Political Murals in
Belfast
Written by Roland
Keates
Back in 2019 I visited Belfast and the main reason was to see the political murals and the
street art which are on every available free wall. From Falls Road to Shankill Road to Bank
Street to Talbert Street; walls filled with colourful political and non-political messages.
This article takes stock of nationalist murals in the city of Belfast. Their essential function is
to active and perpetuate the national identification process. Public policies for the
transformation of murals only superficially curb these conflicting dynamics. The
questionnaires and quantitative data point to a negative perception - even rejection - of murals
more frequent within moderate organizations and among the most qualified population.
Conversely, supporters of radical parties view the murals more positively. The radicals of the
two communities thus have a common popular and militant culture - and it seems a reciprocal
respect for these works - on which they sometimes try to build intercommunity
reconciliation. Much more than an instrument of mass communication, these paintings are
tools of class communication.
Murals are one of the most famous elements of Northern Ireland's heritage. They are
estimated to be over 2,000 across Northern Ireland, and the largest concentration is in
Belfast.
They are the most visible marker of the virtual border which exists between the two main
communities of Ireland. On the one hand, the Unionists / Loyalists, Protestants, faithful to the
Crown of England; on the other, the nationalists/republicans, Catholics, in favour of union
with the Republic of Ireland.
Propaganda tools in a media-locked Northern Ireland during decades of unrest, they are today
a veritable open book on the recent history of Northern Ireland.
The History of Murals in Northern Ireland
The phenomenon of murals in Northern Ireland dates back to the beginning of the 20th
century. The first loyalist murals appeared around 1908. They were then performed as part of
the commemoration celebrations of the Battle of the Boyne, won by William of Orange on
July 12, 1690.
This victory marked the seizure of power of the Protestants against Catholics. The
phenomenon lost its scale on the loyalist side in the 1970s after the suspension of the
Northern Irish Parliament and the direct administration of Northern Ireland by London.
Loyalists faced a dilemma between the loss of their power over the Catholic community and
their loyalty to the Crown of England.
But the phenomenon picked up again from the mid-1980s, in reaction to the first concessions
of the British government to the nationalists. Militarist paintings then mark the support for
the loyalist paramilitary groups and delimit the "territories" of the various militias.
In addition to these militarist themes (still evident today), the loyalist murals pay tribute to
the heroes and "martyrs" of the loyalist cause, to Protestant historical figures (Oliver
Cromwell, American presidents of Scottish origin, etc.)
Republican murals appeared much later, at the end of the 1970s, in a context of support for
the struggle of Republican prisoners for political status. They then make it possible to
circumvent censorship and ensure the propaganda of the republican cause.
As on the loyalist side, they pay homage to the heroes and martyrs of the cause, republican
this time. But they also recall episodes in the history of Ireland (Great Famine, Easter
uprising 1916, etc.). The mark the attachment of Republicans to Irish culture or their
solidarity with other causes in the world (Palestine for example).
Since the Good Friday Agreements in 1998 which marked the end of the unrest in Northern
Ireland, under the impetus of the population and the authorities concerned with pacifying the
atmosphere in Northern Ireland, the protest themes are less present on the frescoes.
This is especially true for loyalist frescoes. Militarist paintings increasingly giving way to
more politically neutral frescoes, calling for peace or honouring great local figures (in
particular footballer George Best or… the Titanic!).
But this policy of sanitising the themes addressed by the murals divides the population. Some
believing that murals inciting hatred between communities no longer have their place in a
pacified Northern Ireland. It is indeed challenging to remain insensitive to certain militarist
loyalist murals…), others considering them as a warning of the dangers of a return to
violence. You could even say the murals were used as a weapon of war became a war
between different groups. Instead of bullets paint cans were used to send a message.
See the murals in Belfast.
Although murals are scattered throughout Belfast (with the notable exclusion of the city
centre and the southern parts of the city), a few working-class neighbourhoods surrounding
the centre concentrate the majority.
