Murals in Northern Ireland have become symbols of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, depicting the region's past and present political and religious divisions.

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

and

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

contain arguably the most famous political

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. It is believed that almost 2,000 murals have been documented since the 1970s. In 2014, the book, ''The Belfast Mural Guide'' estimated that, in Belfast, there were approximately 300 quality murals on display, with many more in varying degrees of age and decay. Murals commemorate, communicate and display aspects of culture and history. The themes of murals often reflect what is important to a particular community. A mural therefore exists to express an idea or message and could generally be seen as reflecting values held dear to that community. In

Irish republican Irish republicanism ( ga, poblachtánachas Éireannach) is the political movement for the unity and independence of Ireland under a republic. Irish republicans view British rule in any part of Ireland as inherently illegitimate. The develop ...

areas the themes of murals can range from the

1981 Irish hunger strike The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during the Troubles by Irish republicanism, Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government ...

, with particular emphasis on strike leader

Bobby Sands Robert Gerard Sands ( ga, Roibeárd Gearóid Ó Seachnasaigh; 9 March 1954 – 5 May 1981) was a member (and leader in the Maze prison) of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) who died on hunger strike while imprisoned at HM Prison Maze ...

; murals of international solidarity with revolutionary groups are equally common, as are those which highlight a particular issue, for example the

Ballymurphy Massacre The Ballymurphy massacre was a series of incidents between 9 and 11 August 1971, in which the 1st Battalion, Parachute Regiment of the British Army killed at least nine civilians in Ballymurphy, Belfast, Northern Ireland, as part of Operation ...

or the

McGurk's Bar bombing On 4 December 1971, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group, detonated a bomb at McGurk's Bar in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The pub was frequented by Irish Catholics/nationalists. The explosion caused the building ...

. In working class unionist communities, murals are used to promote

Ulster loyalist Ulster loyalism is a strand of Ulster unionism associated with working class Ulster Protestants in Northern Ireland. Like other unionists, loyalists support the continued existence of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, and oppose a uni ...

paramilitary groups such as the

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...

and

Ulster Volunteer Force The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) is an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group. Formed in 1965, it first emerged in 1966. Its first leader was Gusty Spence, a former British Army soldier from Northern Ireland. The group undertook an armed campaig ...

and commemorate their deceased members. However traditional themes such as William of Orange and the

Battle of the Boyne The Battle of the Boyne ( ga, Cath na Bóinne ) was a battle in 1690 between the forces of the deposed King James II of England and Ireland, VII of Scotland, and those of King William III who, with his wife Queen Mary II (his cousin and ...

, the

Battle of the Somme The Battle of the Somme ( French: Bataille de la Somme), also known as the Somme offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British Empire and French Third Republic against the German Empire. It took place bet ...

and the

36th Ulster Division The 36th (Ulster) Division was an infantry division of the British Army, part of Lord Kitchener's New Army, formed in September 1914. Originally called the ''Ulster Division'', it was made up of mainly members of the Ulster Volunteer Force, ...

are equally common.

History

Murals can be described as a mirror of political change, as they have been painted throughout the last century and display all important historic as well as political developments in the scope of unique wall paintings. In 1908 Ulster loyalists started to portray William of Orange on a white horse in order to strengthen the Orange identity of

Ulster Protestants Ulster Protestants ( ga, Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the ...

wall-paintings started in the late 1970s and can be seen in particular as a visual display of a social movement, which was radicalized after the IRA began to fight for a greater political voice and a

United Ireland United Ireland, also referred to as Irish reunification, is the proposition that all of Ireland should be a single sovereign state. At present, the island is divided politically; the sovereign Republic of Ireland has jurisdiction over the maj ...

. Murals are for the most part located in working class areas of Northern Ireland, primarily in

and

. Arguably the most well-known and easily identified mural is that of

, on the side wall of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

's Falls Road office. A close second is the collection of Irish republican and international-themed murals which are located at what is known as 'The International Wall', also in Belfast. In Derry,

Free Derry Corner Free Derry Corner is a historical landmark in the Bogside neighbourhood of Derry, Northern Ireland, which lies in the intersection of the Lecky Road, Rossville Street and Fahan Street. A free-standing gable wall commemorates Free Derry, a self- ...

, where the slogan "You Are Now Entering Free Derry" was painted in 1969 shortly after the

Battle of the Bogside The Battle of the Bogside was a large three-day riot that took place from 12 to 14 August 1969 in Derry, Northern Ireland. Thousands of Catholic/Irish nationalist residents of the Bogside district, organised under the Derry Citizens' Defence ...

