consequently, the main image in the murals was of King Billy on his white horse crossing the River Boyne. By the 1970s and 1980s this image became much less frequent.

http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/bibdbs/murals/slide1.htm

It's a pity there doesn't seem to be even a photo in existence.

InTheTrees

They're certainly a part of history, the problem is that they're also still a divisive part of everyday life.

So I think they should go.

Alopex

I like them wish there were more. The only ones in the city centre I know of are in sandy row and another place near the cinema

when i say more i don't mean ones of terrorists. I think they should be in every city depicting history and current issues. Be cool if there was a Rory McIlroy/Darren Clarke mural in the city centre at present because of their recent wins, in Dublin you could have one of enda kenny after he denounced the vatican or a historical one of phil lynott. In fact there is something similar in dublin in the temple bar music centre they have large photos of iconic musicians on one side of the building

They're a great way of depicting social thinking and history, pity they are almost always associated with terrorism

owenc

Dont agree way you on that one now they are very tacky and messy the sooner they are Down the better!

Alopex

owenc wrote: »

Dont agree way you on that one now they are very tacky and messy the sooner they are Down the better!

some are tacky some are incredible

owenc

Alopex wrote: »

some are tacky some are incredible

Definately they are so embaressing especially when americans come!

paky

theres a mural visible from sandy row as you come into great victoria street bus station. it depicts a guy with a blcak t shirt and baseball cap turned around. above the guy it says ''commando''. when i saw it i burst out laughing. ya sure ''commando''...more like murdering terrorist b.astard

Alopex

Where abouts is that? used to walk through there a fair bit but not in a while. There's the huge one opposite the train station with the guy in a balaclava. another one of three loyalists firing guns further in and one more that half the wall is knocked down

the others are nice relevant stuff (i hate the paramilitary murals)

paky

Alopex wrote: »

Where abouts is that? used to walk through there a fair bit but not in a while. There's the huge one opposite the train station with the guy in a balaclava. another one of three loyalists firing guns further in and one more that half the wall is knocked down

the others are nice relevant stuff (i hate the paramilitary murals)

its visible from the motorway entrance at broadway roundabout.

Alopex

broadway roundabout is a fair distance from sandy row. you sure you don't mean somewhere else?

The Scientician

They vary immensely on both sides from beautifully painted, culturally significant murals to badly scrawled paeans to mass murderers. I think they're a part of the fabric of Belfast and it would be a pity for them to go in their entirety although I have no great love for the ones celebrating murderers and/or sectarianism.