West Belfast is the best known and most visited area by tourists. To the north, Shankill (a
name given to the district formed by Shankill Road and the adjacent streets) brings together a
Protestant population and therefore shelters many loyalist frescoes. To the south, separated
from Shankill by the "Peace Lines" (high barriers built in the 1970s and pierced with crossing
points to separate the Catholic and Protestant districts of the city.
Thus, limit violence between the two communities), Falls Road is the leading Catholic
district of the city. This street dominated by the sinister Divis Tower (a residential tower
whose top housed a British army watch post from the 1970s until 2005). This has the most
famous frescoes, such as the solidarity wall ("solidarity wall") or the fresco by Bobby Sands
on the Sinn Fein headquarters. Further west, adjoining Falls Road, Ballymurphy also includes
many Republican frescoes.
The other area with a large concentration of murals is East Belfast, the eastern part of Belfast,
at the gates of the old Harland & Wolff shipyards. Apart from a few Republican murals
clustered on Short Strand, the area is overwhelmingly inhabited by Protestants and is,
therefore, home to many loyalist frescoes, on both sides of Newtownards Road and
Albertbridge Road.
One interesting point to make is The East Belfast neighbourhoods have more politically
neutral frescoes. These murals celebrate the Titanic, the Northern Irish national football team
and even the science fiction writer CS Lewis, a native of Belfast.
These large-format paintings tell us of the impact of Troubles in local communities. As a
visitor to Belfast, are the murals seen a call for peace and harmony. Or are they a weapon
without bullets?
The Jackie Coulter mural on Shankill Parade. Coulter, a ‘lieutenant’ in the loyalist paramilitary UDA was killed by a rival loyalist
paramilitary group, the UVF, in August 2000.
Splitting messages
Within this article, I'm writing about walking the political mural walls in Belfast. In one
sense, they are still seen as street art and a message for all generations. For these murals in
the different areas of Belfast generate immense discomfort in society.
The messages that inhabit the city are multiple, and the preponderance of private messages is
evident. These messages come in all shapes and sizes.
This Unionist mural depicts a family being evacuated from their home by Republican paramilitary groups, with the news report
on the left. The right-hand side shows an empty newspaper symbolizing an unknown future for Northern Ireland.
The political murals are equal in measure and reveal a would-be revolution. Political parties
are given a manifestation of discontent through the murals that do not want to be seen by a
societal fraction. The messages are hidden in plain sight, a percentage of individuals feel at
ease with these idealistic messages and others that do not.
Political Murals in Belfast
Solidarity
A mural is symbolising a similarity between the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the
British occupation of Ireland demonstrating the solidarity between the two peoples.
In general terms, tourist mays not look deeper into the murals or the political message. They
might see a message of love and cultural diversity. Everything communicates. The fact of
painting the street is already a communication, and the message transmitted in it is read,
taking into account the communication’s instance in all its dimensions.
Communication
What communicates in a mural is a discontent with society and in especial, authority and
obedience. The street artists violate the law by placing their messages and their egos in the
streets. In Belfast, certain areas are designated areas for political street art, that are authorised
by the owners of the wall.
Political Murals in Belfast
Interpretation
When visiting these murals without a guide, everyone sees and interprets what they want. For
its part, the aesthetic contribution of urban artists - those who do street art - to cities is
invaluable; they decorate the streets historically. Street art creates priceless works, which
cannot be purchased by any collector, or donated to the conventional museum. It is art for the
passer-by, for the walker, for everyone who crosses, for those who are not looking for art; It
is the democracy of art.
Tourism
Tourism in Northern Ireland has been revitalised since the peace agreements in 1998.
Tourism activities are indicative of the tensions that remain between communities in
Belfast. Attempts are made to promote culture away from diverse representations of conflict
with tourist agency responses and public demand.
Where is the Love?
Don't Walk but ride
Both traditional operators and associations and neighbourhood guides offer tours by bus, taxi,
and walking on the theme of the conflictive history of the city. The tours proposed by the
local associations are based on the personal experience of the guides, while the classic tours
offer a "neutral" history of inter-community conflict.
