Republican Belfast: a political tourist's guide
Encyclopedia
Republican Belfast: A Political Tourist's Guide, written by an Irish republican ex prisoner Rab Kerr
is acknowledged as being the first republican tourist book written about Belfast
. The book, contains maps, photographs and commentary on all the sites of political and cultural interest in 'Republican Belfast'. Documenting the locations of all republican murals in the Greater Belfast area, as well as memorial gardens, museums and other such sites of interest. The book goes beyond listing the murals, plaques and memorials which can be found in the city and which are seen increasingly as one of Belfasts key tourist attractions.
Belfast's murals tend to be very colourful and touch on the major events in Republicanism. These Republican murals are diverse in nature. They have a unique mix; the local issue as well as the national and the international; the present phase of struggle and the historical event. This type of Street Art has proven successful not just in Belfast but further afield and tend grab peoples' interest and in doing so tell they history of the conflict in Ireland.
Murals in the book focus on such events as the Hungerstrikes of 1981, Collusion, Women in Struggle, deceased IRA Volunteers, Palestine, The Basque Freedom Struggle, Racism and Sectarianism, Easter 1916 and various aspects of the Prison Struggle. Sections of the book are devoted to places such as Milltown Cemetery
and Clifton Street Cemetery
where many IRA
Volunteers and members of the United Irishmen are buried. A section of the book dealing with Milltown Cemetery, Andersonstown Barracks, The Felons Club and some murals can be downloaded from the University of Ulster's CAIN website
Kerr is married to Sinn Féin
politician Jennifer McCann
.
Rab Kerr
Robert 'Rab' Kerr is an Irish republican ex-prisoner who spent 18 years in British prisons, during which he spent three years on the 'Blanket Protest' in the H-Blocks and took part in the 'Great Escape' from Long Kesh in 1983...
is acknowledged as being the first republican tourist book written about Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. The book, contains maps, photographs and commentary on all the sites of political and cultural interest in 'Republican Belfast'. Documenting the locations of all republican murals in the Greater Belfast area, as well as memorial gardens, museums and other such sites of interest. The book goes beyond listing the murals, plaques and memorials which can be found in the city and which are seen increasingly as one of Belfasts key tourist attractions.
Belfast's murals tend to be very colourful and touch on the major events in Republicanism. These Republican murals are diverse in nature. They have a unique mix; the local issue as well as the national and the international; the present phase of struggle and the historical event. This type of Street Art has proven successful not just in Belfast but further afield and tend grab peoples' interest and in doing so tell they history of the conflict in Ireland.
Murals in the book focus on such events as the Hungerstrikes of 1981, Collusion, Women in Struggle, deceased IRA Volunteers, Palestine, The Basque Freedom Struggle, Racism and Sectarianism, Easter 1916 and various aspects of the Prison Struggle. Sections of the book are devoted to places such as Milltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery
Milltown Cemetery is a large cemetery in west Belfast, Northern Ireland.It lies within the townland of Ballymurphy, between Falls Road and the M1 motorway. Milltown Cemetery opened in 1869 and there are now approximately 200,000 of Belfast's citizens buried there. Most of those buried there are...
and Clifton Street Cemetery
Clifton Street Cemetery
Clifton Street Cemetery, Belfast, holds the graves of a number of Belfast's most distinguished figures. The cemetery, whose entrance is at Henry Place in Belfast, is cared for by Belfast City Council and can only be accessed by prior arrangement with council officials. The cemetery contains the...
where many IRA
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...
Volunteers and members of the United Irishmen are buried. A section of the book dealing with Milltown Cemetery, Andersonstown Barracks, The Felons Club and some murals can be downloaded from the University of Ulster's CAIN website
Kerr is married to Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin is a left wing, Irish republican political party in Ireland. The name is Irish for "ourselves" or "we ourselves", although it is frequently mistranslated as "ourselves alone". Originating in the Sinn Féin organisation founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffith, it took its current form in 1970...
politician Jennifer McCann
Jennifer McCann
Jennifer McCann MLA is an Irish republican politician in Northern Ireland, who was elected in 2007 to the Northern Ireland Assembly as a Sinn Féin member for Belfast West....
.