, is prominent. Free Derry Corner has been used as a model for other murals in Northern Ireland, including the "You Are Now Entering Loyalist Sandy Row" mural in Belfast, which was a response to the republican message of Free Derry Corner, and the "You Are Now Entering ''

Derry Journal The ''Derry Journal'' is a newspaper based in Derry, Northern Ireland, serving Derry as well as County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland. It is operated by a Johnston Press holding company entitled Derry Journal Newspapers. The paper is publ ...

'' Country" mural, which is an advertisement for a Derry publication. Not all murals in Northern Ireland are directly political or sectarian in nature, with some commemorating events such as the

Great Irish Famine The Great Famine ( ga, an Gorta Mór ), also known within Ireland as the Great Hunger or simply the Famine and outside Ireland as the Irish Potato Famine, was a period of starvation and disease in Ireland from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a ...

, and other moments in

Irish history The first evidence of human presence in Ireland dates to around 33,000 years ago, with further findings dating the presence of homo sapiens to around 10,500 to 7,000 BC. The receding of the ice after the Younger Dryas cold phase of the Quaterna ...

. Many portray events from

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by C ...

, and images from Irish myths are often incorporated into political murals. A few murals avoid the subject of Ireland altogether, instead focusing on such neutral subjects as litter prevention and the

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

novel ''

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' is a fantasy novel for children by C. S. Lewis, published by Geoffrey Bles in 1950. It is the first published and best known of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). Among all the ...

''. In Derry's city centre, a mural depicting the five principal characters from the TV show

Derry Girls ''Derry Girls'' is a British teen sitcom created and written by Lisa McGee that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4. The channel's most successful comedy since ''Father Ted'', the series was inspired by McGee's own experiences growing up ...

was painted on the side of a pub, with the mural being updated during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

in 2020 and prior to the airing of the show's final series in 2022. Murals representing peace and tolerance are becoming increasingly popular with school groups who have children either design or actually paint murals in areas around their schools. With many paramilitaries now involved in community work, there has been a move to decommission many of the hard-edged murals across Northern Ireland (although this trend is reversed in times of tension). This change was further highlighted in 2007, when the

Bogside Artists The Bogside Artists are a trio of mural painters from Derry, Northern Ireland, consisting of brothers Tom and William Kelly, and Kevin Hasson (b. 8 January 1958). Their most famous work, a series of outdoor murals called the People's Gallery, is ...

were invited to Washington, D.C. for the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival. The three artists were invited to recreate murals in the

Washington Mall Washington Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in South Strabane Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania, just outside the city of Washington, formerly managed by J J Gumberg Co. and now by Oxford Development Company. It is owned by ...

Examples

Republican

File:Ballymurphy.jpg, A

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

mural in

File:Easter 1916.jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...

of 1916 File:An gorta Mor.jpg, A Great Famine mural in Belfast File:BallymurphyMassacre.jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting the

File:Belfast mural (cropped, edit).jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting the 1981 republican hunger strike File:Hunger Strike.JPG, Another mural in Belfast depicting the 1981 hunger strike File:Bobby sands mural in belfast320.jpg, A mural dedicated to republican hunger striker

File:Belfast mural 10.jpg, A mural in Belfast dedicated to

Cumann na mBan Cumann na mBan (; literally "The Women's Council" but calling themselves The Irishwomen's Council in English), abbreviated C na mB, is an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in Dublin on 2 April 1914, merging with and di ...

File:Belfast mural 15.jpg, A mural in Belfast dedicated to the IRA volunteers killed in Operation Flavius File:Collusion is not an illusion.jpg, A mural in Belfast on collusion between the security forces and

paramilitaries A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

File:Manchester Martyrs Mural.jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting the

Manchester Martyrs The "Manchester Martyrs" () is a term used by Irish nationalists to refer to three men—William Philip Allen, Michael Larkin and Michael O'Brien—who were executed following their conviction of murder in 1867 after an attack on a police van i ...

File:Springhill 1984.jpg, A mural in Belfast on British censorship File:Unidentified irish mural.jpg, A mural in

Short Strand The Short Strand ( ga, an Trá Ghearr) is a working class, inner city area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a mainly Catholic and Irish nationalist enclave surrounded by the mainly Protestant and unionist East Belfast. It is on the east ba ...

saying ''"Slán Abhaile"'' or "Safe Home" to British troops File:Muralbelfast2.jpg, Murals in Belfast showing solidarity with

Basque nationalism Basque nationalism ( eu, eusko abertzaletasuna ; es, nacionalismo vasco; french: nationalisme basque) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the poli ...

and the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in cou ...