Using Local guides
If you are a street art tourist, who doesn't want to immerse yourself with research, then
choose a tour guide: these guides are republican or loyalist. Republicans have an
interpretation of the conflict centred on the beginnings of the Troubles in 1969. They describe
the troubles in a long colonial history, since the invasions by Anglo-Norman in the twelfth
century. The the colonial wars of the eighteenth century follow, and finally, the independence
movements of the eighteenth to the twentieth century.
The Stevie McKeag mural on Hopewell Crescent. McKeag, aka Top Gun, was a UDA gunman thought to have killed at least a
dozen people, mostly Catholics.
United Irish
What else I noticed was that the republican rhetoric puts the stress on the dimension of
anticolonial fight and defence of freedom, of political order, and which has not always
opposed Catholics and Protestants. The independent guide mentioned that Ireland's defenders
of Irish autonomy in the 18th and 19th centuries were not all Catholics, like the figure of
Wolfe Tone, leader of the United Irish people.
Nelson Mandela, Street art in Belfast
Pick a Side
The above mural attempts to draw a parallel between the Nationalist cause in Northern
Ireland and Nelson Mandela’s anti-apartheid movement in South Africa. However, in recent
years, the mural is understood as a symbol of peace and stability, in the aftermath of conflict.
Republicans develop an interpretation of conflict in terms of a minority's struggle against
political domination and place it in the long run of struggles against oppression.
Loyalist guides are more focused on the contemporary post-conflict period. They concentrate
on talking about military figures who are often represented by the loyal soldier who gave his
life to the nation.
Nearer my God
Republicans appear to manipulate the history and culture of conflict much better to gain
legitimacy internationally in their narratives. Maybe the guides use the tourists as political
chess pieces to gain sympathy for their cause. Loyalists have refined their speech to reverse
this negative image, but the Republicans draw the symbolism for their benefit, including
through victimisation.
This colourful mural depicts all the Hunger Strikers of the 1980s, including a larger image of Hunger Striker Kieran Doherty,
who died in 1981.
Safety while visiting the murals of Belfast
At no time did I feel intimidated or uncomfortable, visiting such areas. Neither taking photos,
so walking to the sites is a must. I was free to divert and stop when I pleased. Others choose
to visit the murals by the black cabs whose drivers serve as guides while touring the Catholic
and Protestant neighbourhoods.
Stop calling me Resilient. Because every time you say “Oh, They’re Resilient,” that means you can do something else to me.
The Troubles
I still remember all the television footage back in the 1980s and 1990s of the troubles in
Northern Ireland. Getting off the ferry in Belfast at Midnight and driving through Belfast to
be met by the British army in an armoured car telling me to turn around.
Freedom Corner in East Belfast
Freedom Corner
Thirty years on, the only reminder for me are the murals in Belfast of the past Troubles. I
know many people lost their lives and how I see the Political walls are a way of keeping
those memories alive.
Political Murals in Belfast - Young Citizen Volunteers
Two Thousand Political Murals
These 2000 murals inevitably remind me of the conflict that turned Northern Ireland into a
scene of horror and violence for many years.
It is not easy to talk about clashes that caused the deaths of thousands of people. Our guide I
felt sided with one political party. He was keen to tell us one story and did not want to take us
to one side of Belfast which associated with another political party. This may have been due
to fear of being spotted. Whatever the reason, on my walking tour, I surely wanted to, and
visited a pub where I was made welcome.
UFF Mural in Belfast
Coloured Brushstrokes
These coloured brushstrokes of history, are like tree roots which run in peoples lives in
Belfast. As an outsider, I felt a sense of unrest, as a parallel to what Brexit would do to the
peace settlement.
The murals of Falls Road
Falls Road is the epicenter of the Catholic quarter, and a visit to the International Wall is a
must. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream," mural, is bright and beautiful. Murals are
showcasing the expulsion of Israeli diplomats from Ireland. The new prime minister, Boris
Johnson’s funny spitting image character coming to life.
Boris Johnson in street art Belfast
International
International examples are being mobilised, linking the situation in Northern Ireland with,
Palestine or South Africa. Some of these political murals are signs of solidarity with countries
suffering repression. Nelson Mandela with his fist held high, local leaders, signs of solidarity
towards Palestine, invitations to join Amnesty International.
