Uploaded July 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Newtownards road in East Belfast is alive with street art murals. Opinion is however, often divided, on the content of a number of these paintings.
This latest replacement mural is of leading historical unionist figure, Sir Edward Carson. ''Sir Edward Carson remains firmly rooted in the rich culture, history, and heritage of the Protestant-Unionist-Loyalist community, – values that are important to so many people across east Belfast.”
The scene depicted in the lower section of the mural is based on an actual photograph. It shows Carson being escorted by UVF members along a section of the Newtownards Road past the now long gone Belvoir Bar.
The badge painted right at the top, is the cap badge of the 36th Ulster Division, to which many UVF members volunteered in 1914.
In the Great War the 36th Ulster Division suffered catastrophic casualties at the Battle of the Somme. Many local UVF men had enlisted into the 36th Ulster Division from the the Newtownards road and so many homes lost loved ones.
East Belfast’s Craigavon House – the 19th century-built home of Sir James Craig, a UVF leader and Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister – is also pictured.
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson 1854 – 1935. from 1900 to 1921
Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician,
barrister and judge, Attorney General and Solicitor General for England, Wales and Ireland, as well as the First Lord of the Admiralty for the Royal Navy. His authority as a unionist leader saw him elevated to the British War Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio in 1917, and he was subsequently appointed to the judicial role of Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in the House of Lords in 1921, with the political title Lord Carson of Duncairn. Due to his political campaigns in both Great Britain and Ireland, he became widely regarded as the founding father of Northern Ireland.
He was even nicknamed by his supporters as the, 'Uncrowned King of Ulster.'
Although he was defeated in his ambition to maintain Ireland as a whole in union with Great Britain. Carson was instrumental in leading the Ulster unionist resistance against the British government's attempts to introduce, 'Home Rule', for the whole of Ireland, and later played a key role in forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Asquith in 1916. His leadership, however, was celebrated by some for securing a continued place in the United Kingdom for the six northeastern counties, albeit under a devolved Parliament of Northern Ireland that neither he nor his fellow unionists had sought.
Carson is also remembered for his open-ended cross-examination of Oscar Wilde in a legal action that led to plaintiff Wilde being prosecuted, gaoled and ruined. Remarkably he unsuccessfully attempted to intercede on behalf of Wilde after the case.
Carson died in 1935 and was given a state funeral by the British government. He remains a popular and controversial figure in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, with many analysts crediting him for establishing Northern Ireland as an independent country, and others critiquing him for undermining Irish nationalism.
As a mark of the affection with which he is held he is still the only person to be buried in St Anne's Cathedral Belfast.
This fantastic mural was commissioned by Belfast Mural Arts -East Belfast Memorial Committee and I believe painted by leading local artist Dee Craig.
The Newtownards road in East Belfast is alive with street art murals. Opinion is however, often divided, on the content of a number of these paintings.
This latest replacement mural is of leading historical unionist figure, Sir Edward Carson. ''Sir Edward Carson remains firmly rooted in the rich culture, history, and heritage of the Protestant-Unionist-Loyalist community, – values that are important to so many people across east Belfast.”
The scene depicted in the lower section of the mural is based on an actual photograph. It shows Carson being escorted by UVF members along a section of the Newtownards Road past the now long gone Belvoir Bar.
The badge painted right at the top, is the cap badge of the 36th Ulster Division, to which many UVF members volunteered in 1914.
In the Great War the 36th Ulster Division suffered catastrophic casualties at the Battle of the Somme. Many local UVF men had enlisted into the 36th Ulster Division from the the Newtownards road and so many homes lost loved ones.
East Belfast’s Craigavon House – the 19th century-built home of Sir James Craig, a UVF leader and Northern Ireland's first Prime Minister – is also pictured.
Edward Henry Carson, Baron Carson 1854 – 1935. from 1900 to 1921
Sir Edward Carson, was an Irish unionist politician,
barrister and judge, Attorney General and Solicitor General for England, Wales and Ireland, as well as the First Lord of the Admiralty for the Royal Navy. His authority as a unionist leader saw him elevated to the British War Cabinet as a Minister without Portfolio in 1917, and he was subsequently appointed to the judicial role of Lord of Appeal in Ordinary in the House of Lords in 1921, with the political title Lord Carson of Duncairn. Due to his political campaigns in both Great Britain and Ireland, he became widely regarded as the founding father of Northern Ireland.
He was even nicknamed by his supporters as the, 'Uncrowned King of Ulster.'
Although he was defeated in his ambition to maintain Ireland as a whole in union with Great Britain. Carson was instrumental in leading the Ulster unionist resistance against the British government's attempts to introduce, 'Home Rule', for the whole of Ireland, and later played a key role in forcing the resignation of Prime Minister Asquith in 1916. His leadership, however, was celebrated by some for securing a continued place in the United Kingdom for the six northeastern counties, albeit under a devolved Parliament of Northern Ireland that neither he nor his fellow unionists had sought.
Carson is also remembered for his open-ended cross-examination of Oscar Wilde in a legal action that led to plaintiff Wilde being prosecuted, gaoled and ruined. Remarkably he unsuccessfully attempted to intercede on behalf of Wilde after the case.
Carson died in 1935 and was given a state funeral by the British government. He remains a popular and controversial figure in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, with many analysts crediting him for establishing Northern Ireland as an independent country, and others critiquing him for undermining Irish nationalism.
As a mark of the affection with which he is held he is still the only person to be buried in St Anne's Cathedral Belfast.
This fantastic mural was commissioned by Belfast Mural Arts -East Belfast Memorial Committee and I believe painted by leading local artist Dee Craig.