Loyalist

File:Fountain (01).JPG, A mural in a loyalist enclave of Derry File:Cluan Place.jpg, A loyalist mural in Belfast File:Belfast_unionist_mural.jpg, A loyalist mural in Belfast File:Thorndyke Street.jpg, Loyalist murals on Thorndyke Street, Belfast File:Innishargie.jpg, A UDA/UFF mural in Bangor File:Kilclief flats.jpg, An

Ulster Volunteers The Ulster Volunteers was an Irish unionist, loyalist paramilitary organisation founded in 1912 to block domestic self-government ("Home Rule") for Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom. The Ulster Volunteers were based in the ...

/UVF mural in Bangor File:Kilcooley.jpg, A

Red Hand Commandos The Red Hand Commando (RHC) is a small Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland that is closely linked to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF). Its aim was to combat Irish republicanism – particularly the Irish Republican Army (IRA ...

mural in Bangor File:Sandy Row mural 2012.png, A mural in Belfast, commemorating William of Orange and the

File:Donegall Pass 1984.jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting William of Orange File:Drumcree.jpg, A mural in Belfast showing solidarity with the Portadown Orangemen File:Newtonards.jpg, A mural on Newtownards Road, Belfast depicting the

Ulster Special Constabulary The Ulster Special Constabulary (USC; commonly called the "B-Specials" or "B Men") was a quasi-military reserve special constable police force in what would later become Northern Ireland. It was set up in October 1920, shortly before the par ...

and

Ulster Defence Regiment The Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR) was an infantry regiment of the British Army established in 1970, with a comparatively short existence ending in 1992. Raised through public appeal, newspaper and television advertisements,Potter p25 their offi ...

File:Loyalist political mural.jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting republican killings File:Protestantmuralbelfast.jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting republican killings File:James Magennis mral.JPG, Mural dedicated to

James Joseph Magennis James Joseph Magennis, VC (27 October 1919 – 12 February 1986) was a Belfast-born sailor and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces ...

in east Belfast. File:Carson Mural.jpg,

Edward Carson Edward Henry Carson, 1st Baron Carson, PC, PC (Ire) (9 February 1854 – 22 October 1935), from 1900 to 1921 known as Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician, barrister and judge, who served as the Attorney General and Solicito ...

File:Loyalist mural2 Island Street Belfast.jpg, Loyalist mural in Ballymacarrett Road, east Belfast. File:Newtownabbey.jpg, Ulster Volunteers mural in Newtownabbey File:Old Dundonald Road.jpg, Ulster Volunteers mural in Belfast File:UVF mural in Shankill Road, Belfast.jpg, Ulster Volunteers mural in Belfast File:Oliver Cromwell mural (2736627207).jpg, A mural in Belfast depicting

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

File:Newtownabbey_mural.jpg, World War I mural in Newtownabbey File:Muralnewtownabbey.jpg, Loyalist mural in Newtownabbey File:Top Gun McKeag.jpg, A loyalist mural in Belfast commemorating deceased UDA member

Stephen McKeag Stephen McKeag (1 April 1970 – 24 September 2000), nicknamed ''Top Gun'', was a Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary and a Commander of the Ulster Defence Association's (UDA) 'C' Company in the 1990s. He is responsible for many killings of Ca ...

File:Nothing with us.jpg, A loyalist in Belfast mural critical of the

Good Friday Agreement The Good Friday Agreement (GFA), or Belfast Agreement ( ga, Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta or ; Ulster-Scots: or ), is a pair of agreements signed on 10 April 1998 that ended most of the violence of The Troubles, a political conflict in No ...

Other

File:George Best mural.jpg, A mural in a republican area dedicated to George Best. File:Titanic Mural Belfast.jpg, A mural dedicated to the sinking of RMS ''Titanic. File:NI murals NI football.jpg, Northern Ireland association football team mural. File:Buchananmural.jpg, Mural commemorating

US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

File:Mural%2C_Balfour_Avenue%2C_Belfast_-_geograph.org.uk_-_978909.jpg,

Liam Gillick Liam Gillick (born 1964, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire) is a British artist who lives and works in New York City.

References

External links

Map of murals

Peter Moloney Collection – Murals

Extramural Activity – Blog about murals, graffiti, and street art

Claremont Digital Collection

CAIN (Conflict Archive on the INternet) Mural Collection

Northern Ireland political murals Flickr group

Belfast Wall Murals Flickr Photo Pool

Bill Rolston

Videos of Belfast murals

Take an online tour of the murals in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Documentary about Devenny/Ervine collaborations

Routes of Reconciliation: Visiting Sites of Cultural Trauma in the U.S. South, Northern Ireland, and South Africa
by Charles Regan Wilson, ''Southern Spaces'', 26 March 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Murals In Northern Ireland Art in Northern Ireland Irish paintings Political art Politics of Northern Ireland Propaganda art Works about The Troubles (Northern Ireland) Murals in the United Kingdom