Anti Israel Mural in Belfast
Dick and William
Murals in memory of Dick and William. Two men who died in Spain during the civil war and
whose plaque presides over a large red, yellow and purple canvas. Yet a mural nearby
denounces the exceptional laws and mass arrests in the Falls in 1971.
In memory of our fallen comrades of the I.N.L.A
Bobby Sands
Hoards of people photograph and pay tribute to the figure of Bobby Sands. The first of the 10
IRA hunger strike prisoners to die in 1981. "Our revenge will be the laughter of our
children."
Bobby Sands
Impossible to remain impassive before the sentence that accompanies his portrait, located on
the side of the Sinn Féin headquarters on Falls Road. It's an obligatory stop. The image shows
a martyrdom of a young man with long black hair and smiling as evoking a Christ figure.
Sinn Fein Headquarters, Belfast
Sinn Fein Headquarters, Belfast
Catholic religious imagery is very present and attached to the figure of Christ. As evidenced
in the Falls Road Memorial Garden, the war memorial with the image of a woman holding a
man in the manner of a Pièta. With the quote of the revolutionary poet Patrick Pearse shot
dead after the failed 1916 uprising in Dublin.
"The fools, the fools, the fools-they have left us for our Fenian dead; and while Ireland holds
these grave, Ireland unfree shall never be at peace."
The Wall of Peace
They say that in Belfast there are almost a hundred walls spread over 30 kilometres. The
walls rose when the riots began to separate and protect the Unionist and Republican
communities. These walls still standing. One of them, located in Cuper Way, is the so-
called Wall of Peace that divides the Catholic Falls Road from the Protestant Shankill
Road. Just walking there you pass by many walls celebrating the death of someone's son, or
husband.
William of Orange Mural in Belfast
Walk down Falls Road until you find Springlield Road. Continue on this street and turn on
Lanarnk Way. The impressive presence of the cement and steel walls, topped by high fences,
surveillance cameras, and metal doors will indicate that you have reached Cuper Way.
When I arrived, in the middle of the morning, dozens of black taxis were already circulating
in the area. Many tourists approach this section of the wall to leave their messages of peace
among a tangle of graffiti.
No more murders. No more guns. We hope that peace has no end — peace, love & rock 'n'
roll.
The murals of Shankill Road
Shankill Road, one of the main streets of the Protestant neighbourhood, runs parallel to Falls
Road. As I get there, wandering around Conway Street practically alone, the images that the
news had filled years ago came to mind. It seems incredible that what happened in such a
quiet area in the eyes of a stranger.
Shankill Since Original Belfast 455AD – The Parish of Belfast was formally called Shankill which signifies “Old Church”
The rest of Shankill Road, a proletarian avenue full of fast food outlets, is an ode to the
English monarchy with hundreds of 'Union Jack flags' blowing in the wind.
Political Murals in Belfast
If you decide to walk this route, you will visit more interesting murals behind Falls Road.
Same messages of unionism repeated along with images of King William III, of the Celtic
hero Cúchulainn, facades that honour paramilitary groups such as UVF and the UDA. Murals
highlight the right to education and that everyone treated with the utmost dignity and
respect. Curiously, even the curbs of the sidewalks are painted blue, white and red so that
everyone knows what terrain they step drive-in.
The Shankill district
The Shankill district has very long commentaries on recent murals and monuments. These
murals represent the attacks that took place there, killing civilian victims. The main stops of
the visit are the memorial of the bombing of The Bayardo bar in 1975.
Ulster Defence Association loyalist paramilitary mural in The Shankill Estate, Belfast
The monument was erected in 2008 on the place of the missing bar and, nearby, the Garden
of Remembrance (Shankill Memorial Park.) Built-in 1992 in memory of all the victims of the
armed forces since the First World War. In the garden, a monument (an old gas spout) was
added in 1993 to honour the memory of the innocent victims of the Shankill Road fishmonger
attack and all the innocent victims of the Shankill neighbourhood.
Lesley Cherry
“Nothing about us without us is for us”
Is a title of artwork which reflects a slogan used internationally, where social and political
change has been paramount. It is understood that each change emerges only through true
consultation with the community. That is the wish of the residents of Lower Shankill district.
