Northern Irish murals

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Northern Irish murals have become symbols of Northern Ireland, depicting the province's past and present divisions.

Northern Ireland contains arguably the most famous political murals. Almost 2,000 murals have been documented in Northern Ireland since the 1970s. Although the murals more often than not represent one side's political point of view, they are renowned for their professional nature and the notable level of skill of the artists creating them.

1 History
2 See also
3 References
4 External links
5 Further reading

[edit] History

Almost all of the Northern Ireland murals promote either republican or loyalist political beliefs, often glorifying paramilitary groups such as the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Ulster Volunteer Force, while others commemorate people who have lost their lives in paramilitary or military attacks.

The most famous of the murals in Northern Ireland may well be Free Derry Corner, where the slogan "You Are Now Entering Free Derry" was painted in 1969, shortly after the Battle of the Bogside. However, some do not consider Free Derry Corner to be a true mural as it is only words and not images. 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 Country" mural, which is an advertisement for a Derry publication.

Not all murals in Northern Ireland are political or religious in nature, with some commemorating events such as the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849), and other moments in Irish history. Many portray events from Irish mythology, though 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 novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe[1]. 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. Additionally with many paramilitaries now involved in community work there has been a move to decommission many of the hard-edged murals across Northern Ireland. Some warlike murals have been replaced with iconic figures from the area, for example George Best and James Joseph Magennis.^[1] This change was further highlighted in 2007, when two mural artists were invited to Washington, D.C. for the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival. The two artists have been invited to recreate murals on Washington Mall.^[2]

A mural depicting Bernadette Devlin McAliskey.	A mural in a loyalist area dedicated to George Best.	A mural in a republican area dedicated to George Best.	A mural dedicated to the sinking of RMS Titanic.
A mural dedicated to Bobby Sands.	A mural depicting the civil rights movement.	Free Derry mural.	Loyalist mural depicting republican killings.
Loyalist 'Freedom Corner' mural.	Northern Ireland football mural.	Mural dedicated to James Joseph Magennis in east Belfast.	Mural in east Belfast questioning the value of rights of the victims of Republican attacks.