To affect social change and move forward through collaboration with decision-makers and
government at every level.
The digital image above was created by artist Lesley Cherry who has worked with Lower Shankill district Community
Associations for many years. Lesley has a consultation within that process, to ensure a better future for all.
The artwork was funded by the Housing Executive, working in partnership with the Lower
Shankill Community Association. The artwork replaces previous murals depicting
paramilitaries and one of the Northern Ireland Coat of Arms.
Bombay Street
The Clonard Martyrs Memorial Garden, located in Bombay Street just behind the peace
line by the Greater Clonard Ex-Prisoners Association, is a must to visit. It commemorates the
victims of the neighbourhood, mainly those of the beginning of the Troubles in August 1969.
In the war memorial is added a fresco reminding visitors of the destruction of the
neighbourhood, with added photos of the ten victims of this bloody episode displayed in the
medallion.
The Chronicles of a People peace marker in Belfast
The Chronicles of a People
The Chronicles of a People
From the burning ashes of a Clonard Street, is where I trace my own.
Not fifty yards across the wall my blood runs blue as well.
The red brick walls and darkened halls where secrets never met,
For fear a neighbor lent his ear to something he’d regret.
To the sharpened steel and concrete wall that separates our minds
Where the language of indifference knows never to be kind.
The towering church that rang its bells in a panicked cry for help
Drew boys & girls in fearless hordes, through the smell of burning felt.
Near fifty years of blood and tears, some said we’d never learn
To put the past behind us and embrace another world.
But Belfast streets refuse to give its secrets of the past
With the unrelenting notion that the die’s already cast.
My truth is mine and yours is yours, no need for compromise
When a monopoly of victims can hide a thousand lies.
When pain and years of suffering is just reserved for some
The ones we leave behind us will not escape the gun.
Listening to the guides recount Loyalist attacks on working-class communities in Belfast. I
overhear them recall the memory of "whole streets burned to the ground." The guides
remember the men who committed themselves to save their neighbourhood and lost their
lives.
The Clonard Martyrs Memorial Garden
The on-site booklet first recalls the names (with photos) of the combatants, then the list of
civilian casualties and the circumstances of their deaths. The pamphlet states, the monument
"Honours the memory of those who lost their lives as a direct result of the conflict resulting
from the British occupation."
Written on the plaque
"This plaque is dedicated to the people of the greater Clonard who have resisted and still
resist the occupation of our country by Britain.... Their names would be too numerous to
mention, and their deeds of bravery and resistance are un-equalled in the history of our
struggle. We, the Republican ex-prisoners of the greater Clonard, salute you, and your reward
will only be a united Ireland."
There are visible and palpable scars in the walls. These walls hold much blood in them from a
not so distant time. Socking up the walls with paint of the dispute between those who
supported membership in the United Kingdom and supporters of independence or inclusion in
the Republic of Ireland skewed more than 3,500 lives.
Wall murals(murals) painted on the gables of houses, walls and any type of building in these
popular neighbourhoods, in honour of paramilitary militias and victims of the conflict. They
use a pictorial vocabulary drawing from the symbols of the struggle between the two
communities.
Dark Tourism
It is similar to what John Lennon and Malcolm Foley (2000) describe as "dark tourism," in
which death, disasters and atrocities are associated with tourism products, beyond attendance.
Well-Known sites for commemoration purposes.
We seek nothing but the elementary right implanted in every man. The right if you are attacked, to defend yourself.
This name covers the visit of very diverse places, cemeteries, prisons, battlefields, sites of
natural disasters or sites of acts of terrorism or contemporary conflicts. It seems to us,
however, that the notion of dark tourism is all-encompassing and contains a moral
condemnation, as pointed out by Michael S. Bowman and Phaedra C. Pezzulllo (2009).
Ending thoughts
What I did take away from wandering in the Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods is a
sense of uneasiness and a sense of change. The most belligerent murals are less and less
represented; the new murals reflect cultural issues without political connotations that claim to
add and not subtract. A good start, in any case, aimed at mutual understanding, respect and
tolerance.
Many more political statements can be found in Belfast